Is there such thing as water spiders?

Question

We are always finding spiders inside my pool. Is there such thing as spiders that live in water? Are they dangerous... Just now I saw one very close to my leg as I was swimming. It was brown. It sort of looked like a brown recluse but I am not sure what kind of spider it was. I also tried keeping underwater to see if it would die....... but it didnt. I smashed it instead! Anybody else have this problem?

Answer 1

Heh! You're seeing the normal result of a normal spring in all those bugs you're encountering. Both dangerous spiders - black widows and brown recluses - tend to be very reclusive - no pun intended. You're not very likely to encounter any in your pool - unless where you're swimming is in a natural pond, lake or stream, in which case it is possible someone or something might accidentally dislodge one of the critters from its hiding place and knock it into the water.

Most spiders you will encounter won't hurt ya - they'll try to get away instead, altho in the water getting away is harder for 'em at times than you might think. Probably what you're seeing is an insect commonly called a water wader or water skater - they don't bite, but I admit I don't much care to encounter the danged critters either - so once every twenty minutes or so while your pool is in use, get out, grab that nice little long-handled tool with the screen on the end and skim the dang bugs and leaves and stuff out and toss it out on the grass. Its just something y'gotta deal with when y'gots a pool!

Answer 2

There is actually a spider that brings a bubble of air down below the surface of the water and it ventures out from there but I doubt that's the kind of spiders you have. A lot of predators hang around water because it's a good place to find prey that need to get water on a regular basis and plants grow near water that provide food for prey animals as well.

Answer 3

There are actually water striders, which walk across the top of the water without breaking the surface tension. They're harmless. Other, sometimes harmful spiders are drawn to the moisture and fall into the pool. If the creature isn't striding across the top of the water, it's an ordinary spider and all poisonous spider identification techniques apply.

Answer 4

Diving bell spider
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?Diving bell spider

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Family: Cybaeidae

Genus: Argyroneta

Species: A. aquatica


Binomial name
Argyroneta aquatica
Clerck, 1757
The diving bell spider or water spider, Argyroneta aquatica, is a spider which lives entirely under water. Though it could survive on land. Since the spider must breathe air, it constructs from silk a diving bell which it attaches to an underwater plant. The spider collects air in a thin layer around its body, trapped by dense hairs on its abdomen and legs. It transports this air to its diving bell to replenish the air supply in the bell. This allows the spider to remain in the bell for long periods, where it waits for its prey.

The spider is found in ponds in the palaearctic region, which includes Europe, northern Asia, and Africa north of the Sahara desert. It lives for approximately two years. It is velvet-grey, however the trapped air around its body gives it the appearance of being silver. Unusually for a spider the males (9 - 12 mm) of this species are often larger than the females (8 - 15 mm).

Answer 5

Are There Water Spiders

Answer 6

Water is not scary unless it is dark and deep and I cannot see the bottom. Then it becomes scary. Or if I know there are large fish in the water I am swimming in, then that kinda freaks me out a bit. Clowns are pretty creepy. But it wouldn't kill me. All the others are just eh. Spiders and snakes do not bother me at all. And Ryan Seacrest is just a person, whom I do not have a phobia of.

Answer 7

Yes there are, they are good for the enviromnment and get rid of mosquito larvae and other bugs from standing water, lakes and ponds..so dont smash them..they dont bother humans

Answer 8

yes, water spiders are common, and come in many sizes and species. it would depend on which one to know if they're dangerous or not, but I feel it's unlikely.

Answer 9

Lots of great answers already for this

Answer 10

yes