Wolf Spiders

take your average lawn on the northeast coast of Australia and zoom in for a closer look you'll probably see inch wide holes amongst the grass get closer and you'll notice fine silk threads catching the morning dew behold the garner wolf spider with the source still moist from the previous night's rain this female wolf spider uses her powerful mouth to enlarge her burrow entrance once a large clumps of earth are removed she then pushes her body against the Burrow walls compacting them finally silk threads are laid down against the burrow walls and add its entrance to anchor any remaining loose earth in place not only do they make their home underground they don't need a web to catch prey as the name suggests their fast-moving predators equipped with excellent eyesight from the two large forward-facing eyes and rounding off with spine covered long legs for grappling with captured prey they are the top predators amongst the lawn as the morning warms the grazers come to feed grasshoppers large eyes serve as part of their early warning system detecting motion is paramount to their survival and being able to jump from attackers a voice becoming a meal feeling safe they busy themselves with grooming all part of daily life but any movement amongst the grass may not go unnoticed and they're not the only ones keeping clean the wolf spider boasts numerous sensory hairs on its legs which it uses to detect the most minut vibrations that could mean is close by in fact it doesn't matter if the wolf spider doesn't see its prey at first as long as it can sense it through its feet and know that it is near its burrow those two large eyes unable to accurately judge distance when the time comes to strike a grasshopper is dangerously close unawares of the lurking predator and it's missing a jumping leg that could put its life in peril but it's not all depth to those who venture amongst the grass and some do get away to live another day

Channel: francischeefilms

Views: 10,183,858

Keywords: Wolf spiders, wolfspiders australian, macro, big hairy spiders, wildlife, spiders hunting, outdoors, nature, garderning, wilderness, Predation

Id: v6M_84t3oa4

Length: 3min 30sec (210 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 18 2011