Wolves had not beaten Southampton in their previous 17 meetings and had never scored at the St Mary's Stadium.
Mick McCarthy's Championship leaders bought that sorry statistic to an end with two goals inside the opening 17 minutes.
Scotland striker Chris Iwelumo headed his 11th goal of the season in the ninth minute after being left unmarked from Carlos Edwards' cross.
Former Manchester United midfielder Jones took advantage of more slack Southampton defending to make it 2-0 eight minutes later.
Edwards again providing the pass for Jones to finish low into the bottom left corner from 12 yards.
Southampton hit back in the 21st minute thanks to defender Alex Pearce's second goal in three games since joining on loan from Reading.
Pearce was not picked up by the Wolves defence from Andrew Surman's corner and headed past Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme.
Southampton keeper Kelvin Davis produced two excellent saves in quick succession to deny Jones and full-back Kevin Foley.
Saints were reduced to ten men five minutes before half-time when veteran midfielder Jason Euell was harshly sent off after a late tackle on defender Richard Stearmen.
Southampton bought on substitute Bradley Wright-Phillips during the interval and the former Manchester City star almost made an instant impact when he crashed a 20-yard shot against the inside of the post.
Saints should have been level when Ikeme flapped at Morgan Schneiderlin's cross, but Adam Lallana fired over when presented with an empty net.
David McGoldrick missed a golden chance to earn ten-man Saints a point when he shot into the side netting from two yards from Wright-Phillips' centre.
Saints introduced striker Jordan Robertson as an 85th minute substitute, but it was too late to change the outcome of the game, as the South Coast side's miserable record of only one home win all season was extended.