Balloons , sometimes called kiting , is a process whereby spiders, and some other small invertebrates, move in the air by releasing one or more fine threads to catch the wind, causing them into the air under the mercy of the air currents. It's mainly used by spiderling to disperse; However, larger individuals have observed doing so as well. The spider rises to a high point and takes its position with its stomach to the sky, releasing the fine silk thread from its spinneret until it becomes taller. The trips vary from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers. Even atmospheric samples collected from balloons at a height of five kilometers and ships in the middle seas reported spider landings. High mortality rate.
Video Ballooning (spider)
Description
Ballooning is a behavior in which spiders and some other invertebrates use air dispersal to move between locations. A spider (usually confined to an individual of a small species), or spiderling after hatching, will climb as high as possible, stand with his feet raised with his stomach pointed up ("tiptoe"), and then release some silk thread from his spinneret to air. This automatically forms a triangle-shaped parachute that brings the spider up into the wind where even a gentle breeze will propagate the arachnids. Earth's static electricity field can also provide power in windless conditions.
Many spiders use very fine silk called gossamer to lift themselves off the surface, and silk can also be used by wind-blown spiders to refrain from stopping the journey. The term "gossamer" is used metaphorically for every fine thread or fabric. Biologists also apply the term "silk balloon" to the thread that mechanically lifts and drags the system.
It is generally assumed that most spiders weighing more than 1 mg are unlikely to use balloons. Because many individuals die during a balloon, the chances of an adult will be ballooning compared to spiderling. However, adult females of some social Stegodyphus species ( S. dumicola
In Australia, in 2012 and May 2015, millions of spiders are reported to have ballooned into the air, making the land where they landed seemed snow-covered with their silk.
Maps Ballooning (spider)
Distance and altitude achieved
Most balloon trips end only after a few meters of travel, although depending on the mass and posture of the spider, the spider may be brought into the jet stream. The further trajectory depends on the air currents of the convection and drag the silk and the parachute to float and move high up the atmosphere.
Many seafarers reported spiders caught on their ship's screen more than 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from the mainland (Heimer 1988). They have even been detected in atmospheric data balloons that collect air samples at slightly less than 5 kilometers (16,000 feet) above sea level. Evidently, balloons are the most common way for spiders to attack isolated islands and mountain peaks. Spiders are known to survive without food while traveling in air currents from jet streams for 25 days or longer.
Some mites and some caterpillars also use silk to spread into the air.
Close ties have been found between balloon behavior and the ability for spider species to survive on water. The water repellent legs keep them alive in fresh water and salt water, allowing them to survive from wave heights of up to 0.5 millimeters. In the wind many species lift their legs or stomach to use as screens, pushing themselves on the surface of the water. Many species of spiders also drop silk to anchor themselves in place while floating. The word spider does not show this behavior on land, indicating that they are adaptation to water.
See also
- Aeroplankton
- "A Noiseless Patient Spider", a poem by Walt Whitman based on spider ballooning behavior
- Organisms at high altitude
- Spider silk
References
Further reading
- Dean, D.A. & amp; Sterling, W.L. (1985): The size of a spider that bubbled in two locations in eastern Texas. J. Arachnol. 13 : 111-120. PDF
- Heimer, S. (1988): Wunderbare Welt der Spinnen. Urania-Verlag Leipzig . ISBN 3-332-00210-4.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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