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File Photo: A spider making canvases in a rice field in Luoxiang City, Congjiang County, Guizhou Province (southwest), on July 23, 2016. (Xinhua / Liang Yunkai)
WASHINGTON, 5 July (Xinhua) – A study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology showed that spiders can fly by electric fields that trigger their swelling and provide lift even in the absence of air movement.
Spiders can travel several hundred miles in floating air, which is called ballooning. The researchers had thought that the bloating behavior required wind drag forces or thermals.
Erica Morley and his colleague Daniel Robert of the University of Bristol found that atmospheric electric fields could play a role.
"We do not know yet if electric fields are needed to allow swelling of the spiders" University of Bristol. "We know, however, that they are sufficient."
The atmospheric potential gradient (APG), an electrical circuit between the Earth and the ionosphere that is maintained by thunderstorms, is still present in the world, according to Morley.
But the strength of the APG varies. On a calm day with clear skies, the APG can reach 100 V / m. On a stormy day or in the presence of heavy clouds, the APG can climb up to 10 kV / m.
Researchers conducted laboratory experiments with Linyphiid spiders. The laboratory environment allowed them to eliminate other stimuli, such as air movement, and provide a uniform electric field to spiders.
The results showed a significant increase in swelling when electric fields were lit.
This change in spider behavior has confirmed that spiders can indeed detect electric fields similar to APGs and that they react to these electric fields by bloating.
Once the spiders were in the air, activation and deactivation of the electric field caused them to move up or down, respectively, according to the study [19659003ResearchershavefoundsensoryhairscalledtrichobothriaonthesurfaceofspidersexoskeletonsmoveinresponsetoelectricfieldsTheysuggestedthatthesetinyhairscouldbeusedtodetectelectricfieldstimulibyspiders
Aerial dispersal is also a crucial biological process for many caterpillars and spider mites.
A better understanding of the mechanisms of dispersal is important for the global ecology as it can lead to better descriptions of population dynamics, species distribution and ecological resilience.
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