The genus is distributed extensively throughout various subtropical geographical areas including Australia, South Africa, Oriental Asia, and the Americas and is not found in Europe.

Although both sexes hatch with their cephalothorax range being around 0.5 mm, the female develops into a significantly larger specimen than her male counterpart.

[2] Originally stemming from normal orb weavers, the genus adopted an alternative web design (the bolas) and widely distributed throughout the world.

Female moths produce a complex pheromone typically combining two compounds in a ratio specific to the species.

[6][8] Instead of producing bolas like adult females to capture their prey, spiderlings remain motionless in the margins of leaves in shrubs or trees and wait to quickly ambush small flies that pass.

Instead, the females primarily reside in a nearby leaf or plant while producing a single horizontal thread which they stay on and travel across during times of predation.

At the terminal end, the spider forms an extremely adhesive orb which it quickly hurls in a circular pattern to capture flying prey.

[3] If there is no prey captured after a short while, the Mastophora brings the orb back and consumes it--preparing to form another one to replace the former.

[5] The egg sacs of the M. hutchinsoni are spherical in shape with an extended stem typically surrounded by multiple protective layers and an off-white silk.

[1] Considering the extreme sexual dimorphism resulting in a noticeably large size, M. Hutchinsoni adult females fashion a more cryptic coloration with a white palette and dark brown patterns.

[1][2] Pheromone blends of moth species are unique and may interfere with each other resulting in reduced efficacy or failed mimicry.

To accommodate such discrepancies, the bolas spider continuously produces a substandard blend of both pheromones elements and adjusts the amount of emission as time moves from one species’ zone of activity to another.

Nephelodes minians (the bronzed cutworm) holds a chemical composition consisting of a blend of (Z)-11-hexadecenal and (Z)-11- hexadecenyl acetate.

[3][9] Despite being nocturnal hunters, M. hutchinsoni have poor vision and rather rely on prey wing vibrations to trigger bolas construction.