Lucite Paperweight - Clear (2 Blocks Set)

Real Water Spider - Argyroneta aquatica and Spiny Spider (Gasteracantha kuhlii) specimen encased in rectangular indestructible, transparent lucite block. Safe, authentic and completely unbreakable product put real specimens right at your fingertips!

Anyone can safely explore the specimens from every angle.

They are clear enough for microscope observation.

Length of the Water Spider body is 0.8 cm (0.3 inch).

Length of the Spiny Spider body is 1.2 cm (0.5 inch).

Size of each lucite block is 4.5x3.0x2.0 cm (1.8x1.2x0.8 inch)

Weight of each block is 30 gram and 45 gram with packing box.

This is a handmade real animal specimen craft. Each one will be a bit different (specimen size, color and posture) even in the same production batch.
The pictures in the listing are just for reference as we are selling multiple pieces with same pictures.
 

They are ideal learning aid for students and kids and also a very good collectible item.

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Water Spider - Argyroneta aquatica

Order: Araneae   Infraorder: Araneomorphae   Family: Cybaeidae   Genus: Argyroneta

Water spider (Argyroneta aquatica), also known as diving bell spider, species of spider that is known for its underwater silk web, which resembles a kind of flexible diving bell. The water spider is the only species of spider known to spend its entire life underwater. It has been placed in the family Argyronetidae; however, studies of fossil spiders suggest that it may be more closely related to members of family Cybaeidae.

Water spiders are found in ponds, slow-moving streams, and other shallow bodies of fresh water, particularly where aquatic vegetation is abundant. They are distributed geographically across the northern and central regions of Europe and Siberia. Adult water spiders measure between 8 and 15 mm (0.3 and 0.6 inch) in length and typically are gray to dark brown in colour. Their legs and abdomens are covered with fine hairs, which trap air bubbles in the water and give the spiders a shimmering, silvery appearance.

Once a water spider has captured tiny bubbles of air in the hairs on its body at the water’s surface, it transports them to its silk web, which is anchored to underwater plants or other objects, and ejects them into the interior, thereby inflating the underwater house with air. Research has shown that the inflated web serves as a sort of gill, extracting dissolved oxygen from the water when oxygen concentrations inside the web become sufficiently low to draw oxygen in from the water. Slowly, however, the inflated web collapses, and the spider must travel to the water’s surface for bubble renewal, which it does about once each day.

Most of the life cycle of the water spider, including courtship and breeding, prey capture and feeding, and the development of eggs and embryos, occurs below the water’s surface. Many of these activities take place within the spider’s diving bell.

Water spiders, which tend to be more active at night than during the day, are carnivorous and prey on aquatic invertebrates, such as water mites, water boatmen, and phantom midge larvae. Males generally are more aggressive hunters than females.

Male water spiders often construct their webs close to those of females and tunnel into the females’ webs to mate. A female may lay between 30 and 70 eggs, which are secured within a cocoon suspended from the upper region of the female’s web. Eggs hatch within several weeks, and the spiderlings disperse into the water. Young water spiders often make use of empty snail shells and similar habitats, which they fill with air, before constructing their own webs.

Spiny Spider - Gasteracantha kuhlii

Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Infraorder: Araneomorphi
Series: Entelegynae
Superfamily: Araneoidea
Family: Araneidae
Subfamily: Gasteracanthinae
Tribe: Gasteracanthini
Genus: Gasteracantha

Classification: Family Araneidae, Orb-Web Spiders.
Habitat: Gardens, wasteland, secondary forests.
Female: 7-10 mm.
Male: 4-6 mm.
Distribution: China, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong, Japan.

The spiny orb-weavers are a type of spider. They are also commonly called Spiny-backed orb-weavers, due to the prominent spines on their abdomen.