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uncommon
Diving Bell Spider
Argyroneta aquatica
- Habitat
- Weedy freshwater ponds, marshes and slow streams across Europe and Asia
- Body length
- 12 mm
- Order
- Araneae · Dictynidae
Weird but real
The only spider that lives its whole life underwater, breathing from a silk air-bell it refills at the surface.
Why it's cool
It scuba-dives on purpose: a silvery bubble strapped to its belly is its lung, its larder, and its nursery.
![Argyroneta aquatica - male and female Becker, Leon. 1882. Les arachnides de Belgique t.12:ptie2-3 [planches] (1896), Bruxelles : F. Hayez. Extracted from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives image - Plate XII Image ID: SIL-39088007472699_0175](/bugs/photos/diving-bell-spider/1.jpg)
