#Arachtober 6: a small running crab spider (_Philodromus_) releases a thread of silk on the wind, preparing to "balloon". Sometimes they do this to travel far distances, other times simply to cross a gap. Orbweavers can use this to lay down web frameworks (running crab spiders, however, are ambush predators that don't make capture webs).
It was only discovered relatively recently that static electricity helps silk float, and that spiders can sense it: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.057 :OpenAccess:
#DailySpiderPic #arachnids #RunningCrabSpiders #spiders #Araneae #Philodromidae