Predatory characteristics of ant-eating Zodarion spiders (Araneae: Zodariidae): Potential biological control agents

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Authors	PEKÁR Stanislav
Year of publication	2005
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Biological Control
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
Field	Zoology
Keywords	Zodarion rubidum; Zodarion styliferum; Formicidae; Functional response; Biological control; Pest; Predation; Prey specificity
Description	Some ant species are important nuisance pests. Mechanical and chemical strategies are currently used to control them. A biological control, based on the use of a natural enemy, has not been used yet. The aim of this study was to investigate predatory efficiency of two ant-eating Zodarion spiders, in order to evaluate their potential in the biological control of ants. The investigation included identification of prey specificity, study of the functional response and the consumption rate. Zodarion rubidum was found to be a Formicinae specialist as it was more efficient in the paralysis of ants belonging to this subfamily than in the paralysis of Myrmicinae ants. The functional response was dome-shaped (Type IV) - the decline in attacking rate at higher ant densities was a result of the disturbance of spiders by ants.
Related projects:	Diversity of Biotic Communities and Populations: Causal Analysis of variation in space and time