HONG KONG: Spiders have sailing abilities that may match Spider-Man’s ability to get from point A to point B. A new study explains how terrestrial spiders can move from one place to another to create a more conducive habitat, even when bodies of water are encountered along the way.
The researchers describe how the physical features of the spiders used in the study are able to help them migrate to new places.
Common spiders set themselves high in the air through a movement technique called “ballooning,” which pertains to the usage of their silk to get help from the wind and propel themselves up into the air.
On the average, ballooning enables spiders to move by up to 30 kilometers (approx. 19 miles) per day, provided that the wind conditions are fitting. However, spiders have minimal control over the places where they will end up, facing the possibility of landing on water, which is said to be an incompatible place for spiders to thrive in.
The study, published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, involved 21 species of spiders found in the nature reserves in Nottinghamshire, UK. The study subjects, totaling to 325 adult spiders with water-repellent legs, were placed on trays of water where pump-generated air was induced and subsequently observed.
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