Diving bell spider
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| Argyroneta aquatica Clerck, 1757 |
The diving bell spider or water spider, Argyroneta aquatica, is a spider which lives entirely under water, even though it could survive on land.
[edit] Description
Since the spider must breathe air, it constructs from silk, a diving bell which it attaches to an underwater plant. The spider collects air in a thin layer around its body, trapped by dense hairs on its abdomen and legs. It transports this air to its diving bell to replenish the air supply in the bell. This allows the spider to remain in the bell for long periods, where it waits for its prey. The Spiders are prey to frogs and fish.
The female spider lays from 30 to 70 eggs at a time, and she lays them in her silk diving bell. When the spiders mate the male comes and builds his silk diving bell right next to her where he then creates a tunnel from his diving bell to hers, where he then breaks through the wall of hers.
When the air bell is ready, the oxygen from the water moves into the bell so the spider has always something to breathe.
The spider is found in ponds in the palaearctic region, which includes Europe, northern Asia, and Africa north of the Sahara desert. It lives for approximately two years. It is velvet-grey, however the trapped air around its body gives it the appearance of being silver. Unusually for a spider the males (9 - 12 mm) of this species are often larger than the females (8 - 15 mm).
