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Webster 1913 Edition


Water spider

Wa′ter spi′der

.
(Zool.)
(a)
An aquatic European spider (
Argyoneta aquatica
) which constructs its web beneath the surface of the water on water plants. It lives in a bell-shaped structure of silk, open beneath like a diving bell, and filled with air which the spider carries down in the form of small bubbles attached one at a time to the spinnerets and hind feet. Called also
diving spider
.
(b)
A water mite.
(c)
Any spider that habitually lives on or about the water, especially the large American species (
Dolomedes lanceolatus
) which runs rapidly on the surface of water; – called also
raft spider
.