Spiders check the weather before taking flight, just like airline pilots do. Animal fact or fiction?
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You're right! Good job! Like airline pilots, spiders check the weather before taking flight. They test the temperature and wind speed with the sensory hairs and sense organs that cover their limbs (tarsi). However, spiders don't actually fly. They way they travel long distance is called "ballooning". Ballooning involves casting out a "dragline" of silk (what they use to spin their webs), which gets carried by the wind along with the spider that's attached.
Wind acts as the fuel. Sunshine enhances updrafts, which is helpful for lift-off. But, even though sunshine helps with lift-off, spiders actually prefer to travel on cloudy fall and spring days. Why? Because, on sunny summer days, the spider would get the updraft needed to take flight, but not enough wind to fuel their flight. During the winter, it's too windy and there's not enough sunshine for the updraft needed to lift off.
Nope, sorry! Like airline pilots, spiders check the weather before taking flight. They test the temperature and wind speed with the sensory hairs and sense organs that cover their limbs (tarsi). However, spiders don't actually fly. They way they travel long distance is called "ballooning". Ballooning involves casting out a "dragline" of silk (what they use to spin their webs), which gets carried by the wind along with the spider that's attached.
Wind acts as the fuel. Sunshine enhances updrafts, which is helpful for lift-off. But, even though sunshine helps with lift-off, spiders actually prefer to travel on cloudy fall and spring days. Why? Because, on sunny summer days, the spider would get the updraft needed to take flight, but not enough wind to fuel their flight. During the winter, it's too windy and there's not enough sunshine for the updraft needed to lift off.