Breathing underwater: the diving bell spider's air-bubble life
Researchers highlight the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica), which spends most of its life underwater by building a dome-shaped web filled with air from the surface. A hydrophobic layer on its abdomen traps an air bubble that diffuses oxygen into the bubble and carbon dioxide out, allowing the spider to stay submerged for more than a day; it even maintains a thin air layer around its body to move. The piece also notes that the salt-marsh wolf spider Arctosa fulvolineata can survive about 16 hours underwater via a hypoxic coma.
