How To Hug A Cricket 101
Except for the genus Sosippus, these wolf spiders do not use their silk to make a snare. Some use their silk to line a tubular tunnel in the ground. At this time of year the Texas prairies are full of their silk dens glistening in the sunlight on sparse tufts of grass. Some take regular shelter in natural crevices. Still others spend their entire lives wandering around with no fixed abode. Unlike many other spiders they have good vision and they chase their prey.
This is a ... watch my lips ... this is a LIVE specimen (the wolf spider, not the cricket). The cricket's innards have turned to soup and he's feeling no pain.
Uploaded on August 11, 2010