Does it look like a wolf? Then why is this one of the so-called wolf spiders? I presume it’s because the Lycosidae or wolf spiders don’t use webs to catch their prey, relying instead on their running speed and superb eyesight (they have 8 eyes lined up in 2 rows) to catch their food.

There are nine genera of wolf spiders, and the spiders shown here belong to one of 15 British species in the Pardosa genus. I cannot be more precise about the name because this is yet another family where identification is difficult; my guide book states that ‘even with the use of a microscope, identification can be extremely difficult’, so I’m just glad I managed to get the fact that these are Pardosa species verified.

All the Pardosa are brownish in colour, with similar markings on their abdomens in lighter and darker hues. As you can perhaps make out in my photos, even though these are all the same species, the markings are different in each spider. As you may also have gathered from looking at my photos, the females in this family carry their egg sacs around with them, presumably to protect them. Those sacs are usually a blue-green colour, with a paler seam down the centre.

If you want to see more of the spiders in this family, check out Steven Falk’s amazing album of photos on Flikr.