Ballooning dispersal in arthropod taxa with convergent behaviours: dynamic properties of ballooning silk in turbulent flows

We present a new model of ballooning behaviour in arthropods in which draglines are regarded as being extendible and completely flexible. Our numerical simulations reveal that silk draglines within turbulent flows can become twisted and stretched into highly contorted shapes. Ballooners are therefore predicted to have little control over their aerodynamic drag and their dispersal within the atmospheric boundary layer. Dragline length is crucial only at lift-off. This prediction runs counter to that of Humphrey who suggested that the length of rigid draglines can be used to control dispersal. In contrast with Humphrey's model, the new model accounts naturally for the large distances travelled by some ballooners.