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Diving Bell Spider — printable fact sheet
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Diving Bell Spider
Argyroneta aquatica
The diving bell spider is the only spider in the world that lives its entire life underwater, and it does it without ever evolving a gill. Instead it builds one. It spins a dome of silk between submerged plants and then makes repeated trips to the surface, trapping air against t…
Did you know?
- Unlike most spiders, the Diving Bell Spider hunts aquatic invertebrates and even small fish underwater using its air-filled web as a home base.
- It is the only spider that spends its whole life underwater — and it never evolved a gill. It builds a silk dome and ferries air down from the surface as bubbles trapped on its abdomen. The finished bell is not just a tank: oxygen diffuses into it from the water, so it recharges itself like a gill. In cold water the spider may only need to surface about once a day.
What I learned
Draw the diving bell spider
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