Basic HTML Version
by
George Aitter
S
ilently and stealth,ily the hungry skin diver, his portable air–
breathil).g equipment securely attached . inched along. A suspi–
cious movement in the water ahead suddenly arrested his
attention. Quickly he lunged toward the spot of the disturbance and
carne away with his prey-an inch-long guppy. more than enough
for a sumptuous mea! back at his submerged diving bell.
Lloyd Bridges or Jacques Cousteau he's not. But he's been at it a
lot Jonger than any of his human counterparts. ije's
Argyroneta
aquatica,
an air-breathing spider who spends most of his life sub–
merged in shallow ponds and streams in Europe and Asia. From the
day he leaves the egg,
Argyroneta
is off and swimming with a tiny
air bubble attached to his abdomen. When his air supply is de–
pleted, he will rise to the surface, firmly grasp a new bubble
between bis Jegs and abdomen, and quickly resubmerge. This air–
gathering technique also comes in handy when
Argyroneta
decides
to build his underwater home. He first begins by spinning a silk
canopy that is anchored to various roots and twigs along the bot–
tom. Then
Argyroneta
will surface, do llis air-gathering routine.
return and release his bubble under the canopy. After a number of
such trips his canopy will be sufficiently inftated to form a comfort–
able underwater air bell. If space is available,
Argyroneta
may even
construct two separate bells- one as a summer residence and the
other for a winter home. During mating season, maJe and female
spiders may even build a silken tunnel to link «honeymoon" bells.
After fertilization, the female wiU then install an upper story in hers
to act as a brood chamber. When the young spiders hatch they will
gnaw through the canopy that covers the chamber. and set out with
tiny a ir bubbles to explore their fascinating underwater world.
Since spiders don't come equipped with gills, it would seem the
Jast place one would attempt to survive would be underwater! And
even assuming in sorne million-to-one long shot that spiders on Jand
found an underwater existence more comfortable, the problems
they would have to overcome in adapting themselves to it would be
staggering. How, for instance. would they
learn
to use portable
aqualungs and submerged diving bells complete with silken
canopies, anchor lines and brood chambers? Humans. even with
their superior intelligence, had been unable to master similar tech–
" niq,_ues until comparatively recent times. With tl1eir
limited
in–
s telhgence, can it- does it-see.m reasonable that spiders could have
stumbled on such sophisticated submarine survival strategies on
their own? Doesn't the behavior of
A rgyroneta aquatica
cry out for
the existence of a higher creative intelligence who k'nows what it
takes to make a successful eight-legged skin diver?
Design in nature is one of the great artributes of all creation. Our
free booklet
A Theory for the Birds
takes a look at the marvels of
bird fligbt. Wny not write for your free copy? (Please use coupon on
the back cover of this magazine.)
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