Wolf Spiders

What Are Wolf Spiders?

The wolf spider is the big, hairy, fast brown spider that Texans find on the garage floor at night, in the bathtub in October, and in the porch light's circle chasing a cricket. It looks like it should be dangerous and it isn't. Texas has more than a dozen species, and the two you'll meet most are the rabid wolf spider, a striped, long-legged runner about an inch across, and the Carolina wolf spider, which is the largest wolf spider in North America and can span two inches or more with its legs out.

Ways to tell a wolf spider from the other big spiders in a Texas house:

• The eyes. Two large eyes face forward from the top of the head with a row of four smaller eyes below them. Hold a flashlight at eye level and scan the lawn on a warm night: the sparkle of tiny green points looking back at you is wolf spider eyeshine. Nothing else in the yard does that.
• The stripes. Dark brown with paler tan or cream stripes running the length of the body. A brown spider with no stripes at all is a different animal.
• The hair. The body and legs are visibly hairy. Recluses are smooth.
• The babies. A female carries her egg sac fastened behind her, and after the spiderlings hatch they ride on her back for a week or more. Squash a female in that week and you'll watch what looks like the spider exploding into dozens of tiny ones. Nothing is wrong with your house. That's just what a wolf spider looks like in late summer.

Wolf Spider or Brown Recluse? A Two-Minute Check

This is the question behind most of the calls we get about wolf spiders, so here is the short version. A wolf spider is hairy, striped, an inch or more across, and running across the floor or sitting in the open. A brown recluse is smooth, a plain uniform tan with a dark violin mark, small enough to fit inside a quarter, and tucked in the corner of a box, a closet or a shelf where nothing has moved in months. Wolf spiders hunt in the open; recluses hide. If the spider is on the garage floor at night with a flashlight on it, it is almost certainly a wolf spider. If it fell out of a stored sweater, read our guide to brown recluse spiders in Texas before you do anything else.

The other common mix-up is the grass spider, which has similar stripes, runs just as fast, and builds a flat funnel-shaped web in the lawn or a shrub. If it came out of a web, it isn't a wolf spider.

Wolf Spider Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are Wolf Spiders Dangerous?

No. A wolf spider would rather run than bite, and bites happen only when one is trapped against skin, usually in a shoe, a glove or a towel. The bite hurts, about like a bee sting, and can swell and itch for a day or two, and that is the extent of it for nearly everyone. 

Their size and speed earn them a reputation they haven't done anything to deserve, and in a Texas yard they eat crickets, roaches and the insects you'd rather not have..

Why Do I Have a Wolf Spider Problem?

Two reasons, and they usually arrive together. The first is food: a yard with plenty of crickets, roaches and beetles under the mulch, in the ivy and around the porch light is a good hunting ground. The second is the calendar. In Texas the indoor wave comes in October, when the first cool nights send males out looking for mates and send everything that lives at ground level looking for warmth. 

They come in under the garage door, along the slab where the weatherstripping has worn, and through the gap at the bottom of a patio door. A house that sees one wolf spider all summer can see one a night for three weeks in the fall. That is a season, not an infestation.

Where Will I Find Wolf Spiders?

When living outside near our homes, these spiders often find their way inside Dallas houses, garages, and sheds while chasing prey.

Wolf spiders do not build webs to capture their prey like many other spiders. As the name suggests, wolf spiders run after, chase down, and pounce on their prey.

Wolf spiders are not great climbers. Therefore, they live and hunt at ground level. When inside of our homes, these spiders travel along the floor and against walls. They hide underneath furniture, in closets, and basements.

How Do I Get Rid of Wolf Spiders?

If you have noticed large, fast-moving spiders living in or around your Dallas home, reach out to the professionals at All-Safe Pest & Termite & Termite.

We understand the habits and behaviors of wolf spiders, how to eliminate them, and how to keep them from returning. Our experienced professionals help Dallas home and business owners maintain pest-free properties using the latest and most effective products. To learn more about our eco-friendly spider control solutions, reach out to us today!

How Can I Prevent Wolf Spiders in the Future?

Most wolf spider prevention is insect prevention. Fewer crickets and roaches around the foundation means fewer spiders hunting them. Start with these:

• Reduce the number of insects living in your yard and home.
• Switch porch and garage lights to warm-toned or yellow bulbs, which draw fewer of the insects wolf spiders hunt, and fit a new seal on the bottom of the garage door.
• Cut overgrown vegetation back to reduce hiding spots near the perimeter of your home.
• Keep firewood, landscape timbers and potted plants off the ground and away from the foundation, because wolf spiders shelter under all three.
• Keep storage areas within your home free of clutter and debris.
• Remove excess piles of wood, brush piles, and leaf piles from your yard that wolf spiders could hide underneath.