I got bitten by a couple of these in San Clemente, caught one and brought it to someone at UC Irvine, back when there was a Bike Religion store on campus and I was they Buyer for the chain. They said it was a wolf spider. I was told there is a good bit of variance in the species that can make them difficult to identify further, but they are common to SoCal.
Just painful, but deeply so. It looked about like a mosquito bite, but under the surface it went deeper and impacted muscles to a minor extent for around a month. I was commuting full time by bicycle and it had noticeable effects.
I was told there is a good bit of variance in the species that can make them difficult to identify further, but they are common to SoCal.
That’s all correct. Wolf spiders are the second biggest family of spiders after the jumping spiders. And they are pretty much common in every part of the world that has spiders.
And while they are incredibly diverse within their family, the family itself is quite easy to identify (with only a few other families being false postives, like the aptly named false wolf spiders).
That said, while the OP’s picture isn’t good enough for an ID, you can rule out a lot of what it isn’t and that includes wolf spiders. Their legs are usually more stumpy and don’t reach the proportions of the front legs shown in the picture.
In German (and probably more European languages) we have a spider called the “Tarantel” (Lycosa tarantula) which is one of the largest wolf spiders (and just general largest spider) in Europe.
So the entire family of tarantulas (in English) got their name from a wolf spider initially. Probably named by European explorers that didn’t know any better
Thanks! I’ll take a look again. The wolf spider pics I saw looked like tarantulas.
I got bitten by a couple of these in San Clemente, caught one and brought it to someone at UC Irvine, back when there was a Bike Religion store on campus and I was they Buyer for the chain. They said it was a wolf spider. I was told there is a good bit of variance in the species that can make them difficult to identify further, but they are common to SoCal.
What happened to the bite? Just painful or any necrotic flesh or other symptoms?
Just painful, but deeply so. It looked about like a mosquito bite, but under the surface it went deeper and impacted muscles to a minor extent for around a month. I was commuting full time by bicycle and it had noticeable effects.
Damn. Don’t wanna get bit by one of these
That’s all correct. Wolf spiders are the second biggest family of spiders after the jumping spiders. And they are pretty much common in every part of the world that has spiders.
And while they are incredibly diverse within their family, the family itself is quite easy to identify (with only a few other families being false postives, like the aptly named false wolf spiders).
That said, while the OP’s picture isn’t good enough for an ID, you can rule out a lot of what it isn’t and that includes wolf spiders. Their legs are usually more stumpy and don’t reach the proportions of the front legs shown in the picture.
What do you think it might be then? Thanks
See the other top level comments.
Oh you’re in for a fun spider fact now!
In German (and probably more European languages) we have a spider called the “Tarantel” (Lycosa tarantula) which is one of the largest wolf spiders (and just general largest spider) in Europe.
So the entire family of tarantulas (in English) got their name from a wolf spider initially. Probably named by European explorers that didn’t know any better
Woah! That’s a big spider but looks kinda cute haha. Thanks for the fun fact.