The Grass Spider is all about speed. They tend to stay hiding in the funnel at the end of their web and simply wait for another insect to walk across the web. Unlike many spider webs, the Grass Spider’s web is not very sticky. They don’t use the web to catch their prey, but instead, they wait for the vibrations to tell them where the prey is, then use their speed to run out and attack the insect.
Grass Spiders are extremely timid spiders. If they are out on their web and they see the shadow of a human, or anything larger than they are, it will run and hide back inside of its funnel. If you should see one of the males wandering around looking for a mate, they will always try and run from you rather than stand and fight.
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| Photographed by: Paige Borgeson - Muskegon Michigan |
Description:
Grass Spiders do not vary much on their description., though their abdomens can often enlarge and look more like an oblong balloon. The abdomen has two black/brown and tan stripes that run length-wise, starting at the front and fading into the coloring near the spinnerets. They have oblong abdomens that taper toward the long extruding spinnerets. Almost as if the abdomen tapers into a point at the back.
Note* -- The Grass Spider looks very much like some species of the Wolf Spider. There are two very good ways to make the distinction between the two. 1) The Eye pattern. Grass Spiders have two horizontal rows of small eyes, all in the front of the spider. The Wolf Spider only has one row of four small eyes, with a pair of larger eyes above that, and yet another pair of smaller eyes above the larger eyes. 2) The spinnerets. Where the Grass Spider's spinnerets are long and easy to see, the Wolf Spider's is short and sometimes hard to see at all. The Wolf Spiders abdomen is also more of a rounder shape in the back where the Grass Spider's abdomen narrows towards the spinnerets.
The legs are banded in brown and tan and darker brown colors, and covered with finer hairs and heavier spiny hairs.
The Cephalothorax is a lighter brown coloring and has two dark brown wide strips running lengthwise.
Size:
Approx. Body length =¾” (19mm)
Approx. Leg span = 1 ½ inches (38mm).
Web:
The Grass Spider lays a flat, horizontal web (like a floor) that is thick and always has a funnel shape at one end, where it hides.
Bite Info:
It is actually pretty rare to be bit by a Grass Spider. They are such timid spiders that they will always prefer to run and hide than to stand and fight. Other than grabbing or pressing against the spider, it is extremely hard to get bit. Yet, even if you are somehow good enough to get bit by a Grass Spider, you have nothing to fear. Its bite is not overly painful and at its worst will only cause some minor swelling and itchiness that will fade. Their worst bite is less than a typical bee sting.