Family: Pisauridae, Nursery Web Spiders view all from this family

Description Male 3/8-1/2" (9-13 mm); female 5/8-3/4" (15-20 mm) with legspan to 2 1/2" (64 mm). Greenish brown with silvery-white lengthwise stripes along each side of cephalothorax and abdomen. Abdomen has 12 white spots. Undersurface paler, except for 6 black spots between leg bases.

Food Small insects, sometimes tadpoles and small fish.

Life Cycle Female sometimes carries egg sac across open water and holds or stays close to sac until most spiderlings have dispersed. Egg sacs are produced June-September, occasionally in April.

Habitat Slow-flowing streams or ponds.

Range East of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and s. Canada; rare in Rocky Mountains and Great Plains.

Discussion Sometimes these spiders are eaten by fish. They are often seen scampering over waterside plants.