1. Wolf Spider
Tagalog name: gagambang lobo
Identifying marks:
- abdomen is oval
- legs are long and tapered
- colors are usually dull, with gray, brown, and black predominating.
- they do not build webs but catch their prey directly.
- eggs are enclosed in a silken sac attached on the females posterior end of their abdomen
- after hatching, the young (spiderlings) cling to the abdomen of the female
Food: planthoppers, leafhoppers, caseworms, leaffolders, whorl maggots, newly hatched larvae, and moths of stem borers.
It consumes 7-45 hoppers per day. It is the major predator of planthoppers and leafhoppers. Spiderlings also attack planthopper and leafhopper nymphs.
2. Lynx Spider
Tagalog name: gagambang may tinik
Identifying marks:
- legs are conspicuously long with brown spines
- adapted to jumping and climbing rapidly and jerkily among stems and leaves
- abdomen tapers to a point behind, and has reddish longitudinal band and four gray diagonal bands each on the laterals
- they do not make webs and are wanderers
- they catch their prey by stalking and pouncing
- female closely guards its cocoon-like egg mass on the foliage.
Food:</strong moths, planthoppers, leafhoppers, caseworms, leaffolders, stem borer moths, rice seed bugs, and whorl maggots. They consume 2-3 moths daily.
3. Jumping Spider
Tagalog name: gagambang lumulundag
Identifying marks:
- measures 5-9 mm in length
- body is usually compact
- legs are short and powerful.
- not quick to move when disturbed unlike the wolf spider
- large eyes with large front legs
- makes a catlike way of catching prey
- does not construct webs but spins cocoons for its egg sacs or to enclose itself during molting
Food: It preys on planthoppers, leafhoppers, adult flies, and other small insects. This spider can consume 2-8 preys a day.
