Great Fox-Spider

Alopecosa fabrilis is a large wolf spider. The males have a body which is 10 to 12 millimetres (0.39 to 0.47 in) long while the larger females have a body which is 11 to 14.7 millimetres (0.43 to 0.58 in) long. The largest females may attain a leg span of 5 centimetres (2.0 in). The prosoma is reddish-brown in colour and has obvious black stripes radiating from its centre with continuous horizontal stripes along the sides. The opisthosoma is marked with two pairs of distinct but small, round spots that are black in colour, one pair at the anterior end and the other in the middle.

Alopecosa fabrilis is a large species which lives at low population densities and is uncommon. It has been recorded from southern England and southern Scandinavia to Italy and the Balkans. It has also been recorded from the Russian Far East, Central Asia and China. It was thought that the great fox spider could be found in three locations of heathland across the South of England. However, prior to 2020, the spider had not been recorded since the 1990s in Britain. It was re-discovered in October 2020 by Mike Waite of the Surrey Wildlife Trust, at a Ministry of Defence training site in the county.