Bug FAQKoch's Wolf Spider
Alopecosa kochi · Order: Araneae · Family: Lycosidae
Koch's wolf spider is a medium-sized, active hunter found in open, dry areas across much of North America. Adults are dark brown to gray with a lighter stripe on the cephalothorax and pale patterned abdomen; males are generally darker with slimmer abdomens. They hunt daytime insects, females carry egg sacs on their spinnerets and later the spiderlings ride on the mother’s back.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males tend to be darker overall, have a narrower abdomen, and show more distinct banding on their legs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 8 to 13 mm in body length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Most sightings are outdoors, though they may wander indoors in colder months seeking shelter.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They mainly eat small insects like flies, beetles, and ants. They detect prey movement with their eyes and sensory hairs and then quickly pounce.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females attach egg sacs to their spinnerets and after hatching the spiderlings ride on the mother’s back for several days.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Most records are from March, with additional sightings in winter and summer months. They are active during the day in temperate climates.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Their range covers southern Canada, most of the United States, and northern Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It belongs to the wolf-spider family Lycosidae and the genus Alopecosa, which are active hunters rather than web builders.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 20 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Lycosidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecosa_kochi
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.