How do fishing spiders and water striders walk on the water surface?
Fishing spiders, Dolomedes triton (Araneae, Pisauridae), propel themselves across the water surface using two gaits: they row with four legs at sustained velocities below 0.2 m/s (upper image) and they gallop with six legs at sustained velocities above 0.3 m/s (middle image). In addition, when startled, these versatile animals can also leap vertically from the water surface. Dr. Suter’s students have used a Kodak high-speed camera and imaging system to photograph spiders at 1000 frames per second, about 33 times faster than normal video speed. The resulting video, played back 33 times more slowly than normal video, reveals the details of motions that are too fast for the un-aided eye to see.
