How High Can Spiders Go?
WouterIt is believed that spiders are able to balloon. This is a process where they take flight on strands of silk. They are able to float away from predators and competitors, enabling them to cover a wide range of distances. They can even balloon across oceans and islands.
Some spiders can get as high as two and a half miles above the ground. They can also go as far as a thousand miles out in the sea.
Scientists have been interested in the way that these flying spiders use electricity to propel themselves. They are able to sense the electrical field in the air, and then launch themselves into the air. They can travel long distances on calm days.
In the laboratory, Peter Gorham and his team tested the theory that spiders can balloon. They built a small fridge-sized arena to see how they behaved. They installed charged metal plates to mimic the natural electric field.
As he was reading Charles Darwin’s observations of ballooning spiders, Gorham wondered if his theories were correct. He hoped that someone with more knowledge of biology would pick up his paper.
After Gorham’s study, he decided to put a new twist on the idea. He was able to prove that spiders can balloon through an electrical field. He published his findings on arXiv. In his study, he used a virtual spider to test the theory. He showed that the virtual spider was able to travel 8.5 centimeters per second upward.
