Fishing Spider
Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Hi Guys,
Got this lovely lady in my garden today. She is Dolomedes instabilis, in the Pisauridae family of fishing spiders, although many in the family never go near water but build nests amongst green leaves, as this one is doing on a chili plant. Have a merry Xmas and a Happy New Year all.
aussietrev
Queensland, Australia
Common Water Spider from Australia
Hi Trevor,
This is very exciting. We were not aware that Dolemedes Fishing Spiders were found in Australia. We are linking to the Brisbane Insect Web Site and another page on the same site that calls the species the Common Water Spider.
Wolf Spider?
Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Is this a kind of wolf spider? It was on the floor of an old garage and moved very quickly. It was almost the size of a compact disc with legs outreached. Body was about size of bottle cap.
JR
USA, northeast
White Banded Fishing Spider
Hi JR,
This is a Dolomedes Fishing Spider, not a Wolf Spider. Fishing Spiders are in the Nursery Web Spider group, and like Wolf Spiders, they are hunting spiders and not snare web building spiders. We believe your specimen is a White Banded Fishing Spider, Dolomedes albineus, based on an image posted to BugGuide. Your location, USA, northeast, is a bit vague. BugGuide lists sightings as far north as Delaware, but that doesn’t mean the species is unknown in New England. If this is not the White Banded Fishing Spider, it is another member of the genus Dolomedes.
Thanks Daniel, very interesting! I am sorry about the vague location. I
found it in Norridgewock, Maine, about 40 minutes north from Augusta and 1.5
hours north from Portland.
Thanks again, Jim
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Posted 06 November 2008
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Wondering
I found your website after finding and killing this wonder in my yard. The body is almost an inch long and the legs are just over an inch long. His smaller top part of his body reminds me of a crab as you can see it’s a little flatter. I’m in North west Georgia and found him on the side of my house. I found no web near him. I was petrified at first then after finding your site I feel bad that it might be perfectly harmless. Please let me know in case I come across more then I can be more informed.
Big doesn’t necessarily mean bad.
Thanks,
Annette Fox
Hi Annette,
Yes, big does not mean bad. You have squashed what appears to be a Whitish Dolomedes, Doloemedes albinus, or possibly a color variation on one of the other Dolomedes. These are sometimes called Fishing Spiders or Nursery Web Spiders. They will not harm you. They do not build webs to capture prey, just to lay eggs.
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