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The Ogre-Faced Spider Throws A Net Over Its Prey Like A Gladiator

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Justine Alford

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1303 The Ogre-Faced Spider Throws A Net Over Its Prey Like A Gladiator
Geoff Gallice, via Wikimedia Commons

Meet the Ogre-faced spider (genus Deinopsis), a slow moving and stick-like nocturnal spider within the family Deinopidae. 

Members of the Deinopidae family are also called net-casting spiders - no prizes for guessing as to why that might be. These spiders, which are widely distributed in the tropics, don’t make permanent webs but instead spin an unusual rectangular web that they clutch between their front four legs. The spiders position themselves upright, head down, and wait for an unsuspecting victim to pass by. When prey approaches they shove the net over the top of them, ensnaring the victim in the wooly silk. The spider then bites the prey, paralyzing it before consuming it.

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Check out this awesome and incredibly dramatic video about Ogre-faced spiders released by the science channel:


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