‘Awfully creepy’ photo shows large spotted spider was actually covered in its babies
Wolf spiders are not known for being spotted, so it was something of a puzzle when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posted a photo on Facebook Monday of one covered in a dazzling array of “orange dots.”
New species?
Nope. Closer inspection revealed the dots were in fact “dozens of newly hatched wolf spider babies,” the service said.
“Wolf spider eggs are wrapped in silk and carried under their mother. Once the eggs hatch, baby spiders hitch a ride on her back, where they stay until they get big,” the Fish and Wildlife Service explained.
The photo, taken in a bed of mud, has understandably given chills to people on social media, with nearly 2,000 reactions in less than a day, many from people likening it to the stuff of nightmares. The photo was taken in Clark County, Ohio, by wildlife biologist Megan Seymour, who says she found it under a piece of sheet metal.
“Get me a flame thrower,” Debby Mesiti posted on the department’s Facebook page.
“I got the hibby jibbies looking at this,” Mandy England wrote.
“I’m trying to take the scientific high road approach, but, geez, that’s awfully creepy,” Stacey Stutzman wrote.
Others added anecdotes of encounters with wolf spiders, which are among the biggest spiders in North America.
“You haven’t seen creepy till you whack it with a shoe,” Mark Dunlap said.
“I accidentally stepped on one as a child and was amazed and terrified when what seemed like millions of baby spiders went everywhere,” Kathryn Edmands wrote. “The mom lived; my innocence did not.”
The wolf spider is described by DesertUSA.com as being “hairy as Bigfoot, swift as a barracuda and nearly the size of a tarantula.”
They grow up to 1.2 inches in length and are known as “the sprinters of the spider world,” according to National Geographic.
“Most of the thousands of species in this family don’t spin webs; instead, they chase and pounce on their insect prey like the wolves,” National Geographic reports. “Once wolf spiders catch their prey, they either mash it up into a ball or inject venom into it, liquefying the internal organs into a wolf-spider smoothie.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 7:54 AM with the headline "‘Awfully creepy’ photo shows large spotted spider was actually covered in its babies."