ReviewJournal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology2021
Aerodynamics and the role of the earth's electric field in the spiders' ballooning flight.
Review in Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Electrospun 3D Nanofiber Scaffolds with Adhesion-Enhanced Interfaces for Cell Culture.ACS omega · 2026Article
- The sensory ecology of caterpillars.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
- Host Plant Specificity in Web-Building Spiders.Insects · 2023Review
- Locomotion and kinematics of arachnids.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Some spiders aerially disperse relying on their fine fibres. This behaviour has been known as 'ballooning'. Observations on the ballooning behaviour of spiders have a long history and have more recently received special attention, yet its underlying physics is still poorly understood. It was traditionally believed that spiders rely on the airflows by atmospheric thermal convection to do ballooning. However, a recent experiment showed that exposure to an electric field alone can induce spiders' pre-ballooning behaviours (tiptoe and dropping/dangling) and even pulls them upwards in the air. The controversy between explanations of ballooning by aerodynamic flow or the earth's electric field has long existed. The major obstacle in studying the physics of ballooning is the fact that airflow and electric field are both invisible and our naked eyes can hardly recognise the ballooning silk fibres of spiders. This review explores the theory and evidence for the physical mechanisms of spiders' ballooning connects them to the behavioural physiology of spiders for ballooning. Knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future studies are identified.
Indexed as
Identifiers
33712884What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.