Dark fishing spider | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Pisauridae |
Genus: | Dolomedes |
Species: | D. tenebrosus
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Binomial name | |
Dolomedes tenebrosus | |
Synonyms | |
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Dolomedes tenebrosus or dark fishing spider is a fishing spider found in the United States and Canada.[1][2]
It is able to bite humans but will run from people. In most cases, the bite is no more severe than a bee or wasp sting.[3]
Female bodies are 15–26 mm; males are 7–13 mm. Legs range from 50 to 90 mm. The spider is a pale to dark brown colour with several chevron markers and lighter stripes around its legs. It is similar to D. scriptus.[2] The legs are banded with brown/black annulations on the femora and reddish-brown/black annulations on the tibia.[3] During copulation, females of the species practise Sexual cannibalism on their male counterparts. Research shows that the males' self-sacrifice through consumption by the female increases the chance of survivorship of future offspring.[4]