250 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
and the creatures hibernate in the mud in the 
bottom of the pond. They belong to the bug 
family, and though truly aquatic, they are struc¬ 
turally nearer akin to the land bugs than to the 
other water bugs. 
“ Though various American members of the 
Lycosa clan are fond of spinning their webs near 
the water and at times of running over the sur¬ 
face or diving beneath it, we really have no true 
water spiders in our country, albeit another in¬ 
sect, the water mite , is commonly mistaken for a 
small spider. But there is a water spider, a most 
interesting specimen, belonging to the Lycosas, 
known as the Desia which lives under seas among 
the coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific oceans. 
Another spider, also one of the Lycosas , called 
the dome spider, is common along the waterways 
of Europe and Asia. This latter individual is 
the real prince of water spiders, or perhaps we 
should say princess, as it is the female that is most 
in evidence. She is truly a past master in the art 
of house building, weaving a veritable silken pal¬ 
ace that is strictly water-proof. As she swims 
about on the surface, she looks like a big silver 
bubble. And the reason for this shows what an 
artful creature this little spider is: she is really 
encased in a ring of air bubbles formed by air 
entangling in the thick, fine hairs with which her 
coat is covered. The water presses round but 
