Aeroplankton

As air plankton or aerial plankton generally tiny biological organisms such as tiny animals ( sand flies, canopy spider ), viruses, bacteria or components such as pollen, spores and plant seeds are called that are not or hardly fly on its own, but can be blown away by the wind.

The popularly known as " sand flies " ( Thysanoptera ), which have fringed wings but can not fly actively, the wind and the good thermals use before a thunderstorm as a drive and then occur in masses. On the wind and air pressure conditions due to changing the meteorological significance of the flight of swallows and swifts which feed on flying insects and air plankton. In a sunny high pressure weather system, the components of air plankton from the rising warm air carried in higher layers. The swallows and swifts fly then at these altitudes up to 3000 meters, the high-flying birds indicate a continuing fine weather. When the high pressure center is withdrawn or cools the air during thunderstorms, the air plankton is in the low layers of the atmosphere. The birds that feed on them fly lower.

Also frans -winged small butterflies like the horse chestnut leaf miner ( Cameraria ohridella ) and other leaf miners found through the air plankton distribution.

The mass occurrence of canopy spiders ( Linyphiidae ) during the last warm days of late summer has led to the term Indian summer. The flight thread that produce the spiders, and on which they float through the air, people reminiscent of the gray hair of old women. For spinning, the " ballooning " or " airships " is a successful way of distribution. Charles Darwin reported already in 1832 in his diary that countless small spiders were caught with their flight threads nearly 100 km off the coast of South America in the rigging of his research vessel. He concluded that the spiders can colonize even the most distant from the mainland islands in this way.

Some organisms are transported through the thermals to great heights. You can reach this height of several thousand meters.

Optional terrestrial algae are spread over the air plankton. However, you can temporarily survive in the top soil as soil flora and are then directed back to air live stages.

Plankton