Most of the time when I see spiders, it is because I spot their webs first. Some spiders, though, rely exclusively on speed to capture unsuspecting prey, like this Six-spotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes triton) that I spotted on Monday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge.
Fishing spiders sit at the edge of the water with some of their long legs fully extended. When they sense vibrations of a potential prey on the surface of the water, fishing spiders 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.
When I first spotted this fishing spider, it was perched on a semi-submerged log, as shown in the second image below. The spider somehow sensed my presence and ran towards some vegetation at the edge of the water. I was able to maneuver to a position from which I was looking almost directly down at the spider and captured the first image which makes the spider look rather large and menacing, which is why I selected the photo as the featured image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It’s amazing that spider walks over water!
I think they are so lightweight and nimble that they can skip across the surface of the water. I believe that they are also really buoyant.
It’s a Jesus-Spider!
🙂
Spectacular beast. Can’t get any sense of its size from the photos. How big is its “legspan?”
I was not able to measure the spider myself, but sources on the internet say that a female Six-spotted Fishing Spider is about 2.4 inches (61 mm) in size including the legs. The body itself is about 0.6 to 0.8 inches in length (15-20 mm).
I love that bottom image with the feet touching the water. That’s a really good capture, Mike.
Thanks, Dan. That was the one that I took from a longer distance away, so I wasn’t sure how effectively it would show the details of the spider. It worked out pretty well, though, so I can’t complain and I managed to keep from falling into the pond. I was leaning over some and there is always a temptation to lean just a little more or move just a little closer. I have slid into streams on multiple occasions, but I think the edge of this pond is a lot deeper. 🙂
Not falling in is a very good thing, Mike. Especially given how much you like that camera 😉
Great find, Mike. Super shots of this magnificent spider!
I love fishing spiders! I’ve seen three varieties at our cabin and am always delighted to find another. They really are rather alarmingly large and very impressive. The ones I’ve seen haven’t seemed to be that shy and usually have allowed me to get reasonably close. I just discovered, to my surprise, that I’ve never featured one in a post–really must rectify that soon!
Nice Mike! They are fun to watch & photograph! At my old home with a pond it was fun to watch them in the water.
Thanks, Reed. In another park that I used to visit with a big marshy area, I used to see fishing spiders a lot, but hadn’t seen one in a while until I spotted this one. Perhaps the only spiders I love even more are jumping spiders. One of my most memorable photo moments ever was when I stumbled across a jumping spider that had captured a dragonfly. (https://michaelqpowell.com/2014/05/27/spider-captures-dragonfly-the-story/)
A Jesus spider! 🙂 Was it really green with white spots or was that a trick of the eye?
I believe that is the actual color of the legs, with the body being brown with white spots and a bold stripe. 🙂
It seemed to change color between shots?!?
I think the change in color was because of the lighting. The light was more direct when the spider was closer to me.