DID YOU KNOW?
Baby spiders can fly high enough to hit the windshields of airplanes.
HOW DO BABY SPIDERS FLY?
Baby spiders are called spiderlings. Most kinds of spiderlings prepare for flight soon after they emerge from their egg sac. They climb to the top of fence posts or other tall objects, tilt their bottoms upward. Then, from openings called spinnerets, gossamer threads of silk are shot upward and caught by a passing breeze which pulls the threads out of the spinnerets.
When the threads are long enough to provide enough surface area for the wind to push against for its weight, off go the threads and the attached spiderling. This is called ballooning. A ballooning spiderling may travel only a short distance before being snared by tree branches or other structures. Some ballooning spiderlings are lifted by updrafts of air to great heights.
CONCLUSION
The ballooning of spiderlings is similar to hot air balloons being swept along by winds and raised by updrafts.
DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF
Make mock spiderlings by tearing a penny-size piece of paper, then coat one side of the paper with glue. For each spiderling, cut three or more pieces of sewing thread about 6 inches long. Place one end of each thread on the sticky side of the paper. Then, fold the paper in half, with the sticky sides together, so the threads are sandwiched between the paper sides.
There can be hundreds of spiderlings emerging from one egg sac, so make as many spiderlings as you wish. Place the spiderlings near the edge of a table. With your mouth close but not touching the table or spiderlings, blow as hard as you can. Where did your spiderlings land?
Advanced Learners 
The book “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White describes the ballooning of Charlotte’s children in chapter XXII: A Warm Wind. How scientifically accurate was the author in describing this event?
Have a science question you need answered? Leave a comment and our science expert, Janice VanCleave, will come to the rescue!
Janice VanCleave is the author of fifty-two science experiment books for kids with fifteen foreign translations. Children and educators around the world use her books to explore the world of science. And now Homeschool Bliss readers can too!
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