Water spider fun
Well didn’t the girls have ball this morning. Braylee expressed an interest in water spiders today because she thought she had seen one on the dam one day. So we decided to go on an expedition in search of water spiders. We did our internet research first http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/pondexplorer/gallery/wspid.html then rode our bikes to the dam with the most plants in it because we now knew this was a likely habitat.
Well just look what we found – it was so exciting.
It was about 8cm in legspan. We also found another true water spider – one that can breathe in an air bubble under the water and lay its eggs underwater.
It was the perfect opportunity to discuss the finer points of habitat selection. The girls collected water samples in jars which included many microscopic creatures, plankton, and some we are yet to identify. They also added one of the dam plants to a bottle with the dam water then placed the spider in for observation.
It was fantastic because after a little while the spider did go under the water and make a small air bubble around itself. The girls could see how the egg sac was waterproof too.
You are great at catching water spiders.I am Leo and I am working on spiders too.I have seen a water spider and it was eating a fish.