Wolf Spider






Lots of people don't like bugs, but I find them fascinating and I cannot wait until spring arrives to capture images of more insects. I caught this picture a couple of days ago of a Wolf spider (Lycosidae) with a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens H gave me for Christmas. This lens is incredibly fun, but does take some practice to learn how to use. Once the optics are understood however, the lens delivers fantastic and wickedly sharp images. I hope to bring you more of the small and unseen in the future.

Back to the subject of the image... This particular Wolf Spider (Lycosidae gulosa) was found on our stairs and had to go outside, but not before being photographed. Wolf spiders are among the most common of spiders but are pretty serious hunters that apparently have fairly good eyesight. In fact, they have eight eyes with which to see their prey. Four of them are on the lower part of the face with two large eyes that look forward and two more that look upward allowing the spider to see in four directions at once.

Worldwide, there are approximately two to three thousand species of wolf spider and they cover the globe living in even cold climes like the Arctic which explains how this spider managed to survive in the middle of February in Northern Utah.

Posted: Wed - February 15, 2006 at 10:17 AM          

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