Charles Darwin when on his travels marvelled at the spider’s ability to drop onto the deck of HMS Beagle despite being miles away from dry land, says the project’s leader Morito Hayashi from London’s Natural History Museum. Researchers investigated how they move from one place to another and even across bodies of water. But their behavior within trays filled with water and against pump-generated winds has proven why they’re part of one of the most efficient ecosystems in the world.
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The news might be terrifying for arachnophobes, but a study shows that spiders have sailing skills that aid them in moving across waters.
Details of the maneuvering ability of spiders across water have been published in the scientific journal BMC Evolutionary Biology by the research team, including Mohammed Bakkali at the Universidad de Granada, co author Sara Goodacre of the University of Nottingham and wildlife photographer Alexander Hyde. “This ability compensates for the risks of landing on water after the uncontrolled spider flights”, he said.
The sailing spiders were also the adventurous arthropods most likely to want to “balloon”, according to the researchers. Or sailing across the waters, apparently. During upsidedown sailing, the spiders cleverly raise their abdomen, exhibiting a posture comparable to a handstand. Then they may have strategies to deal with that particular situation. Ideally, a gust of wind will capture the silk strand and carry it into the air, along with the spider.
This Tetragnathid spider is also using its legs as sails. When walking, the spider moves its legs so swiftly and often in a downwind trend.
Common spiders are frequently observed to fly using a technique called “ballooning“. This action is said to help the spiders avoid potential predators from attacking.
The spiders seemed to use legs as a sail in order to switch directions and their silk as the anchor when they wished to stop.
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Landing on water proves no problem for them however. 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.
