Net-casting
Guides
Deinopidae
Net-casting Spiders, Ogre-faced Spiders
Deinopidae is a family of cribellate spiders known for their distinctive net-casting hunting strategy. They construct small rectangular capture webs held between their elongated front legs, which they stretch to two or three times their relaxed size before propelling themselves forward to entangle prey. The family includes three genera: Deinopis and Asianopis (ogre-faced spiders with enlarged posterior median eyes for night vision), and Menneus (humped-back spiders lacking enlarged eyes). These spiders are sit-and-wait predators with excellent night vision, hunting primarily after dark while resting cryptically during daylight hours.
Deinopis
net-casting spiders, gladiator spiders, ogre-faced spiders, American Ogre-faced Spiders
Deinopis is a genus of net-casting spiders characterized by their distinctive hunting strategy of throwing a rectangular cribellate web at prey. The genus is distinguished by enlarged posterior median eyes that are among the most light-sensitive of any animal, enabling nocturnal hunting. These spiders exhibit specialized sensory adaptations including the use of trichobothria and slit sensillae on their legs to detect prey vibrations and sounds. The genus has a tropical and subtropical distribution with a complex biogeographic history involving Gondwanan origins and subsequent dispersal events.