SOTW: The Bubbly Spider (Argyroneta aquatica)

Greetings everybody,

Hope your week is coming along AWESOME! This week's species of the week is a bubbly spider, the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) also known as water spider and air bubble spider and is the only known species of spider to spend its entire life under water.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Habitat: found in ponds, slow-moving streams, ditches, and other shallow bodies of freshwater, particular where aquatic vegetation is in abundant across the northern and central regions of Europe, Northern Asia and Siberia.

Length: 8-15mm for females and 9-12mm for males

Characteristics: Gray-dark brown in colour. Fine short hairs cover entirety of their legs and abdomens, which are responsible for trapping air bubbles in the water and give the spiders a shimmering, silvery appearance.

Remarkably adapted to its underwater life, it spins an underwater retreat amongst the weeds, which it fills with air by travelling up to the surface and returning the retreat, carrying air bubbles trapped in the fine hairs on the body.

Well that was Species of the week everyone, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we will see you soon! Until then why not leave a comment on what species you would like featured in our next species of the week.

Check out our previous Species of the week!

Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

Blue Sea Slug (Glaucus atlanticus)

Olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina)

@Biobunch

Over and out.