web

…instead weave silk snares, or webs, to capture prey. Webs are instinctively constructed and effectively trap flying insects. Many spiders inject venom into their prey to kill it quickly, whereas others first use silk wrappings to immobilize their victims.

Many web spiders construct silk sheets in vegetation, sometimes one above the other, and often add anchor threads, which trip unsuspecting insects. The irregular three-dimensional web of cobweb spiders (family Theridiidae) has anchoring threads of sticky silk. An insect caught in the web or touching an…

…aquatica—known for its underwater silk web, which resembles a kind of diving bell—is the only species of spider that spends its entire life underwater. Using fine hairs on its abdomen, where its respiratory openings lie, the water spider captures tiny bubbles of air at the water’s surface, transports them to…

…buzzing insect caught in their web. The spider apparently locates the insect at once, runs to it, and attacks it. An inactive object, however, such as a small pebble enmeshed in the web, produces a different response: the spider manipulates the strands of the web, locates the object, and cuts…

…are named for their funnel-shaped webs, which open wide at the mouth of an underground tube. The burrows are typically built under rocks and in crevices or in and under rotting logs, and some arboreal species inhabit holes in trees. The spider sits in the narrow funnel waiting for prey…

…some species the larvae form webs of debris for protection, while others form a funnel-like web between stones in running water to catch food. Some protect their bodies with cases, whereas others spin protective lairs or are free-living. They produce silk from glands on the lower lip (labium), and many…

…movement or vibration of the web, causing the spider to rush forward and bite its prey as quickly as possible. Thus, it is not surprising that male spiders have evolved fairly elaborate display movements and patterns to convey their identity. Many males are quite strikingly coloured, providing additional information about…