Wolf spiders are agile predators. They do not spin webs but instead hunt down their prey on foot. Wolf spiders are timid and will often seek shelter when threatened. Females carry around large egg sacs on their rear abdomen when reproducing. Once the eggs hatch, the baby spiders will climb on to the rear of the mother feeding on her prey until they start to grow and can fend for themselves. Wolf spiders are typically brown or gray in color and often have white markings.
Yellow garden spiders are brightly colored and prefer to make their home in open fields or grasslands where there is plenty of direct sunlight. These spiders are also common around homes in urban environments. They can make webs up to 2 feet in diameter and feed on insects that get caught in their web. They lay a special noncatch silk at the center of their web called a stabilimentum. This structure is usually brightly colored and may help camouflage the waiting spider to other insects. It also may help ward off potential predators with its bright colors. Yellow garden spiders are not harmful to humans and help control insect populations around homes and gardens.
The female black widow is famous for its bright red hourglass pattern on the underside of her abdomen. Males lack the red pattern and are much smaller than females. The southern black widow gets its name from the fact that females will often eat their mate after reproduction. The venom from black widows is especially toxic to people and a bite can result in severe discomfort around the site of the bite; deaths have been attributed to black widow bites, but they are rare in healthy adults. Black widows are common in the South, preferring to make their homes close to the ground near hard, sheltered environments such as rock piles, decaying wood or small cracks and crevices in walls.
The brown recluse is also known as the violin or fiddleback spider because of its distinctive pattern that has the appearance of a violin running from the head of the spider to its rear. These markings alone are not enough to definitively identify the spider since several other species in the South may also appear to have the same markings. Instead, careful examination of the eyes of a brown recluse, which has three pairs of eyes pointed forward, is the best way to identify these spiders. As the name suggests the brown recluse is secretive and is not an aggressive spider. However, they are poisonous to humans. Though most bites will cause mild discomfort for a short time, some bites can produce painful symptoms, including necrotic lesions and systemic reactions that include fever and vomiting.
