A variation of the Giant Spiders common to Mirkwood could be found in the valleys and slopes of the Iron Hills. This subspecies were called Stone Spiders and were smaller cousins to the spiders found in Mirkwood, with an adult female growing up to 3' in diameter.
Detailed Description
Stone spiders had lost their ability to climb and to spin webs. In turn they had developed the ability to jump great spans and to run over ground at very fast speeds. Also adepted at burrowing in the many cracks and loose rocks in the hill slopes these spiders had become masters of the ambush. Laying in wait until their prey came within striking range these spiders leaped out of hiding and pounced on their unsuspecting prey. A stone spider was able to spring up to 8’ high and 20’ long to land on its prey. Biting their prey several times it injected poison that paralysed it victim so it could drag it off to its nearby burrow. The Stone Spider did not kill its victim right away but later injected an acid that slowly turned the victim into a jellylike substance which the spider then ingested at a later time. Stone spiders were loners who only could be found in small groups during breeding season, which was late spring. The females were up to 5 times larger then the males and usually would eat the male after mating. Once mated the female would then create a burrow and lay its eggs attached to a captured prey so the young would have food upon hatching in 4 to 6 weeks. Stone spiders would have probably been a dominant species in the Iron Hills were it not for the fact that Martins and fox loved the taste of the spider eggs. Stone spiders would attack any small animals that happened by its ambush. Though they had been known to take on up to man sized creatures when food had been particularly scarce.
References
- Retrieved from Realms of Arda; original reference: [ICE MERP 2012]