How to Locate Wolf Spiders

Wolf spiders are commonly found in the home and outdoors in wooded areas. There are over 2,300 species and they are found all over the United States and the world in temperate climates. When locating a wolf spider, knowing its eating habits and other species-specific lifestyle characteristics can help to accomplish the task. After locating a wolf spider in the home or other location where it is not wanted, it can be captured and killed or released into a wooded area. Anyone trying to locate and capture a wolf spider should exercise caution because, while wolf spiders are known to be relatively non-aggressive, when threatened, they can bite repeatedly.

Things You'll Need

• Leather gloves
• Flashlight
• Broom
• Dead crickets

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Instructions

• 1

  Put on leather gloves. Wearing leather gloves while locating and capturing any type of spider will ensure that the spider will not be able to bite your hands or wrists. This step is especially important when trying to locate a poisonous arachnid. Wolf spiders are poisonous, but the venom is relatively weak and a bite is usually not serious.

• 2

  Wait until after dark and shine a flashlight into places where a wolf spider might be found. If searching within the home, shine the light into small cracks or other holes, like those around windows and baseboards. Wolf spiders also like to hide in piles of clothes or other cloth. Outside, wolf spiders tend to be located under wood piles and sometimes in decaying tree stumps. The light will illuminate the spider's eyes and make it easy to see; the light can also stun the insect, making its capture easier.

• 3

  Flush the spider out with a broom. If the light from a flashlight does not draw any wolf spiders out into the open, flushing a space with the bristles on a broom can make them flee. The broom can also be used if the spider is located near the ceiling on a wall or high up in a closet.

• 4

  Bait the spider with dead crickets. After finding a location where a wolf spider may be located, place dead crickets in front of the space. The wolf spider is predatory, but does not run down its prey. It tends to wait until the prey becomes motionless and then pounces. After laying the dead crickets in front of the spider's lair, turn off the lights and wait for the spider to come to the crickets. Shine the flashlight on the spider to stun it when it comes out of hiding. This method of baiting the wolf spider works best in regions where food sources are scarce, like the desert, for example.