Soaring spiders may get cues from electric charges in the air

In a lab test, arachnids did preflight maneuvers when an electric field was switched on

spider in "tiptoe stance"

TIPPY TOES  Before ballooning into the breeze, spiders adopt the “tiptoe stance” seen here, and release silk threads. New research suggests that spiders can sense electric fields and perhaps use them as a cue to balloon.

Michael Hutchinson 

Spiders may lack wings, but they aren’t confined to the ground.