Judith Nau, aged 8, of Garfield Heights, Ohio, for her question:

Do spiders fly?

Maybe you have seen a little spider descending through the air. Outdoors you may often find one stringing through the air among the branches. But ‑ when you catch up with‑ a spider, you find. she has no wings.  So, how can she fly? The fact is, she can’t.

Next time you see a spider floating in the air, take a closer look. You will find she is hanging from a silken thread. She is weaving her safety line from the tail end of her body.  This silken thread is so slender that you can hardly see it at a distance. Yet it is strong and tough enough to support a fat spider.

The spider can do all kinds of aerial acrobatics with her line of thread. She can let herself down from the ceiling. She can climb up her rope again. An outdoor spider can swing herself over a little stream on her silken safety line. But no spider can really fly ‑ for no spider has wings.