Camouflaged Beach Spiders - You'll never feel safe on the beach again :-)

If you are an arachnophobe, this may put you of going to the beach. However, if you are a bit of an amateur naturalist, you might want to go looking for these fascinating spiders.

This is the Beach Wolf Spider, Tetralycosa oraria. Its beautifully mottled pattern blends in well with the beach, especially when it is among the debris washed up by the tide. They usually hunt for small invertebrates around the strand line although I have found them way down among the intertidal rocks. Males of this species have a body length of around 10mm while females are a little larger at 15mm. Is it's bite dangerous? Well I've read that it can cause mild illness but that's one question I don't want to answer based on first hand experience :-)

I found this one in north-west Tasmania but it can also be found across much of the southern coast of mainland Australia. There are other species wolf spiders around the world that also inhabit beaches and dunes. For example, Arctosa littoralis which is found from Nova Scotia down to Panama. Perhaps there are others in your area. If you are aware of any where you are, then please let us know in the comments.

This one is at rest on a broken Sea Potato. (A type of Sea Urchin)

Even from just a few inches away they start to blend in with the sand.

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