Dolomedes minor
Encyclopedia
Dolomedes minor, also known as the nursery web spider, is a large fishing spider
Dolomedes
Dolomedes is a genus of large spiders of the family Pisauridae. They are also known as fishing spiders, raft spiders, dock spiders or wharf spiders. Almost all Dolomedes species are semi-aquatic, with the exception of the tree-dwelling D. albineus of the southwestern United States...

 endemic to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Female spiders can have a legspan of over 60 mm.

The spider is a pale brown colour, with lighter brown or grey stripes running along the lateral edges of the body. Other stripes and markings help it blend in with its environment, including a stripe running through the middle of its body to the middle of its abdomen - which is less prominent in its relative D. aquaticus
Dolomedes aquaticus
Dolomedes aquaticus is a fishing spider that lives and hunts along the gravel banks of unforested New Zealand rivers. It prefers open riverbanks where it lives under rocks, usually less than 5 metres from the river. Its colouring allows it to blend in with river stones...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK