Hogna ‘incognita’ reaches another seasonal milestone

by Eric Neubauer

My first adult incognita of the year. Like birds, wolf spider males are often more eye catching than the females. In the case of this species, this means a bolder pattern with greater contrasts like this one here.

Males mature ahead of the females, but I think I also observed a female with only one molt to go which means they’ll start maturing soon too.

I’m just learning how to recognize females as they approach maturity. At present I’m assuming that if they’re big enough to be recognizably male and they aren’t, then they must be females.

The timing appears to simultaneous across its range, with recent observations from Oklahoma, Kansas, and for the first time ever, Louisiana. Even those that have been lab raised since last October are on schedule with the first male molting into an adult last week.