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9 November 2023 Do pholcid spiders balloon?
Bernhard A. Huber
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

In a review from 2005 on ballooning in spiders and other animals, Pholcidae are marked as a “family in which ballooning has been observed”. Here I review the evidence for this, and conclude that there is no reliable data showing that Pholcidae have a behaviour that evolved to function specifically for getting airborne. Ballooning may in fact be absent in a large clade of spiders including Pholcidae (i.e. Haplogynae, or Synspermiata). Other behaviours that share certain characteristics with ballooning and that may accidentally result in airborne specimens occur in Pholcidae: bridging and dropping on a line.

Bernhard A. Huber "Do pholcid spiders balloon?," Arachnology 19(6), 885-887, (9 November 2023). https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2023.19.6.885
Published: 9 November 2023
KEYWORDS
Araneae
bridging
dispersal
dropping
Dysderidae
Pholcidae
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