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File: Wolf-Spiders.jpg (84 KB, 1000x667)
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How is it mathematically possible for spiders to have such a wide range of diversity in species and niche populations leading to exceptional mimicry yet there isn't a single documented species or evolved offshoot of spiders with pseudo-wings for flying?

and yes I know web ballooning is a thing for some spiderlings but that's not related to this question.
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File: Ballooning_spiderlings.jpg (218 KB, 1920x1080)
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Because they don't need wings to fly.
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File: S.lineatus.jpg (146 KB, 1280x863)
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Also, spiderlings don't exclusively balloon. There are species where adult spiders do it. As long as they don't weigh more than 1mg they are likely to practice ballooning due to the high survival rate associated with such low mass.
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>>5170787
>>5170788
again thats not really what im talking about. im saying with spiders who put all their points into full on larping as other species somehow none of them evolved fake wings to even get to a point of potentially gaining flight.
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>>5170896
Never needed them? They climb up anything and catch things with wings.
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>>5170786
chelicerates split from the other arthropods relatively early and the primary family we're discussing here has a very different form of locomotion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnid_locomotion
it's very hard for me to imagine a form of flight that could develop out of this that would have some kind of utility in an intermediary form
note that some arboreal spiders do glide, as a separate thing from ballooning
ballooning also serves the same purpose that flight does for ~99% of insects
insects, with the primary exception of dragon and damselflies, are generally poor fliers that primarily rely on flight for reproduction and dispersal. Aside from mayflies every species of flying insect only gets its wings in its final metamorphosis/molt. insects are generally not alive for very long after developing wings to the point that many insects don't even eat in their winged form. flight is great because it lets insects colonize new territory far from their origin and also makes the most of the short amount of time they have to find a mate in that final molt.

it's hard for me to see the advantage a spider would gain from having powered flight when considering you don't get to skip from not flying to dragonfly tier hyperpredatory acrobatic flight, which again is super rare among insects which are almost as 'flighty' as birds (~95% of insects have powered flight while ~99% of birds do, bats are still at 100% for now).
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Deadass I've seen spiders around 1 inch in size glide down from trees and land in my backyard pool
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>>5170927
>with the primary exception of dragon and damselflies
Diptera are generally agile active fliers even if their adult lifespans tend to be short, and they generally do actively eat in their adult forms

And course ants are kind of the odd ones out in hymenoptera, whereas in bees and wasps adult flight is active, sustained and critical to the survival of the species

and increasing foraging distance significantly but in a controlled fashion that ballooning does not allow for could be an intermediary step that doesn't require highly predatory dragonfly style flight
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What kind of human being is this?
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>>5170786
they don't have tracia like insects they would need to have those as well to get enough oxygen to power wings. also instead of using muscles like insects do they use a fluid hydrolic system . spiders are actually very different then insects as are aracnids.
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>>5170968
Funnel weaver?
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>>5170786
See >>5170957
Spiders don't need wing appendages to fly and there is around 300+ species which glide using their whole bodies as a wing. Look up "Flatties"
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>>5170786
If one of these were human sized could you fit your dick between those thangs?
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>>5170786
according to some random youtuber so dude trust me it is because of their lack of a thorax and the specializaion that allows, also the circulatory system
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>>5170927
>it's hard for me to see the advantage a spider would gain from having powered flight when considering you don't get to skip from not flying to dragonfly tier hyperpredatory acrobatic flight
yeah my thought was that flying isn't that useful as a predator unless you are as good at it as something like a dragonfly



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