northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's someone I didn't tell you about earlier because I didn't initially have an ID for it, and then when an iNaturalist provided me with an ID, I had moved on to other pictures. A more recent sighting of this species jogged my memory about this spider. This is almost certainly a Six-spotted Fishing Spider , and while you might think it was named for the smallish white spots on its back, it's actually named for 6 black spots on its belly. As happens all too often, the characteristic that leads to its name works poorly as a field mark (see Ring-necked Duck ). As the name suggests, these spiders will catch (small) fish, but they're not especially picky eaters. If you're a small enough animal of any sort, you're probably on the menu. And of course if you're going to catch fish, you need to be pretty good around water. The SSFS can walk on the surface of the water or walk under the water. Because it can trap air in its abdominal hairs, it can breathe that a...