Hogna lenta

Hogna lenta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Lycosidae
Genus:	Hogna
Species:	H. lenta
Binomial name
Hogna lenta (Hentz, 1844)

Hogna lenta is a species of wolf spider in the family Lycosidae. ^{[1] [2]} It is native to the Southeast US, particularly Florida. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Diet

Hogna lenta primarily eat small insects, such as crickets, waxworms, and mealworms. If the preferred prey is not available, they will eat beetles. Newly emerged from the egg sac, they can eat small fruit flies. The species is a ground spider, which burrows in the dirt and use vibrations to sense if a prey has come to the mouth of the burrow. They have a neurotoxin which can be injected ito prey through the fangs. It paralyzes the prey while the spider drinks the hemolymph from the insect.

Natural defenses

Hogna lenta is naturally equipped with a venom powerful enough to paralyze a small insect. This venom poses no threat to a healthy adult human, often reported to feel like a bee sting. They generally raise their front legs in the air when threatened, to look bigger. If this does not work, they will lunge right in front of their attacker to startle them. Their last defense is biting the attacker. Due to their sheer size, most animals would not try to attack them. Their diameter is about the same as a 50-cent coin.

Habitat

H. lenta occupy a variety of habitats but are commonly found in sandy sediments. Burrows produced by H. lenta are vertical shafts that may contain a turret. A thick layer of silk and sediment may be used as a trap door. ^[5]

Lifestyle

Shortly after mating (between 1–2 weeks), the female constructs a large white egg sac bigger than its abdomen containing many eggs. They carry the egg sac on the spinnerets on their abdomen. Spiderlings grow slowly inside the eggs for 5–8 weeks, before finally hatching. When emerged from an egg sac, they are hardly visible, about the size of a small LED light. They stay on the mother's abdomen for about 1–4 weeks. When ready, they climb off and run off into the wild. When small, they are extremely agile, making them hard to catch. Many of the young spiders die off within a few days of leaving the mother's back. If they live a few weeks, they molt. This is a process of shedding their old skin. Spiders molt their old skin, as their new skin is malleable. They grow while the new skin is soft, than repeat the process. Young spiders can molt up to three times a month.

References

1. "Hogna lenta Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
2. "Hogna lenta Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
3. "Information on the Species Hogna lenta". NMBE World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
4. Dean DA (2016). "Catalogue of Texas spiders". ZooKeys 570: 1-703.
5. Hils, J. Michael; Hembree, Daniel I. (March 2015). "Neoichnology of the burrowing spiders Gorgyrella inermis (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) and Hogna lenta (Araneomorphae: Lycosidae)". Palaeontologia Electronica. 18 (1): 1–62. doi:10.26879/500 . Retrieved 12 January 2026.

• Bradley, Richard A. (2012). Common Spiders of North America. University of California Press.
• Ubick, Darrell (2005). Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual. American Arachnological Society.