pond wolf spider (pardosa pseudoannulata)

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by Joseph K H Koh

Pond Wolf Spider
Pardosa pseudoannulata (Boesenberg & Strand) 1906

Female

This spider is easily recognised in the field by the two dark bands on the carapace and ring-like markings on the legs. The sternum on the underside of the spider is decorated with six dark spots.

Classification: Family Lycosidae, Wolf Spiders.
Habitat: Edge of ponds and reservoirs.
Female: 10 mm.
Male: 7 mm.
Distribution: Singapore (new record), Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Southeastern China.

close up of female with spiderlings on her back

Most Wolf Spiders hunt on the ground. Female Wolf Spiders are immediately recognisable in the field because they roam around with a spherical egg-sac attached to their spinnerets. The egg-sac is made up of two halves united by a seam.

Newly hatched spiderlings can sometimes be seen riding on the back of their mother (right, Pardosa sp. female). The spiderlings apparently do not feed while on the mother's back, surviving on the remains of their yolk. If they fall off, they can still hang on to the mother by a silken life-line, and can easily return to the mother's back via its legs or palps. The spiderlings disperse only after undergoing a moulting.

Eye arrangement of a Wolf Spider, Pardosa sp. Note the swollen palps (black) of the male.	The eyes are in three rows comprising a front row of four small eyes, and a median and back row of two larger eyes each. When a male meets a female, it waves its palps and performs a series of push-up movements.	A male Pardosa pseudoannulata waving its black-and-white palps during courtship
	These antics serve to establish the identity of the male, a signal to the female that it is a suitor of the same species to be mated with, and not food to be consumed!

From "A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders" by Joseph K. H. Koh
BP Guide to Nature Series published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by British Petroleum
© 2000 Joseph K H Koh