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A genetic dispersal is a crucial process for many insects, and often occurs shortly after birth to give the species the best chance to survive and spread over a vast area. extended.
to travel hundreds of miles, but it was previously assumed that they were catching heat or using light breezes to escape.
Baffled by the sight that Darwin wrote in his journal HMS Beagle: "Flooded by spider balloons on a relatively quiet and clear day," later noting that the spiders took off with "an unexplained speed."
The Bristol team wanted to test whether spiders could use the atmospheric potential gradient (APG), a global electrical circuit that is still present in the atmosphere.
Insects are already known to capture and use this current. For example, bumblebees can detect electric fields between themselves and flowers, and bees can use their charge to communicate with the hive.
To test if natural electricity in the atmosphere could help, scientists exposed Linyphiid spiders
They discovered that when they went to the field, the spiders were approached tiptoe as if they were preparing to fly away. They came down again when the field was extinguished.
Dr. Morley added, "Previously, wind dragging or thermal forces were thought to be responsible for this mode of dispersion, but we show that electric fields, at concentrations found in the atmosphere, [19659002] "This means that the electric fields and the drag could provide the forces necessary for the dispersion of the balloon in the wild
" The next step will be to see if other animals also detect and use fields electric hot air balloons. We also hope to conduct further research on the physical properties of balloon silk and perform bloat studies in the field. "
The research is published in the journal Current Biology.
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