A group of Spanish researchers from the Almería Arid Zones Experimental Station (CSIC) has come to the conclusion that evolution favors smaller and lighter males, because they can move more easily using their cobwebs , which in turn redounds in a greater number of pairs. In fact, in some species of arachnids, males can be up to twelve times smaller than their mates . However, in the case of females, it is the larger ones that reproduce more abundantly.
With the help of a wind tunnel, Spanish scientists studied the "bridging" technique of spiders. This technique allows arachnids that live in areas with abundant vegetation to mobilize using their fabrics, taking advantage of the force of the wind to form a kind of bridge with them that allows them to overcome different obstacles. The smaller the spider, the scientists conclude, the greater the distance it can travel in this way , which would explain the sexual dimorphism. The hypothesis has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology .
