Webnesday (58): Dark Delight

I have no newly-seen spiders to report; however, my ramble through the archives has brought another to light which I’m pretty sure I’ve never presented here, although it was certainly one of the most memorable in all my years of visiting our cabin in northern Minnesota, and one of my all-time favorites. It’s a fishing spider, one of the largest of all the spiders that live in our area; the female is about twice the size of the male and can attain a body length of more than an inch (2.5 cm) and a leg span of several inches, larger than the width of an average man’s palm. I find fishing spiders particularly fascinating. Although they are often found far from water, they are excellent fishers: They often stand perfectly still next to a body of water with their front legs resting on its surface, feeling for the telltale vibrations of small fish. When they sense them, they act quickly to catch them, and can even completely submerge to do so, and they can also walk across the water like a water boatman. There are three species: Six-spotted, dark, and striped. This one is the dark one (Dolomedes tenebrosus). I met her in July of 2002. By this time of the year, she had produced her large egg sac and carried it around with her everywhere. Fishing spiders are not aggressive toward people and can frequently be safely approached, although they will run (really fast!) if they are frightened). Click on the photo if you’d like more detail.