Little Monsters - Part I: Wolf Spiders!

Recently I shared a collection of macro photographs of what could be described as 'cute' spiders. These are the jumping spiders: with their large eyes and a generally fuzzy appearance, somewhat like little eight-legged teddy bears.

The post about Cute Spiders

This is not a post about cute spiders.
Were humans mere millimeters tall, these would be monsters.

The first group are wolf spiders, which like their smaller cuter relatives, do not spin webs to catch their prey.

As usual click on a picture to see it larger on my 500px portfolio!

Rather they use their smaller but still well developed eyes as well as their legs to sense the vibrations of prey as stalk about the ground and foliage. Often you can notice a start/stop motion as the spider moves from place to place and pauses to sense the vibrations of potential prey.

Ground dwelling wolf spiders are extremely well camouflaged. The frequent pausing as they travel also helps disguise them from birds and lizards that would happily dine upon them. Looking carefully, you can see that this spider has lost its foremost left leg. At times a spider can sever its own leg, a process called autotomy, to escape predators. Losing one or two legs will not noticeably slow a spider.

The mottled patterns help them blend in easily on leaves, dried grass stalks, sand, and gravel.

Even shallow water is not much of an obstacle.

Here a wolf spider stands upon algae, still managing to blend in well.

There are still more monsters to discover!
I'll be posting more soon, I hope to have a semi-regular series featuring the little monsters all around us.

Upvote and Follow to be among the first to get the next installment!

Comments are also very welcome! I'll try to answer any questions you have about the photographs and the creatures featured!

Special thanks to @mrwang for showing interest in seeing some of the less cute spiders!
As well as all the others who have voted and commented on my previous posts for the encouragement!