Garden Wolf (Lycosa species - L.godeffroyi or L.gilberta)
The Garden Wolf Spider is a large spider that lives in a burrow in the ground,
often in gardens. This one is in a 3cm diameter burrow. They hide in the burrow
during the day (see below) and are active at night. In hunting they wait, with head
sticking out of the burrow (picture above and far below), for passing insects.
They are quite commonly seen when dug up in the garden.
If you see a 1-3cm burrow
in the garden, go out with a torch at night and you will most likely see it.
This spider was photographed at night in a Gap Road garden. The body of a female
is 3.5cm long. The species is either Lycosa godeffroyi, which has a jet black underside,
or Lycosa gilberta, which has a large pale brown patch centrally on the otherwise
jet black underside. It would need to be handled to accurately identify the species.
This isn't an aggresive spider but can inflict a painful, mildly toxic
bite if hassled.
Below is probably a juvenile Garden Wolf. It can occasionally be seen wandering
around the house in Summer. Wolf spiders are ground-dwelling spiders and can't
climb slippery walls and windows or hang from ceilings (like a Huntsman or White-
tailed Spiders) so are often seen on a wooden floor or, like this one,
at the bottom of a window pane.
