Edged water spider
| Edged water spider | ||||||||||||
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Rimmed water spider ( Dolomedes plantarius ), female |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dolomedes Plantarius | ||||||||||||
| ( Clerck , 1757) |
The rimmed water spider ( Dolomedes plantarius ) is a type of real spider from the genus Dolomedes within the family of hunting spiders (Pisauridae).
description
The edged water spider can reach a size of 70 mm including the legs, whereby the body itself is about 20 mm. Other sources give a maximum length of the female of 25 mm, which makes the gerandete water spider the largest spider found in Germany. The species is dark in color, typically brown or black. It has whitish stripes along its body, making it confusingly similar to the closely related ragged hunting spider ( Dolomedes fimbriatus ).
Way of life and reproduction
The life cycle extends to more than two years. Only in the last spring of their life are the animals fully grown and able to mate. The males slowly and carefully approach the female on the water surface. When the male is now near the female, it rocks the body. If the female accepts the male, the sexual act itself only lasts a few seconds. The female lays several hundred eggs and carries them with her in a cocoon for about three weeks . To keep the eggs from drying out, it dips them into the water at regular intervals. After these three weeks, the female starts looking for a nesting place. Places 10 to 100 cm above the water are preferred. Usually the mother stays around the nest for another 5 to 9 days to watch over the young. In summer there is sometimes a second egg-laying, but it is numerically smaller and usually not as successful.
Food and hunting
They feed mainly on aquatic invertebrates, water striders , dragonfly larvae and smaller water spiders . But sticklebacks and tadpoles are also among their prey. Sometimes they also catch terrestrial invertebrates, which they drown before eating them. As a rule, they put their back legs on a plant stem while hunting. Their front legs, equipped with sensory hair, lie on the surface of the water, so they hardly miss a prey.
distribution
The edged water spider is native to almost all of Europe. It can only be found in larger lake and moor areas with no or only weak currents and clean water, preferably with herbaceous surroundings. In many countries this species is on the red list . It is only found sporadically in German-speaking countries. The species was first detected in Norway in July 2013.
Danger
The reintroduction of this species started in England in October 2010. The joint project between Natural England and Suffolk Wildlife is supported by the BBC Wildlife Fund. So far, around 3000 spiders have been released into the wild in the 50 km² nature reserve around Castle Marshes.
In Germany, the Gerandete Water Spider is under strict protection by the Federal Species Protection Ordinance.
See also
Web links
Edged water spider in the World Spider Catalog
literature
- Heiko Bellmann: The cosmos spider guide. Over 400 species in Europe. 2nd Edition. Kosmos Naturführer, Kosmos (Franckh-Kosmos), 2016, ISBN 978-3-440-14895-2 .
- Eric Duffey: The distribution, status and habitats of Dolomedes fimbriatus (Clerck) and D. plantarius (Clerck) in Europe. (PDF) In: Proceedings of the 15th European Colloquium of Arachnology. Institute of Entomology, Čescé Budějovice, 1995, pp. 54–65 , accessed on February 19, 2014 (English).
- Dolomedes Plantarius. In: Fauna Europaea version 2.6.2. Retrieved February 19, 2014 .
- Dolomedes Plantarius. In: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN.org, February 2013, accessed February 19, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Lyndsey Smith: Rare spider found in Norway. (No longer available online.) The Foreigner, July 8, 2013, archived from the original on February 22, 2014 ; accessed on February 19, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Rare spiders set up home on nature reserve by Lowestoft- with help of Redgrave and Lopham Fen. Eastern Daily Press, July 9, 2012, accessed February 19, 2014 .
- ↑ Federal Species Protection Ordinance. February 16, 2005, accessed February 19, 2014 .
