Environmental Entomology (1987) 16, 355-359
M. Nyffeler, D.A. Dean and W.L. Sterling (1987)
Predation by green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans (Araneae: Oxyopidae), inhabiting cotton and woolly croton plants in East Texas
Environmental Entomology 16 (2), 355-359
Abstract: Predation by green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans (Hentz), was studied on cotton and woolly croton plants in East Texas. This species feeds both diurnally and nocturnally. P. viridans was observed feeding on insects of orders Diptera, Hymenoptera, Heteroptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, and Odonata, as well as on several spider species. Predaceous arthropods (e.g., Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville, Coccinellidae; Chrysoperla rufilabris [Burmeister], Chrysopidae) constituted more than half of the spiders diet. In cotton, P. viridans was found to be a predator of the pests Heliothis zea (Boddie) and Alabama argillacea (Hübner) (together 8% of the spiders prey). Size of killed prey in cotton ranged between 0.14- and 1.3-fold the spiders size (average prey length, 5.90 ± 0.99 mm). On woolly croton plants, P. viridans was often seen feeding on cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter) (numerically almost 30% of the spiders prey), which is a key pest in cotton. It was estimated that on cotton and croton plants in East Texas, one P. viridans captured an average of less than one prey daily. Our results are compared with data in the literature on the diet of P. viridans.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Martin Nyffeler
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution
surveys/distribution/isolation
