Did you know that not all spiders build webs? Some, like jumping spiders, rely on stealth and speed to capture unsuspecting prey. One of my favorite spiders, the Six-spotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes triton), sits at the edge of the water with some of its long legs fully extended. When it senses vibrations of a potential prey on the surface of the water, a fishing spider can walk on the water to seize insects, vertebrates, tadpoles and occasionally small fish or even dive underwater up to 7.1 inches (18 cm), according to Wikipedia.
Here are a couple of images of a Six-spotted Fishing Spider that I spotted earlier this week at Prince William Forest Park. I really like the way that you can see most of the spiders eight eyes in these images and the way that the environment looks almost alien and other-worldly.
Past experience has shown me that viewers will be split in their reactions to these images—some will find them to be really cool and fascinating, while others will find them to be completely creepy. As you might suspect, I am in the former group.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wonderful rather surreal images of such an interesting species. Put me in the ‘pro’ camp!
Thanks. “Surreal” is a wonderful descriptive adjective for the images, actually much better than the word “alien” tat I used. I find spiders to be fascinating and love it when I am lucky enough to find dew-covered spider webs in the mornings.
Cool, as long as they are headed away from me! Actually I’m moving away from the “creeped out” camp on a lot of nature’s creepy creatures. Great images with the water around the spider.
I’ve always been fascinated by spiders and I love the abstract look of these photos.
Thanks. The abstract look of the shots was a bonus for me–it was definitely not something that I anticipated when I framed the images.
I love those happy accidents!