The Spiders in Your House - The Rustic Wolf Spider

The Spiders in Your House - The Rustic Wolf Spider

Meet Trochosa ruricola, the Rustic Wolf Spider. In this video we'll do a deep dive on the species, while also exploring the general ecology of wolf spiders as a family (Lycosidae). We'll look at their hunting behaviour, reproduction, intelligence, and of course, how you can expect them to behave if you find them in your house.

For more wolf spider awesomeness, check out the Hebets Lab's YouTube channel. And a big thankyou to Dr. Hebets for contributing some photos and video footage from her own research for this video!

Unless otherwise credited, all photos and video herein are my own.

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Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:25 The Scary Search Results
5:06 First Description, and Identification
12:13 Range & Distribution
13:39 In Your House
15:48 Biteyness and Bite Effects
17:46 The Cheese Test
21:55 Hunting Behaviour
22:31 Wolf Spider Eyes
24:38 Other Senses and Prey Capture Mechanisms
28:58 Courtship and Reproduction: The Lycosid Dating Scene
39:29 Intelligence

Creative Commons licenses used:

References

Bristowe WS (1958). The World of Spiders. Collins

Eggs B, Wolff JO, Kuhn-Nentwig L, Gorb SN, Nentwig W (2015). Hunting Without a Web: How Lycosoid Spiders Subdue their Prey. Ethology 121(12):1166-77.

Engelhardt W (1965). Die Mitteleuropaischen arten der gattung Trochosa C. L. Koch, 1848 (Araneae, Lycosidae). Morphologie, Chemotaxonomie, Biologie, Autökologie. Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Ökologie der Tiere, 54(3), 219-392.

Foelix R (2011). Biology of Spiders. Oxford University Press.

Hebets E, Uetz GW (2000). Leg ornamentation and the efficacy of courtship display in four species of wolf spider (Araneae: Lycosidae). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 47:280-286.

Hebets E (2008). Seismic signal dominance in the multimodal courtship display of the wolf spider Schizocosa stridulans Stratton 1991 (2008). Behavioural Ecology. 2008 Nov 1;19(6):1250-7.

Isbister GK, Framenau VW (2004). Australian wolf spider bites (Lycosidae): clinical effects and influence of species on bite circumstances. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology 42(2): 153-161.

Land MF (1985). The Morphology and Optics of Spider Eyes. in Neurobiology of Arachnids (pp. 53-78). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Punzo F (2000). An Experimental Analysis of Maze Learning in the Wolf Spider, Trochosa parthenus (Araneae: Lycosidae). Florida Scientist 63(3): 155-159.

Rash LD, King RG, Hodgson WC (1998). Evidence that histamine is the principal pharmacological component of venom from an Australian wolf spider (Lycosa godeffroyi). Toxicon 36(2): 367-375.

Ribeiro LA, Jorge MT, Piesco RV, de Andrade Nishioka S (1990). Wolf spider bites in Sao Paulo, Brazil: a clinical and epidemiological study of 515 cases. Toxicon 28(6):715-717.

Rose, S (2022). Spiders of North America. Princeton University Press.

[juneyshu]

Suffering with bronchitis, I grabbed my inhaler yesterday on the way to rest, opened the lid, and inhaled...a spider. Thank heaven was able to spit it in the potty. It nipped the roof of my mouth tho, so I saved it in a bag, wet and dead looking. Next day, he was fine and I was fine!

[geekliberty]

Their 'sad snowman' eye pattern won me over. They are almost up there in cuteness with me to jumping spiders.

[entrippyZ]

i was sitting in my room and this pretty big wolf spider casually crawled up my bedside table and just sat there, when i poked near it it raised a single front leg so i cautiously poked the leg twice just enough to move it without damaging the spider. then it set its leg back down stood there for a minute and casually walked back under the table. weirdest interaction i've ever had with a spider, it's like we met and shook hands... most wolves just sprint away at 400 mph so i guess that one was polite

[wrmgrl]

working-on-it arachnophobe here, and new to your channel! funnily enough, seeing the cheliceral teeth really endeared this spider to me... brains are weird! love your enthusiasm for these fascinating creatures and thank you for sharing it with the world!

[NachozMan]

Wolf spiders have always held a close place to my heart, they have cool eyes and It's always a treat to get to see the moms carrying their babies around.

[marjorieinverts]

As a spider keeper and enthusiast, I don't know how I haven't found your channel, sooner. I am CONSTANTLY trying to educate people about spiders. The miseducation about spiders INFURIATES me every single day. I have 11 tarantulas and a brown recluse (also a scorpion). I could sit here for hours and type and type, but obviously I won't. Just want to say I'm about to binge your videos and thank you so much for your MASSIVELY important education on these super important and wonderful creatures

[BornRemaining]

If you've been able to help people learn not to be afraid of helpful, harmless little buddies like jumping spiders, the common house spider and basement spiders, I count that as a huge win for everyone involved.

