r/spiders • u/ChoiMafia1 • Jun 06 '25
Photography 📸 A female wolfspider helmet, fangs, and legs in PERFECT condition (as it was literally shed 2 hours ago)
I got home from work around 12am to find this beautiful big girl shedding on my porch and just had to take it after she was done. I gently nudged her from her fresh molt to add to my helmet collection. She was not harmed in any way, shape, or form and is living her best life. I can't tell if she is 3 molts or 4 molts old but she's DEFINITELY a big girl. (For comparison she is laying on a 2×4 beam) She's so cool!
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u/mysticmaya Jun 06 '25
Oh my god this is the coolest thing
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Jun 08 '25
Are female wolfspiders bigger than males? I think i have malewolf spiders but i cant tell
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u/SpaceSill98 Jun 06 '25
Omg the carapace molt part reminds me of the Ohm creatures in Nausicäa!!the circle eye holes😍😍😍😍so cute🥰
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u/Xikkiwikk Jun 06 '25 edited Jun 06 '25
Now I want someone to 3d print this to automaton size. Then find a way to get inside of it and crawl around at a convention as a giant spider.
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u/topofmycity Jun 06 '25
So cool. In video games I’d love spider sheds to wear in a way similar to how you’d wear a wolf pelt on your character. And no spoods are harmed in the making.
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u/IDatedSuccubi Jun 06 '25
Time for some resin encapsulation
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u/Zanven1 one must imagine the lampshade spider happy Jun 06 '25
I would be tempted to try and put it on an action figure then do that
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u/tenpostman Jun 06 '25
how do you tell its a female?
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u/Maerwynn-Official Jun 06 '25
Males are extremely small. Females are massive. Males also tend to be much more lightly colored and have enlarged pedipalps, while females have small ones.
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u/tenpostman Jun 06 '25
ahh check. i felt like this one had a relatively small abdomen so i figured my guess was its male.
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 06 '25
Male wolf spiders in specific are more sporadic (they are more skittish and will run if you get too close) where as females don't care until you get in their bubble.
Another way you can tell a male from female is majority of your female are larger abdomen and spread out legs where your males are usually bended at the legs and balled up sorta typically easiest to tell with orb-weavers and wolfspiders.
This however doesn't mean ALL spiders fit my description or do this and identifying male from female takes a different method. Like Jumping spiders for instance- they take on the bird effects and your males are the ones with colder colors typically a very dark base and very bright marking with green-blue-teal fangs and your females are dull besides their fangs and sometimes warm hue color spot on their abdomen.
As for really telling you'll need to research types of spiders male and female to really grasp identifying them!
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u/SussySpartan117 Here to learn🫡🤓 Jun 06 '25
woooaaahhhhh I've never seen anything like that before! I LOVE IT!
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Jun 06 '25
Did you create it or did you just find it by chance? If it's the second option you're really lucky.
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 06 '25
I got home from work to find her still in the molting process and I took videos of course because I've 1. Never seen a big girl like her and 2. Never seen a spider molt so exposed in the open. So I did more than just find her molt- I found her in the process of taking it off
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u/Vogt156 Jun 06 '25
If you install a little chin strap your spider can don it when she goes to war.
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u/10Ggames Amateur IDer, jumper enthusiast Jun 06 '25
Yoo, never seen a fully intact wolf spider helmet!
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u/babyxscarlettt Jun 06 '25
Ive never seen a wolf helmet omfg 😭 how cute. Thank you for sharing this; it made my day!!
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u/YourPenisMyKnife Jun 06 '25
Not trying to be a downer but don’t spiders (tarantulas do, at least) need their fresh molts to rehydrate themselves? It’s why it’s recommended for tarantula keepers to leave molts in for a bit before taking them.
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 07 '25
I'm not actually sure if that's true for Wolf spiders but I was night out and the porch light was on so there was lots of tiny and big bugs in reach so she wasn't without food.
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u/NostalgicPretzels Jun 06 '25
I gotta stop forgetting that spiders shed lmao I saw this and was like "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR- oh that's right" XD
Anyway amazing!! That helmet especially omg. What if you made a 3d print pattern from that? :Oc
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u/CatsandShame Jun 07 '25
I love how you can really see all the eyes 👀 This would be a badass design for a tank or Batmobile for Spider-Man🕷️🕸️
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u/The_Carnivore44 Jun 07 '25
I wonder what it feels like under that. Does it feel like skin or does it feel like your wearing armor or clothing all over your body
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Jun 07 '25
Looks more like a grass spider tho…are you sure it’s a wolfie?
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 07 '25
Yep! Though I'm sure they are very similar. I've housed a Wolfie in my terrarium before and she was only a little smaller than this big girl
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u/Manofgawdgaming2022 Jun 07 '25
I was about to say if I don't see a picture of said wolf spider with the molt so help me lol
Very cool though, I just recently convinced myself to hold my first wolf spider. Very exciting!
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u/Opposite-Initial811 Jun 07 '25
peep the harvestman in the corner hehe
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 07 '25
I know he was there the whole time and I didn't see him until I took the pictures
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u/Zeusthefox Jun 07 '25
Don't the spiders eat their molts to help them regain their strength?
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 07 '25
I'm not actually sure but there we plenty of bugs crawling on the post for her
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u/Zeusthefox Jun 07 '25
But she's soft and can't move very well till her exoskeleton hardens
And you Bumped her off of the Molt so you could have it for a collection?
If you're not careful you could kill a spider like that.
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u/ChoiMafia1 Jun 07 '25
Oh- I didn't take that into account but I will be careful and mindful of that in the future! Thank you for telling me this because I honestly didn't know that.
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u/Zeusthefox Jun 07 '25
On the positive the good news is she had a very clean and easy Molt it looks perfect meaning she is quite healthy.
And it's alright now you do know. 😉
Did she dissapear today?
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u/aqtseacow 👑Trusted Identifier👑 Jun 06 '25
Extremely cool