Flying spiders able sailors

This Tetragnathid spider is also using its legs as sails. Once attached to an object, the report reads, the spiders walk along the silk until they reach safety.

While this may seem like bad news for every arachnophobe, researchers say this is only good news for farmers, who welcome spiders as a form of pest control.

The study also explains how spiders are able to migrate across vast distances and why they are quick to colonise new areas.

All of the credit had been given to their flying abilities, but it turns out that they are just as capable sailors as they are pilots. The ballooning technique became the talk of the scientific world in May when a small town in South Australia was covered in baby spider webbing that has become known locally as “Angel Hair”. This effectively implies using their silk to catch the wind, lifting them up into the air.

Spiders can travel 20 miles a day while ballooning, given the right weather conditions. That in itself is both fascinating and frightening, but it adds to the prowess of such a common insect.

Hayashi and his team focused on 325 adult spiders ranging 21 different species, according to Gizmodo. Standing on the surface was expected due to the water proof nature of their legs, but moving was not.

“Once on the water surface, spiders react to the wind by raising their legs as sails”, the worldwide team of scientists found. “Sailing spiders smoothly and stealthily slide on the water surface without leaving any turbulence…” The silk drags through the water, slowing the spider down or bringing it to a halt. As spiders can thrive even without food for a long time, those trapped in water may survive long enough until they find a distant, potential habitat.

The question seems to have been floating in the air for a while though.

The disposition to sail is likely associated with the tendency for aerial dispersal and potentially because sailing may minimize the consequences of landing on water.

The new study has been deemed to “dot the line” for many curiosities.

Landing on water proves no problem for them however.

The spiders” behaviour was observed on trays of water in reaction to pump-generated air, and this was compared to their reactions on dry surfaces, “phys.org’ reported.