is this a wolf spider and why odd legs ?

Naturenutz · #1 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 04:49 PM

Took this today,is it a wolf , its front right legs are different for some reason ?

Wild-Woman · #2 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 04:58 PM

I should think that the odd legs are a result of new ones growing to replace lost ones although if they're like crabs, have to wait for each moult for them to grow to anything matching the size of the other legs.

Action_Man · #3 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 05:00 PM

Also its more likely to be Pisaura mirabilis

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Meta menardi · #4 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 05:01 PM

The spider is Pisaura mirabilis. The odd loo of the legs may be due to the loss of those front 2 legs and then their only partial regeneration when the spider underwent ecdysis (shedding the exoskeleton).

My daughter had tarantula which had a similar atrophied back leg. When it shed again, the leg came back as a normal leg.