Anyone know what made this hole? - Geolycosa

Moved

… Charley Eiseman, 24 November, 2009 - 11:46pm

Burrowing Wolf Spider - Geolycosa sp.?

I went back, after reading all your ideas, and looked at the holes again. I found 6 or 7 holes, ranging in size from 1/8" to 3/8". All had raised lips made of pieces of vegetation - Red Cedar needles or birch bark. I put the new photos up on a web page:http://www.aprairiehaven.com/?page_id=4197

The sand balls aren't held together with webbing - I poked them and they just fell apart.

I also found a photo on bugguide of a similar hole, with a guess that it was made by a Burrowing Wolf Spider - Geolycosa sp. http://bugguide.net/node/view/225986. That hole is slightly larger than the ones I found, but very similar construction.

… marcie oconnor, 16 November, 2009 - 4:57pm

Wolf spider burrows

The burrows on your web page are unquestionably wolf spider burrows. It may be that wolf spiders don't always tie their excavated material together with silk, or that they don't use enough to be noticeable--I haven't directly observed that, but was only passing along what I've read.

… Charley Eiseman, 17 November, 2009 - 11:21am

Wolf Spider burrows

Thanks a lot for your help. The spiders seem to be dug in for the winter. I'll go back in the spring and see if I can see them.

… marcie oconnor, 18 November, 2009 - 3:26pm

Sand balls

Thanks for all the suggestions! - I'll go back and see if I can see the inhabitant of the hole, and also investigate the sand balls to see if they're held together with silk.

… marcie oconnor, 4 November, 2009 - 6:52am

Sand balls

I've seen balls of sand associated with two types of burrows: fiddler crab (which can obviously be ruled out) and tiger beetle larva. Tiger beetle larvae excavate their burrows by flipping chunks of sand from the entrance, and with enough soil moisture the balls retain their shape. 1/4" would be pretty big for a tiger beetle larva's hole, and I don't think I've seen one amid ground litter like this--they seem to always be in bare earth. So my first guess would be that this is a wolf spider burrow. Wolf spiders are said to excavate their burrows by tying the soil together in little pellets that they deposit a short distance from the entrance. So if you were to investigate the sand balls and found them held together with silk, that would confirm the spider hypothesis. Both tiger beetle larvae and wolf spiders deepen their burrows to overwinter, so that's presumably what is going on here.

… Charley Eiseman, 4 November, 2009 - 2:52am

Based on the apparent turret

Based on the apparent turret around the hole it must be a spider, either a wolf spider or one of the small(dwarf) tarantulas would be my thinking.

… Gordon C. Snelling, 4 November, 2009 - 6:40am

I wondered about that

but wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not. It should be apparent in person, though.

… Charley Eiseman, 4 November, 2009 - 8:22am

Just a guess...

Please wait until someone else can tell you more, as this is just an observation...I just wanted to say that the Bembicini sand wasps around my house often make similar holes. It could be a beetle of some sort, or maybe a spider. But I really don't know.

… Mandy Howe, 3 November, 2009 - 9:41pm

Do you ever see

the wasps leave distinct balls of sand like this? Wasps generally spray sand behind them as they dig, leaving a mound of excavated material without any discernible chunks in my experience.

… Charley Eiseman, 4 November, 2009 - 3:03am

Finally

I finally found the photos that I wanted to show Marcie a week and a half ago when she posted this. When I couldn't find them, I sort of backed down because I didn't have proof of what I was talking about. lol. And also, now I know that a sand wasp is not a yellow jacket, and vice versa. :) Since I found the photos today I thought you could see what I was talking about. Not that it really matters in the long run, anyways...but eh, hakuna matata. :) And these yellow jackets are certainly not the culprit in Marcie's photo, I guess. They prefer old empty animal burrows to build their hives underground...and wouldn't begin from scratch as it seems something in this photo has (see, I did some homework, lol).

… Mandy Howe, 14 November, 2009 - 3:42am

Sand balls

Very interesting! I'm pretty sure my holes aren't the same - the holes look quite different - but it's interesting to see such similar sand balls and to know what made them. Thanks for finding the photos.

… marcie oconnor, 14 November, 2009 - 7:16am

You're right

They don't always leave such nice, neat balls of sand. I was just throwing out some possibilities for Marcie to think about.

… Mandy Howe, 4 November, 2009 - 5:17pm