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We report on three launches of ballooning $Erigone$ spiders observed in a 0.9m$^3$ laboratory chamber, controlled under conditions where no significant airmotion was possible. These launches were elicited by vertical,downward-oriented electric fields within the chamber, and the motions indicateclearly that negative electric charge on the ballooning silk, subject to theCoulomb force, produced the lift observed in each launch. We estimate the totalcharge required under plausible assumptions, and find that at least 1.15 nC isnecessary in each case. The charge is likely to be non-uniformly distributed,favoring initial longitudinal mobility of electrons along the fresh silk duringextrusion. These results demonstrate for the first time that spiders are ableto utilize charge on their silk to attain electrostatic flight even in theabsence of any aerodynamic lift.

Evidence for nanocoulomb charges on spider ballooning silk