eaneubauer 的日誌

Link to presentation slide show:

https://eaneubauer.ipower.com/Williamson_County_Wolf_Spiders.pdf

I encounter many wild Lycosids. Every now and then I see behavior that just amazes me. Although I was brought up being told that anthropomorphizing any animal behavior was unscientific, it benefits any animal to be able to read the thoughts of another whether predator or prey. There's no reason to assume this doesn't apply to "lower" animals as it would be equally beneficial to them. Perhaps it's simply an attribute of life.

The conflicted Rabidosa rabida: Just yesterday I was pulling out Johnson grass. As I looked ahead to the next plant, I noticed a somewhat mangled grasshopper lying on a leaf blade near the stalk. I looked closer and there was an adult female spider which had perceived me as a potential threat and moved a small distance down the stalk. She moved uncertainly and turned back and forth a couple of times, clearly unsure whether she should return to her juicy meal or head to greater safety. I backed off, and she returned to her meal almost immediately. Later when the remains were small enough to carry, I saw her carrying it away at a sloth-like pace. I had thought wolf spiders only had two speeds, stop and fast. She was apparently trying to avoid attention, and mine in particular.

The caring mother: Before dawn two days ago I came across another Rabidosa rabida with her mass of spiderlings. She had parked herself on a small, mowed tuft of KR bluestem. A small number of her offspring had gotten off and were exploring. I watched for a while, and saw they were getting on and off her back by running up and down her legs. This confirmed what I had already suspected. Those that were on the grass were running up and down both sides of each blade. Presumably there were things to eat, but they were too small to see. This would be normal foraging behavior for the rest of their lives, including running up to the top of 6' Johnson grass stalks.