engleski

Ground and above-ground spiders’ predatory choices: their biocontrol potential in Mediterranean vineyards and olive orchards

Spiders are common generalist predators in agroecosystems that usually prey on various prey, even pests. Due to their varied hunting strategies and behavioural traits, they can also have specific trophic niche dimensions. Therefore, their role in the biocontrol of pest species remains ambiguous. Here we studied the natural diet of ground and above ground spiders present in Mediterranean vineyards and olive orchards in southern Croatia. We collected 200 spider specimens from five families of ground-dwelling (Lycosidae, Gnaphosidae), leaf-dwelling (Thomisidae, Oxyopidae), and web- building spiders (Araneidae). We investigated their natural diet utilizing molecular metabarcoding and taxonomic assignment of the gut content. The preliminary results show that spiders have a diverse diet and that the diet differentiates between predator taxa, sampling period and different agroecosystems. For example, spiders collected in olive orchards preyed on Bacterocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae), a common pest in olive orchards. Gut content metabarcoding is a suitable method for studying trophic interactions of spiders in Mediterranean agroecosystems, but more research is needed to understand such complex trophic networks fully.

metabarcoding, spiders

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