I’m a little squeamish about spiders but I appreciate them and gobsmacked by their ability to spin webs. Now I’ve found another awesome arachnid trait in the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica).
It is the only known spider that lives almost entirely underwater while still breathing atmospheric air.
Tiny, hydrophobic (water-fearing) hairs on the spider’s abdomen and legs trap a silver layer of air when it visits the surface. The spider weaves a dome-shaped silk web anchored to underwater plants and fills it with the air bubbles it carries down from the top.
The air pocket acts like a physical gill. Dissolved oxygen from the surrounding water diffuses into the bubble, while carbon dioxide moves out.
Inside this silk bubble, the spider rests, eats, mates, lays eggs and hibernates (sometimes filling empty snail shells with air for the winter).
It only needs to visit the water’s surface occasionally because nitrogen gradually escapes from the bubble into the water, causing the diving bell to shrink over time. It only briefly surfaces to replenish its oxygen supply and occasionally will bring prey to the surface.
The spider is native to the Palearctic region, meaning it is found widely in freshwater across Europe and northern to central Asia
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