Ballooning (spider)

Xysticus audax tiptoeing

Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a behaviour in which spiders and some other invertebrates use air-borne dispersal to move between locations.[1][2]

Description

A spider (usually limited to individuals of a small species), or spiderling after hatching,[3] will climb as high as it can, stand on raised legs with its abdomen pointed upwards ("tiptoeing"),[4] and then release several silk threads from its spinnerets into the air. These automatically form a triangular shaped parachute[5] which carries the spider away on updrafts of winds where even the slightest of breezes will disperse the arachnid.[4][5] The Earth's static electric field may also provide lift in windless conditions.[6]

Many spiders use especially fine silk, called "gossamer"[7] to lift themselves off a surface, and silk also may be used by a windblown spider to anchor itself to stop its journey.[5] The term "gossamer" is used metaphorically for any exceedingly fine thread or fabric. Biologists also apply the term "balloon silk" to the threads that mechanically lift and drag systems.

It is generally thought that most spiders heavier than 1 mg are unlikely to use ballooning.[8] Because many individuals die during ballooning, it is less likely that adults will balloon compared to spiderlings. However, adult females of several social Stegodyphus species (S. dumicola and S. mimosarum) weighing more than 100 mg and with a body size of up to 14 millimetres (0.55 in) have been observed ballooning using rising thermals on hot days without wind. These spiders use tens to hundreds of silk strands, which form a triangular sheet with a length and width of about 1 metre (39 in)[5]

Distance and height achieved

Most ballooning journeys end after just a few meters of travel, although depending on the spider's mass and posture,[9] a spider might be taken up into a jet stream. The trajectory further depends on the convection air currents and the drag of the silk and parachute to float and travel high up into the upper atmosphere.[10]

Many sailors have reported spiders being caught in their ship's sails, over 1,600 kilometres (990 mi)[11] from land (Heimer 1988). They have even been detected in atmospheric data balloons collecting air samples at slightly less than 5 kilometres (16,000 ft) above sea level.[12] Evidently, it is the most common way for spiders to invade isolated islands and mountaintops.[11][13] Spiderlings are known to survive without food while travelling in air currents of jet streams for 25 days or longer.[2]

Some mites and some caterpillars also use silk to disperse through the air.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Heinrichs, Ann R. (2004) "Spiders". Compass Point Books, Primary School : Nature's Friends series; Minneapolis, Minn. ISBN 9780756505905. She observes that the so called ballooning is like a kite
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Valerio, C.E. (1977). "Population structure in the spider Achaearranea Tepidariorum (Aranae, Theridiidae)". The Journal of Arachnology 3: 185–190. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2009-07-18.http://web.archive.org/web/20110719210153/http://fms.holycross.edu/JoA_free/JoA_v3_n3/JoA_v3_p185.pdf
  3. ↑ Bond, J.E. "Systamatic and Evolution of the Californian trapdoor spider genus Aptostichus Simon (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Euctenizidae)". Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 1999. Accessed 2009-07-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Weyman, G.S. (1995). "Laboratory studies of the factors stimulating ballooning behavior by Linyphiid spiders (Araneae, Linyphiidae)". The Journal of Arachnology 23: 75–84. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Schneider, J.M.; Roos, J., Lubin, Y. and Henschel, J.R. (October 2001). "Dispersal of Stegodyphus Dumicola (Araneae, Eresidae): They do balloon after all!". The Journal of Arachnology 29 (1): 114–116. doi:10.1636/0161-8202(2001)029[0114:DOSDAE]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  6. ↑ Gorham, Peter (Sep 2013). "Ballooning spiders: The case for electrostatic flight". ArXiv e-prints. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  7. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed.: Gossamer, noun and adjective: fine filmy substance, consisting of cobwebs, spun by small spiders, which is seen floating in the air in calm weather, esp. in autumn, or spread over a grassy surface: occas. with a and pl., a thread or web of gossamer.
  8. ↑ Suter, R.B. (1999). "An aerial lottery: The physics of ballooning in a chaotic atmosphere.". Journal of Arachnology. 27: 281–293. Archived from the original on 2006-02-11.
  9. ↑ Suter, R.B. (1992). "Ballooning: Data from spiders in freefall indicate the importance of posture". The Journal of Arachnology XX: 107–113. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  10. ↑ Greenstone, M.H.; Morgan, C.E. and Hultsh, A.-L (1987). "Ballooning spiders in Missouri, USA, and New South Wales, Australia: Family and mass distributions". The Journal of Arachnology 15: 163–170. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hormiga, G. (2002). "Orsonwells, a new genus of giant linyphild spiders (Araneae) from the Hawaiian Islands". Invertebrate Systamatics 16 (3): 369–448. doi:10.1071/IT01026. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  12. ↑ VanDyk, J.K. (2002–2009). "Entomology 201 - Introduction to insects". Department of Entomology, Iowa State University. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  13. ↑ Bilsing, S.W. (May 1920). "Quantitative studies in the food of spiders". The Ohio Journal of Science 20 (7): 215–260. Retrieved 2009-07-18.

Further reading