"Cow's face spider", an unusual specimen commonly known as the *whitebanded fishing spider (Dolomedes albineus), found in Cedar Park, Texas

Report and Photograph Courtesy of Carla E., 31 July 2007

Carla Wrote:

Hi---This was in my friend's back yard in mid July, 2007.  I don't have any measurements (she was a little freaked out) but it was a large spider.  Identity?   Thanks, Carla   [Editor's Note: Carla later informed me that the spider's body was 1.5 inches long, which would make the carapace, pictured below, about 3/4th inch in length.  Cedar Park, Texas, is north-northwest of Austin, on U.S. Highway 183].

The enlarged, but otherwise unretouched photo, above, is of the carapace of the spider Carla's friend photographed, viewed with the spider's head pointed downward (click on the link to see the full report on this spider).  The spider's eyes are in the darkened portion of the median, anterior head, in the middle of the lower quadrant of the photo. A whorl of pale-colored hairs, on the lateral margins of the spider's carapace--and positioned in the middle of the right and left quadrants of the photo--surround a small splotch of dark hairs. 

It takes no imagination to see, in this image, what appears to be the face of a bovine calf with large, baleful eyes, a darkened muzzle with large nostrils, a dark crown, and pale cheeks. This likeness, on the carapace of a male whitebanded fishing spider (Dolomedes albineus) does not make this spider unique, as Araneus gemmoides is often described as a cat's face spider for having a dorsal abdomen that remotely resembles the face of a feline. As for the present specimen, the similarity to a cow's face is overpowering.  Such a striking resemblance is uncommon, as most males of this species look somewhat different from this one.

*Note: The common name of this spider is not listed in the authoritative "Common Names of Arachnids, Fifth Ed., 2003", published by the American Arachnological Society Committee on Common Names of Arachnids, R. G. Breene, Chairman.  However, it appears to conform to the guidelines of that document, is frequently applied by amateur arachnologists to the species, seems reasonably descriptive thereof, and appears unlikely to lead to undue confusion with arachnids having similar common names, e.g., the whitebanded crab spider (Misumenoides formosipes Walckenaer), and the whitebanded tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata C.L. Koch).  In the Nearctic Spider Database, published in the Canadian Arachnologist, a publication of Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, the common name of this species is listed as "none".  In a personal communication Dr. Breene on 12 August 2007 suggested that whitebanded fishing spider was an appropriate common name for this species, but mentioned that the American Arachnological Society Committee on Common Names of Arachnids has not yet added it to their list. Dr. Breene also mentioned that he has retired from the chair of that committee, and his replacement has not yet been selected.