SACRAMENTO, California — Wispy spider webs have been floating and falling to the ground throughout Northern California from the Central Valley to the Bay Area.
The phenomenon, also known as "ballooning," has baffled onlookers for centuries. Ballooning is a process undergone by young spiders in which a single strand of their silk carries them high into the air, transporting them wherever the wind takes them.
"Spiders use their silk to take flight, which enables them to travel as high as 3 miles into the air and even across oceans," according to Results Pest Control.
The young, recently hatched spiders get up to a high point and fly into the air with their webs.
“What they do is, when they've hatched and gotten to a certain size, they'll get up on something and reel out a wall of fluffy thread and go flying. It's totally awesome,” said Lynn Kimsey, Distinguished Professor of Entomology at UC Davis.
The process involves more than the wind, though. Spiders have a keen sense of the naturally occurring electric currents that are ever present in the air and can harness the energy to propel themselves into the air and leave their silk remnants floating in the skies.
"The air contains about 100 volts of electricity per meter. In other words, above-ground air is naturally rich in electricity. Trichobothria enables spiders to detect electric fields that are strong enough to propel them," wrote Results Pest Control.
This process happens all over the world but is most common in the spring or fall months for Northern California because that's when most spiders hatch.
Most spiders making the journey are recent hatchlings, mainly due to the fact older spiders are too heavy to make the journey.
The spiders aren't likely to present any problems unless they float over from a different region and are considered an invasive species.
