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.
I’ve been checking my local Hogna ‘incognita‘ spiders since late last year and looking forward to the time when I can get some good photographs of adults. They’ve already started to grow rapidly, and at 5:15 AM on June 15 I found my first sub-adult male. A few more molts and they’ll be adults!
“I’m perplexa, and I’ve been lost in the scientific wilderness for nearly 90 years. Can you help me find my siblings?”
Most who have done taxonomic research have run into at least one of those “lost” species that once identified seem to be forgotten. Some are later determined to be a synonym for an earlier species. Others apparently disappear from the ecosystem. Whatever the reason, the Lycosidae family is littered with more than its share. One of those species is doing well enough in Milam County to be found in a second location early this February. It has also been found in a few scattered locations in Texas as well as one in Ohio. Is it exceptionally rare? Is it as sneaky as the Texas panther? It’s impossible to know.
Schizocosa perplexa is a medium sized wolf spider. Its tans, browns, and blacks are a bit richer than other Schizocosa species, and the legs are orange-red under the covering hairs. Its black tummy (venter) is uniquely spectacular with a thin, pale tan stripe down the middle and dozens of pale tan spots and dashes on either side. The unique venter pattern makes species identification easy, but a ventral view is needed to be see it. When I finished taking photos, I let the spider walk out of the container into my hand. I could feel him move slowly to the edge of my palm, pause for an instant, and then hop onto the ground which was about 9″ lower. An awesome experience with a “lost” species.
Here is the species history from the human perspective:
1. 3/25/1935 male only collected at Garland Swimming Pool in Dallas by S. Jones 2. 12/36 male only first described by Elizabeth B. Bryant at Cambridge, MA 3. 1937-1977 crickets? 4. 1978 C.D. Dondale and J.H. Redner decide to exclude perplexa from their revision of the Schizocosa genus, probably due to lack of information. 5. 1979-2017 crickets? 6. 4/14/2018 Sara Jane Rose finds one in Ohio 7. 5/21/2018 Sara Jane Rose uploads and observation on iNaturalist 8. 5/26/2018 Scott Snyder sees a female with egg sac near Temple and uploads observation on iNaturalist. Not identified until 2 years later by me. 9. 5/27/2020 I start seeing these and soon suspect they are perplexa based on Sara Rose’s observation. 10. 3/15/2021 I finally get a ventral view and confirm species. 11. 5/1/2021 Meghan Cassidy (who tentatively identified mine early on) finds a female at Lewisville Lake and uploads observation on iNaturalist.
An early lack of interest and/or funding was likely why it took 83 years to find out what a female looked like. The species deserved more follow up than it got, and that’s something amateur scientists have helped with. As far as I know, I’m the only one who has seen these in the wild on a regular basis. Little is known about their lifestyle, but I can speculate. Evidently, they have a huge range, but only a few locations are known. This year I found late perplexa juveniles at the edge of vernal ponds in wooded areas. A common, smaller Schizocosa species was also present. The smaller species may have been there in search of aquatic insect larvae, and perplexa in search of the smaller Schizocosa. Based on previous observations, the perplexa adults have a greater tendency to be found among died leaves and wander about. If vernal ponds in wooded areas are essential to perplexa growth, flood control projects have probably resulted in insignificantly reduced habitat for them. At the same time, the large number of ponds and lakes have greatly benefited Pardosa wolf spiders.
Yesterday morning, it was very foggy at my house. As usual, I stopped to enjoy the droplets of water in the grass and hanging on the chicken wire at the henhouse. On my way back from feeding the chickens, I happened to glance at the steps to the RV that’s parked next to our garage. I was entranced by the jewel-like effect the dew had on the spider webs that are usually just busy trapping flies and other insects.
Arachnid artistry
Yes, spiderwebs have a job to do, but that doesn’t mean one can’t admire their construction and strength. That water had to be heavy, but the webs held up. There was also a light breeze, and I wish I’d thought to take video of the webs as they danced around, still holding on to most of their water droplets.
This one looks extra heavy
I didn’t see any evidence of spiders in any of the webs I saw, including ones around the grounds near my house. They were probably avoiding their webs until it dried off a bit.
You can see how dewy it was in the background grass
I figured most of the webs I saw were woven by an orbweaver, judging from their shape. I know that the yellow garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) are mostly gone, so I ruled them out. But I’ve seen a couple of different orbweavers around this fall and I’m not sure which ones they are, because I haven’t gotten any confirmation from iNaturalist reviewers (follow the link to view and confirm or deny my guesses!). Most appear to have been Western spotted orbweavers (Neoscona oaxacensis) or tuft-legged orbweavers (Mangora placida).
The center of this one is rather wonky but does the job.
This morning was still damp, but not as foggy, so the webs were back to being almost invisible, but hey, I spotted a brown lump in one of the webs. I found her! The webs by the RV seem to be made by yet another orb weaving friend, the furrow orbweaver (Larinioides cornutus), which I have seen before in Milam County. The pattern is quite different from the others I’d been seeing this summer, so I’m fairly confident, even though no one has confirmed the observation yet (I just put it up a couple of hours ago).
I was happy to be able to know to whom I owed the debt of gratitude for the spectacle of web adornment I got to enjoy yesterday.
I do think maybe one or two of the webs were made by different spiders, especially the one by the front gate, which was made by an old spidey buddy of mine, who, judging by her coloration, is probably the Spotted Orbweaver (Neoscona crucifera). These webs aren’t quite as neat and tidy as the ones by the RV.
The webThe spider
Well, regardless of whether my identifications are right or not, I’ve had fun with the orbweavers in my vicinity, and hope you enjoyed learning a little more about them. Below are some more of my photos of these cool arachnids and their webs.
yellow garden spider (verified)banded garden spider (verified)Western spotted orbweavertuft-legged orbweaver? not sure. not an expert!
