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.
How to translate text using browser tools
9 November 2023
Do pholcid spiders balloon?
Bernhard A. Huber
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Arachnology
Vol. 19 • No. 6
November 2023
Vol. 19 • No. 6
November 2023
Araneae
bridging
dispersal
dropping
Dysderidae
Pholcidae