THE WORLD'S FIRST SKIN DIVER HAD EIGHT LEGS - George P Ritter - June 1977

George P Ritter

Silently and stealthily the hungry skin diver, his portable air breathing equipment securely attached, inched along. A suspicious movement in the water ahead suddenly arrested his attention. Quickly he lunged toward the spot of the disturbance and came away with his prey-an inch-long guppy, more than enough for a sumptuous meal back at his submerged diving bell. Lloyd Bridges or Jacques Cousteau he's not. But he's been at it a lot longer than any of his human counterparts. He's Argyroneta aquatica, an air-breathing spider who spends most of his life submerged in shallow ponds and streams in Europe and Asia. From the day he leaves the egg, Argyroneta is off and swimming with a tiny air bubble attached to his abdomen. When his air supply is depleted, he will rise to the surface, firmly grasp a new bubble between his legs and abdomen, and quickly resubmerge. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library