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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jordan CuffORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Money spiders (Linyphiidae) are an important component of conservation biological control in cereal crops, but they rely on alternative prey when pests are not abundant, such as between cropping cycles. To optimally benefit from these generalist predators, prey choice dynamics must first be understood.Money spiders and their locally available prey were collected from cereal crops 2 weeks pre- and post-harvest. Spider gut DNA was amplified with two novel metabarcoding primer pairs designed for spider dietary analysis, and sequenced.The combined general and spider-exclusion primers successfully identified prey from 15 families in the guts of the 46 linyphiid spiders screened, whilst avoiding amplification of Erigone spp. The primers show promise for application to the diets of other spider families such as Agelenidae and Pholcidae.Distinct invertebrate communities were identified pre- and post-harvest, and changes in spider diet and, to a lesser extent, prey choice reflected this. Spiders were found to consume one another more than expected, indicating their propensity towards intraguild predation, but also consumed common pest families.Changes in spider prey choice may redress prey community changes to maintain a consistent dietary intake. Consistent provision of alternative prey via permanent refugia should be considered to sustain effective conservation biocontrol.
Author(s): Cuff JP, Drake LE, Tercel MPTG, Stockdale JE, Orozco-terWengel P, Bell JR, Vaughan IP, Müller CT, Symondson WOC
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Ecological Entomology
Year: 2021
Volume: 46
Issue: 2
Pages: 249-261
Print publication date: 01/04/2021
Online publication date: 09/10/2020
Acceptance date: 16/09/2020
Date deposited: 29/10/2021
ISSN (print): 0307-6946
ISSN (electronic): 1365-2311
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12957
DOI: 10.1111/een.12957
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