Spiders can disperse themselves over an area by ballooning. They ascend to a location and release thin silk threads. When wind or atmospheric electric fields generate enough force on these threads, the spider is lifted into the air and flies away.

Spiders can be carried by air currents and eventually reach the fixation phase, which is when they land in a new location, usually far from their birth area, reducing competition with sisters, favoring the dispersal and colonization of new environments. Silk can become charged with static electricity, either through friction with the air or through characteristics of the secretion itself. The threads interact with the natural electric field of the atmosphere, are repelled by the ground and attracted upwards, lifting the spider, even when the wind is weak.