Bug and Insect Illustration (Illustrator)
Fishing Spider (Dolomedes), colored pencil and watercolor
Commissioned by: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
About fishing spiders:
Fishing spiders are also known as dock spiders and resemble wolf spiders, as they are large and hairy. They have eight legs (like all spiders) and two body parts. The fangs are called chelicerae, which the females use to carry the egg sacs in. They have eight eyes. The life cycle is simple metamorphosis. Fishing spiders are semi-aquatic. The body hair repels water, allowing the fishing spider to retain a film of air around it when it dives into the water.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda (having a segmented body with appendages on each segment)
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus: Dolomedes
More about fishing spiders:
University of Kentucky Entomology: fishing spiders
Wikipedia: Dolomedes
Fishing spider (Dolomedes), painted in colored pencil and watercolor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, spreads long legs around a dark patterned body. Also known as dock spiders, fishing spiders resemble wolf spiders in being large and hairy, with eight legs and two body parts. Close up, fine marks show the joints and the surface texture.