Arctosa cinerea

Riverbank wolf spider ( Arctosa cinerea)

The riverside wolf spider ( Arctosa cinerea) is one of the largest wolf spiders of Central Europe. Of the genus Arctosa nine species are represented in Europe. The riverside wolf spider was, inter alia, of the Arachnologischen Society ( AraGes ) elected to the spider of the year 2007. It is also called sand wolf spider, Riverbank giant wolf spider or Sandtarantel. The distribution of the riverbank wolf spider is restricted to some sandy banks of rivers, lakes and the sea. To the north it reaches Scotland and Ireland, but is absent in southern England. Thanks to their gray-brown coloring it is very well camouflaged and is therefore rarely discovered, although the animals sometimes go a day on hunting trips. The females reach a length of 17 mm, males 14 mm. The animals dig like other wolf spider holes in the ground, which are lined with spider silk or hide under stones and angespültem material.