False wolf spider has settled in the Netherlands and reproduces here | animals

From September 2021 to September 2022, the species was counted more than five hundred times. For spider specialist Jinze Noordijk of the EIS knowledge center there is sufficient evidence that the spider has settled permanently in the Netherlands.

The false wolf spider is not so much false in nature. Its name is derived from the wolf spider. It looks like it, but it’s not really a wolf spider. Its body can be 19 millimeters long and has a yellow-brown to gray-brown color.

The spider can bite, but does this mainly in self-defense. Victims of a bite describe different consequences, Waarneming.nl writes about the species. Noordijk says that the spider is more aggressive than its congeners.

It is difficult to say exactly how often the species occurs in the country. According to Noordijk, the spider lives a “hidden life”, making it difficult to spot the animal.

So far, false wolf spiders have been observed in every province, except Flevoland, Noordijk continues. Nijmegen, Arnhem, Utrecht and the south of Limburg see the relatively large spider most often. The national spider count is next weekend. Then it is possible to gauge again how the species is doing.