Subject: Cockroach killer!!!
Location: Memphis, TN, USA
November 7, 2015 3:49 pm
Hi – can anyone identify this cockroach killing spider from Memphis, TN?
We think it’s probably a wolf spider from our google search.
Signature: Josh
Dear Josh,
We agree that this is a Wolf Spider. Wolf Spiders do not build a web to snare prey. They hunt without a web and they are often nocturnal, which makes them effective in controlling Cockroach populations. We hope your image will cause more of our readers to have a tolerance and appreciation of harmless Wolf Spiders.
I’m conflicted. While I celebrate the death of any cockroach, a furry spider that is big enough and fast enough to catch one and doesn’t stay put on a web is beyond my ability to deal. I would want to watch and at the same time I would need to run away screaming while doing that heebee-geebee dance.
My eleven-year-old son was scared when we found a 2 inch spider in our bathtub. I caught the spider in a jar and proceeded to study it’s eye positions, numbers of eyes and markings. With help from the Internet I determined that it was in the wolf spider family. We have been having a infestation of moths and Spider had come to hunt them. We put three moths in the jar and wolf spider ate them all. We will let her go outside but I’m sure that if she’s hungry she’ll come back hunting for moths at night. I just won’t tell my son that so he can sleep .