Meanwhile, millions of spiders flee the deadly floods in Tasmania creating massive webs.
Incredible pictures show how these spiders use a technique called ballooning to escape floodwaters… and cover whole trees in spider webs.
Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a means by which spiders, and some other small invertebrates, can move through the air through different locations.
They are thus at the mercy of air currents.
The spider climbs to a high point, stands on its toes and points its abdomen to the sky, releasing fine silk threads from its spinnerettes until lift off occurs.
Journeys achieved vary from a few metres to hundreds of kilometres.
Even atmospheric data have collected samples of balloons at five kilometres above the earth and ships in mid-ocean have reported spider landings.
The phenomenon of ballooning explained:
Of course, mortality is high.
[…] Millions of spiders flee deadly floods in Tasmania – Strange Sounds Southern California rocked by magnitude-5.2 earthquake John Hathaway – There Is A Deepening […]
[…] Millions of spiders flee the deadly floods in Tasmania creating massive webs. Incredible pictures show how these spiders use a technique called ballooning to escape floodwaters… and cover whole trees in spider webs. For moe information, great photos and a video that explains “ballooning” -> strangesounds.org […]
When did spiders get toes?
That’s pretty hideous. What if one of the spider balloons landed ON YOU?
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