Raft spider
The raft spider is a big dark brown spider with a bright pale stripe down each side. It lives at the edge of ponds and bogs and can stand on the water without sinking. It hunts right on the water surface.
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Fun facts
It waits on the water with its front legs stretched out and feels the tiny ripples that prey makes.
To hide from birds, it can go all the way under water and stay there for several minutes.
The mother carries her egg sac around, then builds a silk nursery tent and guards the babies.
Young raft spiders can have see-through green legs.
Its genus name comes from a Greek word meaning crafty or clever.
Most asked questions about Raft spider
?Can raft spiders walk on water?
Yes. They stand and hunt on the water surface and can also dive under it.
?How big is a raft spider?
Its body is about 1 to 2 centimetres long. Females are bigger than males.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dolomedes fimbriatus
- Named by
- Clerck, 1757
- Group
- Spiders
- Family
- Dolomedidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Araneae > Dolomedidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Raft spider (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by LithobiusOrigins. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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