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The Collaborative International Dictionary
diving spider

Water spider \Wa"ter spi"der\ (Zo["o]l.)

  1. An aquatic European spider ( Argyoneta aquatica) which constructs its web beneath the surface of the water on water plants. It lives in a bell-shaped structure of silk, open beneath like a diving bell, and filled with air which the spider carries down in the form of small bubbles attached one at a time to the spinnerets and hind feet. Called also diving spider.

  2. A water mite.

  3. Any spider that habitually lives on or about the water, especially the large American species ( Dolomedes lanceolatus) which runs rapidly on the surface of water; -- called also raft spider.