Getting Wet, Cold for Spiders Typically Risky to Survival, Except for One Species That Can Stay Underwater for Longer Than 30 Minutes

A newly discovered spider species known as the Trechalea extensa does this exact trick up its so-called "eight furry sleeves," and coming up for breath is apparently not needed.

As indicated in a ScienceAlert report, for a frog or other amphibians, escaping into the water, not to mention, hiding for a prolonged period from predators is the norm, although it is a bit of an extraordinary scheme for a spider.

For an ordinary spider, the cost of being immersed could be specifically high. There's loss of hit, air loss, different predators under the water, and no other way of eating.

However, in this new study, researchers detail a tropical spider discovered next to a stream in Costa Rica, which had been observed to stay underwater for "whooping 32 minutes."

Unusual Spider Behavior

According to Binghamton University biologist Lindsey Swierk, for a lot of species, "getting wet and cold" is nearly as risky to survival as dealing with their predators, to begin with.

Swierk, who's also the lead author of the study published in the Ethology journal, also said, Trechalea spiders were not formerly known to hide underwater from threats, "and certainly not for so long."

Previously, in July 2019, the study investigators were close to a stream at the Las Cruces Biological Station in the Puntarenas Province of Costa Rica, when they discovered a T. extensa sitting on a boulder beside a small stream, part of the Java River.

When the team attempted to capture the creature, it took off over the water of the surface, which such spiders are famous for doing.

'Film of Air'

After the study investigators carried on with the pursuit, the spider did something that surprised them. Specifically, it scuttled down a rock and immersed itself roughly 25 centimeters beneath the water, then stayed there, for longer than half an hour.

Unfortunately, for this diving spider, when it arose, the research team was not able to capture it, although the group was able to capture video and take photos of the strange "underwater display."

The observations may have been based on just a single spider encounter thus far, but the secret behind such an ability appears to be a "film" of air that surrounds its entire body.

Essentially, according to a similar Sci-News report specified, the hairs that cover the spider are very much water-repelling. They can apparently generate a kind of protection out of the air to shield the spider from the water's harshness.

Describing their observation from the study, Swierk said the film of air that surrounds the spider when it was underwater appeared to be held in place by hydrophobic hairs that cover the whole body surface of the spider.

Spiders are 'Air-Breathing'

The lead author also explained that it is so complete that the spider nearly looks like it has been dipped in silver. The film of air might function to keep the respiratory openings away from water because the spiders are air-breathing.

Lastly, the film of air might contribute as well, to the minimization of thermal loss to the cold stream water that this particular species is submerging itself into.

Report about the spider that can stay underwater for over 30 minutes is shown on Rajamnickman Antonimuthu's YouTube video below:

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