[femur]

It always means so much to me to see love given to a group of animals that tends to get unfair hate. Thank you for the videos, they're such a treat

[snowdogthewolf]

Last year I was bitten in the inside forearm by a very large (Carolina) wolf spider. It was camouflaged quite well against the tree it was on, the same tree I used to lower myself down into a ravine. I didn't even feel the bite. My daughter saw the huge spider after I had lowered myself down and I thought to myself, "Wow, that was a close one".

Getting in the car, I noticed a small splotch of blood on my forearm and upon closer look, I noticed they were coming from two tiny puncture marks, exactly where my arm would have been in relation to where my daughter found the spider.

It itched for about a week, the first few days felt like a very persistent mosquito bite and it faded from there.

That event greatly diminished my instinctive fear of these monster spiders. If the biggest one I've seen yet only caused an (albeit lengthy) itch and zero pain, they can't all be that bad.

Now when I see them, I'll trap them and relocate them outside rather than hitting them with a Dyson vacuum as I used to. In the garage, I let them be as they do go after the camel crickets (same as "cave" or "spider" crickets). An old timer once told me never to harass a beneficial snake such as black snakes as they are only there because their prey is also, and it's their prey that you DON'T want, such as mice or rats.

I guess the same is true for wolf spiders. If they're in your basement, garage or crawlspace, it's likely because their non-beneficial prey is as well. Best to leave them be and allow them to clean house of the other creepy crawlies.

[martinturner]

Your dry sense of humour is an absolute Hoot and you maintain our fascination of this subject throughout. really great presentation, thanks Travis.

[Nyrkvennasogur]

That little nod after "I'm sure those spiders are all fine" got a chuckle out of me

[orellagillette]

I have arachnophobia and find watching documentaries about them helpful. I’m still a bit spooked by them but am quickly falling in love with jumping spiders.

[DeathMetalDerf]

I'm not scared at all anymore. That doesn't mean I'm careless and wouldn't be surprised by the random danglers rappelling from the ceiling, but now I don't run away screaming or even run away at all! I'm counting eyes, looking at how the eyes are affixed and arranged in the face, the size and shape of the spinnerets, and what the petapalps look like! I'm so, so grateful to you and your work! You're a heck of a guy, and living proof that knowledge is power! Thanks!!

[cosmicray]

Of the many spiders that occupy my house, Rustic Wolf Spiders (and other closely related Wolf Spiders) are fairly common and I consider them very good roommates. They are not aggressive, hide 99% of the time, eat the bugs you don't want in your house, and generally keep to themselves. 10/10 house spider, would recommend

[AlsanPine]

i have a lot of plants in my home and welcome spiders. i have never been bitten and never have problems with other bugs in my house. my favorite wolf spider has lived under my bed (at least that is where i see her run to). from time to time i get a visit at my computer desk from spiders (usually babies) coming down from the ceiling and i take them to my plants. spiders are wonderful creatures... they are all over my orchard and garden. not sure about the learning part... i have had spiders who clearly recognize me. excellent program.

[Walliin]

I absolutely adore these little critters. Wolf spiders are actually the main reason why I got invested and so interested in spiders in the first place, when I was a little kid some 25 years ago.
Great video, I genuinely enjoyed it and really learned a lot of new things that I didn’t know.
Good stuff, man!
Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪

[veraxiana]

Wolf spiders are definitely the largest spiders I come across locally, they love to hide under the leaves by me lol. Also glad I watched this video because i now know about a quarter of the spiders I was labeling wolf spiders aren't wolf spiders, they're grass spiders

[puttiplush]

The little captions on the spider pics/vids which convey the spider's fictional personality are SUPER cute. As was the funny cheese jumpscare; glad those two got away safely from the black-diamond rated lactic menace! Your editing is as always superb. And once again, I have to give praise to the affect in your voice: factual, reassuring, and compassionate. Your animations this episode were _charming_. Thank you for sharing your journey with the mama and her babies!! Until next time, don't be late and don't eat food.

[WayraHyena]

I will always tune into these videos but this one is gonna have a special place in my heart.
Wolf Spiders make me nostalgic. I went to a science camp as a tween and caught an ENORMOUS wolf spider- we were doing bug-catching that day. I was so thrilled, but i failed to get her into the bug box because my partner panicked. Now i love to see wolfies around my house, and they've always been incredibly polite creatures. I like to think of them as a tennant of the same apartment complex that works night shift and wants nothing to do with anyone. They prefer the dark, they prefer the most low-traffic areas of the house, and they love our cricket-infested basement.
Our basement that happens to be right next to my painting studio, so i see them running across my painting room floor a lot! Never been bitten, nevwr been threatened, and if you poke one they flee with great exaggerated leg movements. Like theyre fully aware that they are a small, fragile creature in a big, scarry world.
The big female who lives in my studio is named Decapitator because she keeps leaving cricket heads around.

[Vsolid]

I’m absolutely terrified of spiders, just looking at pictures of them much less videos makes me paranoid. HOWEVER, I still watch this series because these videos are incredibly entertaining. I guess that’s a testament to how good you are at this.