"What I Found on the Floor Recently"

            This is a Wood Louse Spider.  I usually find a few every year that make their way into the house. Although they have rather fierce looking fangs, they would rather run away than bite.  I carefully collected this one to photograph.  After it calmed down, it just sat still in a defensive posture, legs drawn up to protect its soft body.  Once I finished, I released it outside. 
 
"The woodlouse spider (Dysdera crocata) is a species of spider that preys primarily upon woodlice. Other common names refer to variations on the common name of its prey, including woodlouse hunter, sowbug hunter, sowbug killer, pillbug hunter and slayer spider.

"Dysdera crocata, which originated in the Mediterranean area, now has a cosmopolitan distribution, ranging from Eurasia to parts of North and South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

"Woodlouse spiders are usually found under logs, rocks, bricks, plant pots and in leaf litter in warm places, often close to woodlice. They have also been found in houses. They spend the day in a silken retreat made to enclose crevices in, generally, partially decayed wood, but sometimes construct tent-like structures in indents of various large rocks. Woodlouse spiders hunt at night and do not spin webs. Rather than spinning their webs at night, they use this time to search warm places for prey.

"Their diet consists principally of woodlice which—despite their tough exoskeleton—are pierced easily by the spider's large chelicerae; the spider usually stabs and injects venom into the woodlouse's soft underbelly while avoiding any noxious defensive chemicals. The woodlouse spider's powerful jaws are made to impale the thick armor of woodlice and are strong enough to give humans a painful bite. Although the woodlouse spider is a dangerous predator to woodlice, it is not known to be a health hazard to humans or smaller animals. Laboratory experiments have shown D. crocata will take other invertebrates and shows no particular preference for woodlice; these are simply the most common prey in its habitat.
 
"Other invertebrates preyed on by D. crocata include silverfish, earwigs, millipedes, burying beetles and crickets. This small but relatively large-fanged spider is very well equipped to prey on underground invertebrates of almost any kind.

"They have been known to bite humans if handled. Verified bites have caused no major medical problems. Localized itchiness at the bite site has been reported in some cases."  (Wikipedia)

Taken on: July 3, 2024

Tags:

Canon

EOS

5D more »

Mark

Macro

Lens

MP-E

65MM

1:2.8

1-5x

Arachnid

Wood

Louse

Spider

predatory « less

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