Possible Pardosa?

[Geoff F]

On a bramble leaf where the woods become rough grass. About 6 mm. S. Devon.

Poor photos so I know this is asking a bit much to get a positive ID. The sun was at an awkward angle and there were plants in the way. Each time I tried to get closer the spider hid under the leaf.

To me, the salient points are: legs IV longer than the others and more long spines; few if any spines on legs I & II except on femur; abdomen with dark brown spots and cardiac mark; femurs speckled with dark brown but remainder of legs paler and unmarked.

So putting it all together I am thinking Pardosa, possibly P. monticola.

But this is more guesswork than scientific thought and it might not even be a Lycosidae anyway.

Anybody got any better ideas because I'm not at all confident with this.

[Venger]

No, it's definitely a Lycosid Geoff
Wolf spiders are always tricky, so don't worry so much.

Pardosa sp have fairly straight sided heads, (which this does) if you compare it to a Trochosa sp you'll see what I mean.
I'd say it was a Pardosa sp, but as to which...

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the help. After comparing images and considering habitat and location factors I would still suggest P. monticola as the most likely of several possibilities. But subject to the usual limitations of not being able to achieve a positive ID from a photo, even a good one.

Pardosa, like many other spiders, does appear in so many different colour options that it makes total species identification from a photo virtually impossible. While searching for information I found variation of colour ranging from light brown to dark grey for the same species.