Dolomedes minor | |
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Female guards nursery web | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Family: | Pisauridae |
Genus: | Dolomedes |
Species: | D. minor |
Binomial name | |
Dolomedes minor (L. Koch, 1876) |
Dolomedes minor, also known as the nursery web spider, is a large fishing spider endemic to New Zealand. Female spiders can have a legspan of over 60 mm.
The spider is a pale brown colour, with lighter brown or grey stripes running along the lateral edges of the body. Other stripes and markings help it blend in with its environment, including a stripe running through the middle of its body to the middle of its abdomen - which is less prominent in its relative D. aquaticus.