Have Web - Will Travel

[WildSpider]

This is just a theory but I wonder if orb weavers somewhat depend on humans and animals for traveling. This year, outside, Araneus diadematus slings ballooned throughout the yard after hatching. I find that sometimes I don't notice their webs and walk through them. Some of those times, they cling to me and I find them later on in a new web inside the house or somewhere else similar. Am I their private jet?

 

[schmiggle]

This is interesting. I'm sure it happens pretty often; the real question is how prevalent it is overall, whether spiders have adaptations to make it happen more often, and how it compares with ballooning as a dispersal strategy in terms of distance and the appropriateness of habitats reached.

 

[The Snark]

This is interesting. I'm sure it happens pretty often; the real question is how prevalent it is overall, whether spiders have adaptations to make it happen more often,

Ticks instantly come to mind. Highly adapted specialized hitchhikers with two distinct phases; catching rides or blood hunting with male ticks as adapted to catch rides as the females.

 

[MintyWood826]

Am I their private jet?

Yes.

 

[WildSpider]

Ticks instantly come to mind. Highly adapted specialized hitchhikers with two distinct phases; catching rides or blood hunting with male ticks as adapted to catch rides as the females.

I guess another one could be grain mites. I'm thinking of Boina's post about mites.

When mites come upon bad times – little food, drought, overpopulation – they’ll want to emigrate. Unfortunately mites aren’t built for walking (longer distances) so they go looking for a convenient ‘bus’, something that can carry them far away. In that case your tarantula comes in handy. The mites, now called phoretic (‘hitchhiker’) mites, climb on board and find a place with softer skin to attach themselves with their mouth parts.

Here's her thread on it: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/all-you-need-to-know-about-mites.309211/

 

[Ungoliant]

This is just a theory but I wonder if orb weavers somewhat depend on humans and animals for traveling.

I wouldn't say that spiders depend on humans, but humans have introduced many spiders to new habitats, mostly through international commerce.

For example, your Araneus diadematus is native to Europe. Eratigena atrica and Eratigena agrestis are also native to Europe.

Latrodectus geometricus was introduced to Florida and has now spread throughout the warm states. (It's thought to be native to South Africa or South America.)