This week we are in a deep freeze in the Montreal area, so it
seems somewhat fitting to discuss Arctic spiders. I’ve discussed
the life-history of Arctic wolf spiders (Lycosidae) before,
specifically in the context of high densities of wolf spiders on
the tundra. Much of this work was done with my former PhD
student Joseph Bowden. The latest paper from his work was
published last autumn, and was titled ‘Egg sac parasitism of
Arctic wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) from northwestern North
America‘. In this work we document the rates of egg sac
parasitism by Ichneumonidae wasps in the genus Gelis. These
wasps are fascinating, and we have found them to be very common
on the tundra. There are often multiple wasps in a single egg
sac, and as is typical with Gelis, they leave nothing behind:
all eggs within an egg sac are consumed. After fully developed,
the adult wasps pop out of the egg sac; the Gelis adults we
encountered had both winged forms and wingless females, the
latter superficially resembling ants. The