Net-casting spider
Deinopidae
4.95414, 117.691
Field Notes
Description:
Everyone will be familiar with the typical spiders that construct webs and trap prey in them. This particular spider does things a little differently. This spider is commonly known as the Net-casting spider. Unlike most spiders who are simply content to sit and wait in their webs for some hapless bug to fly into it, these amazing spiders take the web strategy a step further. They weave a flexible net-liked web which they hold with the front legs. They do this dangling from a twig or some other promising perch. They support themselves using a scaffold of taut non-sticky silk that they lay down first.
When an insect wanders by, the Net-casting spider then throws the net over the prey! Truly one of the most amazing spiders on the planet.
Habitat:
It is distributed nearly worldwide in the tropics, from Australia to Africa and the Americas.
Comments (3)