Massachusetts Spider Found in Dartmouth Looks Like It Crawled Out of Avatar

Back on the night of the Strawberry Moon, I wandered out to the backyard pond at my new home in North Dartmouth with nothing more than a flashlight and my camera. The moon was hanging almost directly overhead, making it one of those perfect nights to look for green frogs and tiny peepers tucked into the grass. Then I pointed my flashlight toward the water and immediately froze.

Floating across the surface were what looked like creatures straight out of Avatar. Its long legs stretched eerily wide across the water, its body glowed under the beam of my flashlight, and there wasn't just one. There were dozens of them, some appearing to span roughly the size of a six-to-seven-inch pancake from leg tip to leg tip.

I'll admit it, my first thought was, What in the world is living only a few feet from my back door? So like any curious person would, I went inside and started digging for answers. What I found completely changed the way I look at these intimidating-looking spiders.

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Meet Massachusetts' Native Fishing Spider

Low and behold, this creepy crawler is known as a six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes triton), a species native to Massachusetts that spends much of its life around ponds, marshes and slow-moving water. According to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, instead of building webs to catch prey, these spiders actually use the surface tension of the water to "walk" across ponds while hunting insects, mosquito larvae, tadpoles and, on occasion, even tiny fish. The good news? Fishing spiders are shy, rarely bite people and would much rather escape than stand their ground.

More Friend Than Foe

As unsettling as they may look at first glance, fishing spiders are incredibly valuable members of our local ecosystem. They're natural pest controllers that help keep mosquitoes and other insect populations in check, making them one of the pond's hardest-working predators. So while the photo may be enough to give you the "heebie jeebies", seeing one in your backyard is actually a sign of a healthy wetland habitat rather than something to fear.

READ MORE: Slimy Alien-Looking Polyp Discovered in Dartmouth Tree

The next time you're walking past a pond after dark, shine a flashlight across the water (if you dare). You might discover that one of Massachusetts' most alien-looking creatures has been doing your backyard a favor.