Why are male spiders small while females are giant?

'Bridging', an unusual mode of getting around frequently used by vegetation-inhabiting spiders to cross large gaps, may partly explain the tendency for male spiders to be much smaller than females. Researchers studied bridging, in which spiders use the wind to carry a strand of web to their destination and then clamber upside down along the resulting bridge, finding that small size was associated with a greater ability to carry out the maneuver.

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