Diving Bell Spider

[TNeal]

Hello friends,

I have been very much interested in diving bell spiders since I saw one on tv a few months ago. These spiders are the ones that actually build a bell full of air under water. They replentish the air by going to the surface and trapping air in their abdomen hairs, then shaking it loose in their bell.

Anyone ever kept these? Does anyone have any sites that sell them or have information on them? I have searched everywhere and can't find any info on them.

Thanks a million,

Tom

 

[sammyp]

Would love one of these too! No idea on where to buy one, but just for a bit of general background reading material, pick up a copy of Gerald Durrell's 'Encounters with Animals' in which he dedicates a section to the species and discusses its habits

 

[8+)]

Funny, I've been thinking about these lately as well! I believe they're from Europe though , so they are probably hard to get here. Hopefully some are being bred here? Wonder how hard they are to keep?

I remember that one interesting fact is that the males are slightly larger than the females, because they help to raise the young.

Also read that they have a painful bite.

 

[maxident213]

Do a search for "Argyroneta aquatica", there are a few threads about them here. Apparently they need all the care a fishtank comes with, filters, etc, and are quite hard to acquire as well. They come from Europe so good luck if you are in North America. Very cool though.

 

[Steven Gielis]

They are very rare and protected by the law. I have only seen them once in the wild.

 

[TNeal]

Accordig to the information I have gathered, they are in fact very common in the UK, many parts of Europe and China. I don't believe they are endangered at all. But I could be wrong.

Maybe the problen is that nobody has showed enough interest in them for importers to bring them in. Also, where they are completly aquatic maybe collecting , shipping and the general care for them would make them undersierable as far as the collectors, exporters and importers are concerned?

Tom

 

[TRAYTON]

HI,
I do have one of these spiders in my pond that I use for breeding pond snails, I am not sure if it is male or female, but I sit and watch the spider at work for a few hours sometimes, its so interesting.
....TRAYTON....

 

[Archerfish]

Here in the UK diving bell spiders are much more common than most believe though they will have been adversely affected by insecticides etc. I used to keep them as a youngster and all that is needed is water, aquatic plants and food. It is useful to have some suitable substrate for plants to root in but as long as the water is not filled with fish etc no filter is needed. In addition to the diving bell itself there will be other web in the water and they are very sensitive to vibration and will take prey off the surface as well as underwater... Fantastic little beasts.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Here in the UK diving bell spiders are much more common than most believe though they will have been adversely affected by insecticides etc. I used to keep them as a youngster and all that is needed is water, aquatic plants and food. It is useful to have some suitable substrate for plants to root in but as long as the water is not filled with fish etc no filter is needed. In addition to the diving bell itself there will be other web in the water and they are very sensitive to vibration and will take prey off the surface as well as underwater... Fantastic little beasts.

Very old thread.

 

[UnnecessaryPotato]

Very old thread.

My thoughts exactly. 2007! I was 5

 

[Wayfarin]

The absence of aquatic spiders in the US is really sad. But I can make the most of Dolomedes. It doesn't dive underwater very often, though.

But I can't believe the diving bell spider isn't already a popular pet.
Fish keepers, shrimp keepers, tarantula keepers... who wouldn't appreciate this spectacular spider?

There is a risk that the diving bell spider could establish itself in the US as an invasive species.
But what would the diving bell spider outcompete? There aren't any other aquatic spider species in the US!

I'm not suggesting that people should intentionally introduce the spider into our waterways.
But come on! They should at least be legally imported.

Cats, rats, rabbits, red-eared sliders, and goldfish are aggressive invasives and they aren't banned.