Abstract
There has been some controversy about whether adult females of social Stegodyphus disperse by ballooning. Here we show that adult Stegodyphus dumicola (Eresidae) Pocock 1898 are able to gain up-lift by releasing a very large number of threads. The threads fan out widely from the spider's body and form a triangular sheet. This previously unknown ballooning mechanism, enables even large spiders to disperse over large distances.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 114-116 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Journal of Arachnology |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 2001 |
Keywords
- Ballooning
- Dispersal
- Eresidae
- Social spider
- Stegodyphus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Insect Science