The influence of burrowing and thermoregulatory behaviour on the water relations of Geolycosa godeffroyi (Araneae: Lycosidae), an Australian wolf spider.

The water loss from the wolf spider Geolycosa godeffroyi (L. Koch) is presented for a wide range of environmental conditions. Water loss is influenced by the size of the spider, temperature, saturation deficit and by relative humidity per se. The spiders thermoregulatory behaviour more than doubled water loss. Water could not be extracted from near saturated air but was available from the soil when the soil water content was greater than 11%. Due to the spiders burrowing habits both the active and passive use of heat differentials were potential sources of free water.