How parachute spiders invade new territory

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Two male Erigone spiders on a grass seed head. The lower one is in a pre-ballooning posture ready to disperse known as the acutetip-toeacute position. Copyright: Rothamsted Research
Two male Erigone spiders on a grass seed head. The lower one is in a pre-ballooning posture ready to disperse, known as the 'tip-toe' position. Copyright: Rothamsted Research

Researchers have developed a new model that explains how spiders are able to ‘fly’ or ‘parachute’ into new territory on single strands of silk – sometimes covering distances of hundreds of miles over open ocean.


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