Net casting: move the capture surface
Connect a handheld capture mesh with visual hunting, then isolate net stretch in a schematic comparison.
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Original WebTug explanation with animated teaching diagrams and credited still photographs. On-screen text carries the lesson; there is no audio narration.
Diagrams simplify the science. Animation timing and diagram dimensions are illustrative, not measurements of live spiders.
Compare net stretch →Read the full transcript
- A net held by six legs
This still photograph introduces Deinopis spinosa. It hunts with a small net held between its front three pairs of legs.
- Take the mesh to the prey
The spider stretches its woolly silk net and actively casts it over prey. Its legs position the capture surface during the strike.
- Seeing helps guide the strike
Researchers temporarily covered the enlarged eyes. The spiders then struggled to catch walking prey, showing how vision supports nocturnal hunting.
- Area changes with both dimensions
In our schematic, stretching increases mesh width and height. That enlarges its coverage, while cast reach sets how far it travels.
- Separate the model from the animal
This simplified cast isolates reach, stretch, and settling. It does not reproduce the spider's sensing, leg mechanics, or three-dimensional strike.
- Which net covers more space?
Keep reach and settling fixed; change net stretch, replay both settings, and compare mesh width during the cast.
Scientific sources and media credits
Deinopis spinosa — Deinopis spinosa foraging at night.jpg by Jstaf13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph fitted within the video without changing its composition; labels and animated diagrams added around it.
Script, diagrams, animation, and editing: WebTug, September 27, 2026. This video adaptation is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; individual photographs retain their credited licenses.
What the game helps you notice
Net-casters actively stretch and move a small capture mesh. The game makes reach and interception visible: your net expands during its strike, but the prey keeps moving while it travels.
Why aim ahead of the prey?
During the net’s travel time, the target covers distance. A wider net gives tolerance, but prediction still beats chasing its old position.
The overhead track, fixed cast delay, and automatic net return are gameplay rules. This is not a measured reproduction of the spider’s sensing or leg motion.
Try this experiment: What does a wider net change?
Keep cast reach and net settling unchanged. Compare two net-stretch settings and predict how the capture area changes.
Open this experiment and compare A / B →Meet Deinopis spinosa and explore its research, then use the return link to play again. The challenge scores are game feedback, not measurements of your scientific understanding.
Primary research: Stafstrom and Hebets, Biology Letters (2016)