# Aerial dispersal

> Pests spreading on air currents; spider mites gather at plant tops and drop on silk threads to be carried by wind or fans.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/aerial-dispersal.html
- Also written: ballooning, silk ballooning, wind dispersal
- Glossary category: Pests and diseases · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Aerial dispersal is movement on air currents rather than by walking. [Spider mites](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/two-spotted-spider-mite.md) in crowded colonies move to the highest leaf tips, mass on webbing and let themselves be blown off, a behaviour often called ballooning; UC [IPM](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/ipm.md) notes mites are spread by wind as well as on clothing and plants. [Eriophyid](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/eriophyid-mite.md) [russet mites](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hemp-russet-mite.md) and [winged aphids](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/alate.md) also travel on air.

## In practice

Indoors, strong [oscillating fans](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/oscillating-fan.md) and exhaust airflow move dispersing mites from plant to plant. That is a reason to treat a whole room, not only the visible hot spot, and to work and move air from clean areas toward infested ones, never the reverse.

## Don't confuse with

- **Phoresy**: riding on another animal, e.g. [broad mites](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/broad-mite.md) on [whiteflies](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/whitefly.md).
- **Ambulatory dispersal**: walking along touching leaves.

## Related terms

[Two-spotted spider mite](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/two-spotted-spider-mite.md), [Airflow](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/airflow.md), [Quarantine](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/quarantine.md)

## Read more

- [Spider mites on cannabis: life tables, ID and IPM](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/pests/spider-mites.md)
- [Integrated pest management (IPM) for cannabis: a complete programme for home and small commercial growers](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/pests/integrated-pest-management-program.md)

## Sources

1. UC IPM. Pest Notes: Spider Mites (Publication 7405). University of California ANR. https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html