Skip to main content

Up Next

Back to Show
Deep Look

The Curious Webspinner Insect Knits a Cozy Home

Season 6 Episode 20

To protect herself and her eggs, female webspinners shoot super-fine silk from their front feet. They weave the strands to build a shelter that serves as a tent, umbrella and invisibility cloak. But shooting silk from her feet requires her to moonwalk to get around.

Season
This Daring Fly Swims in a Shimmering Bubble Shield
5:42
Covered in a shiny bubble, the alkali fly scuba dives in California's Mono Lake.
This Fly Torpedoes a Bindweed Bee's Nest
4:58
A “bee fly” is a freeloader that takes advantage of a bindweed turret bee’s hard work.
This Snail Goes Fishing With a Net Made of Slime
4:05
The scaled wormsnail cements its shell to a rock and snags its meals using mucus!
Springtails Do Their Own Stunts
4:04
Step right up to see tiny springtails spin through the air with the greatest of ease!
Gecko Grip: It’s Atomic (Really)
3:44
Geckos navigate nearly any surface with an electron dance at the atomic scale.
The Twisted Truth About Snake Tongues
4:31
The snake's forked tongue helps it smell in stereo.
This Mushroom Can Fly
3:22
Bird’s nest fungi look just like a tiny bird's nest. But those little eggs have no yolks.
Toad Tongues Slay With Seriously Sticky Spit
3:36
How are frogs so amazing at catching bugs? It’s their supersoft tongue and special spit.
How Does the Mussel Grow its Beard?
4:00
Mussels create byssal threads to attach themselves to rocks and each other.
Earthworm Love is Cuddly ... and Complicated
4:10
Earthworms cozy up with a mate inside tubes of slime to make cocoons full of baby worms.
Have You Met a Hagfish? It’s About Slime.
3:52
What keeps the boneless, jawless hagfish thriving after more than 300 million years? SLIME
Season 9
5:04
Researchers use invisible lasers, ghastly wasps and more trickery to protect orange groves
Active loading indicator