Can spiders travel across the water like ships? In a recent study published in the open access academic journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, scientists discovered spiders can travel wide distances across water similar to ships by using their legs as sails and their silks as anchors.

Sailing spiders? How cool is that?! In a new study, researchers explained how spiders are able to drift across vast distances and why they are able to rapidly inhabit new areas. Using a technique called ballooning, spiders can travel up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) a day in their quest to find new habitats and resources, Business Standard has learned.

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To discover the ballooning behavior of the spiders, researchers collected more than 300 adult spiders from 21 species taken from nature reserves in the U.K. According to Financial Express, the behavior of the spiders was observed on trays of water in reaction to pump-generated air. Their reactions were compared to their behaviors on dry surfaces.

Generally, most spider species can adopt elaborate postures. For instance, spiders can lift up a pair of legs in order to gain benefit from the wind current while on the surface of the water. This behavior allowed them to "sail" in raging, still, fresh, and saltwater conditions.

Furthermore, the sailing spiders also appeared to act like ships dropping their anchors to reduce speed or stop their movement by releasing silk on water. This indicates that the silk may sometimes work as a dragline for the water-trapped spider to attach to floating objects or to the shore, Irish Examiner reported.

"We've now found that spiders actively adopt postures that allow them to use the wind direction to control their journey on water," lead study author Morito Hayashi from the London's Natural History Museum said. "They even drop silk and stop on the water surface when they want. This ability compensates for the risks of landing on water after the uncontrolled spider flights."

Meanwhile, the travelling strategies of spiders are always thought to be risky since they had little control over where they travelled. But with these behavioral adaptations, it could allow spiders to survive encounters with aquatic environments. And now through the latest study, scientists proved spiders are indeed sailors as well as aviators.

TagsSailing Spiders, Spiders, Science