Size: Female 7-14mm, male 7-9mm.

Habitat: The ground wolf spider inhabits mostly damp areas, where it can be found under stones and other debris. It also frequents sand dunes

Distribution: Western and central Europe.

UK Distribution: Common throughout Britain.

Rarity: Common.

Description: The ground wolf spider is brown overall, with dark parallel lines across the carapace, with a dark median stripe that continues halfway down the dorsal side of the abdomen (cardiac mark). The males have dark tibiae and metatarsi on their first pair of legs.

Distinguishing Features: The ground wolf spider is similar to the rustic wolf spider Trochosa ruricola, but exhibits a darker cardiac marking. It is also similar to Trochosa spinipalpis, however the males palps in T.spinipalpis exhibit a cluster of dense spines and overall the habitats are very different, with T.spinipalpis favouring fens, beat bogs and marshy areas. It is also far rarer than the ground wolf spider, listed as nationally scarce within the UK.

My experiences: My first and only encounter with the ground wolf spider was in a sand dune in Porthcawl. At first I thought it was another generic wolf spider, possibly a Pardosa species, however, when I returned home and examined the abdominal markings and eye arrangement, I realised it was in fact a ground wolf spider.

Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Arthropoda
Subphylum - Chelicerata
Class - Arachnida
Order - Araneae
Infraorder - Araneomorphae
Family - Lycosidae
Genus - Trochosa
Species - Trochosa terricola