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Aerodynamics and the role of the earth’s electric field in the spiders’ ballooning flight

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A Correction to this article was published on 30 March 2021

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Abstract

Some spiders aerially disperse relying on their fine fibres. This behaviour has been known as ‘ballooning’. Observations on the ballooning behaviour of spiders have a long history and have more recently received special attention, yet its underlying physics is still poorly understood. It was traditionally believed that spiders rely on the airflows by atmospheric thermal convection to do ballooning. However, a recent experiment showed that exposure to an electric field alone can induce spiders’ pre-ballooning behaviours (tiptoe and dropping/dangling) and even pulls them upwards in the air. The controversy between explanations of ballooning by aerodynamic flow or the earth’s electric field has long existed. The major obstacle in studying the physics of ballooning is the fact that airflow and electric field are both invisible and our naked eyes can hardly recognise the ballooning silk fibres of spiders. This review explores the theory and evidence for the physical mechanisms of spiders’ ballooning connects them to the behavioural physiology of spiders for ballooning. Knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future studies are identified.

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Fig. 8

adapted from Matjaž Gregorič, EZ Lab (CC BY)]

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modified from Lissaman (1983) and Cho (2020). The settling speeds of a spider and a dandelion seed are used as the characteristic velocity. The flight speeds are used as the characteristic velocity for the other organisms and flying machines. The thicknesses (diameters) of the spider silk, pappus and setae are used as the characteristic length. The wing chord-length is used as the characteristic length for the bristled wing insects

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jason Chapman for unpublished data of spiders airborne over Cardington; Matjaž Gregorič in EZ Lab for permission of the images of Darwin’s bark spider’ bridging; Ken Bosma for permission of the ‘electric slide’ image.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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M.C. analyzed the results in previous researches and wrote the script.

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Correspondence to Moonsung Cho.

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The original online version of this article was revised: The word equations transferred incorrectly in the original publication and corrected now.

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Cho, M. Aerodynamics and the role of the earth’s electric field in the spiders’ ballooning flight. J Comp Physiol A 207, 219–236 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01474-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01474-6

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