NATURAL-HISTORY, ACTIVITY PATTERNS, AND RELOCATION RATES OF A BURROWING WOLF SPIDER - GEOLYCOSA XERA ARCHBOLDI (ARANEAE, LYCOSIDAE)

Wolf spiders in the genus Geolycosa are obligate burrowers and sit-and -wait predators which typically retain their first burrow throughout l ife. In the present study I document the activity patterns, burrow clo sure, and relocation rates of an exception to this pattern: G. xera ar chboldi McCrone, endemic to the scrub of central Florida. In census st udies of five field plots I document mean relocation rates of up to 3. 2% per day. The smaller size/age classes made up the majority of the r elocating spiders. I found that individual spiders had their burrows c losed on 26 +/- 7% of census days. These burrow closures lasted an ave rage of 6.8 +/- 0.3 days, with 10% of burrow closures lasting longer t han 14 days.