'Ballooning' Spiders Grounded By Infection
Saturday, July 25, 2009 - 23:28
in Biology & Nature
Money spiders infected with Rickettsia bacteria are less likely to 'balloon' -- that is, to use their silk as sails to catch gusts of wind and travel long distances. Researchers suggest that it may be in the bacteria's interests to ground the spiders and that this reduction in dispersal could reduce gene flow and impact on reproductive isolation within the meta-population.