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Index of Subjects c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca wrote: > Hi Jean, > > Lots of small (and sometimes not so small) insects and arthropods make > use of surface tension to move across water. This is how water > striders (Hemiptera: Gerride) make their living. I've seen rove > beetles of the genus /Stenus/ do the same (they often live on > vegetation at the edge of wet areas), although I'm not sure if they do > so regularly. > > As for the large spiders that live near water and catch insects, > tadpoles, and small fish, they are called Fishing Spiders and are in > the genus /Dolomedes/. Take a look at a great photo of one walking on > water at: > > http://www.univie.ac.at/IECB/cell/foto/moore/images/Dolomedes_fimbriatus.jpg > > /Dolomedes triton/ is a common species in this part of the continent. > > http://magickcanoe.com/spiders/dolomedes-triton-large.jpg > > Cheers! > > Chris > > > On 25-Aug-07, at 4:18 PM, Jean Timpa wrote: > >> The surface tension idea is probably a pretty good theory. >> Here is another one. Several of our spiders which are unusually large >> and frankly >> scary are aquatic spiders which live under docks, floating swim >> platforms and at the edge of >> our lakes in SW Nova Scotia where I have seen them. They not only >> prey on other aquatic >> insects, but supposedly on small fish nd tadpoles. Myth? I cannot >> find them in the Golden >> Guide to Spiders except for some which live in Europe and Asia. I do >> remember Jim >> Wolford several years ago giving us a good lesson on our aquatic >> spiders. Does anyone out >> there in cyberspace want to see if they can find it in our new >> storage site? Thanks, Doug for >> constructing such a tome! What a lot of work and help to us. Jim is >> away, or about to go >> away, so is probably not able to respond to this issue now. >> The spider in question does not seem particularly large, but it may >> have been a >> young one dispersing, trying to find its own home before a larger >> fish or aquatic dwelling bird >> found it. JET > > _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. > > Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History > > 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6 > > (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca > <mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>> > > _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. > > That is a great photo, Chris, but I am struck by the big difference in how it is walking on the water with legs well spread out - sensible! - as compared with the one I encountered which was high-stepping along with body (palish uniform brown) high off the water and all legs vertical to the water. Eleanor Lindsay
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