Plant-eating by spiders

Nyffeler, Martin; Olson, E. J.; Symondson, William Oliver Christian

doi:10.1636/p15-45.1

Cited by 83 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…comm.Lepidoptera Cosmopterigidae ( Anatrachyntis )1Egg predatorAustin 1985 Stathmopodidae ( Stathmopoda )1Egg predatorAustin 1985 Neuroptera Mantispidae334Egg predatorOhl 2004 Odonata Pseudostigmatidae≈20Predator of spidersIngley et al 2012 Hemiptera Reduviidae ( Stenolemus )SeveralPredator of spidersSoley et al 2011 Acari Erythraeidae / LaelapidaeSeveralParasite of spidersWelbourn and Young 1988 Scorpiones Buthidae ( Isometroides )1Predator of spidersMain 1956 Nematodes MermitidaePossibly hundredsParasite of spidersPoinar 1987; George Poinar, pers. comm.Fungi—Hypocreales Cordycipitaceae ( Akanthomyces , Cordyceps , Gibellula , Torrubiella ) and others≈50–100Parasite of spidersEvans 2013; Nyffeler et al 2016 Total≈8000–10,000 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An estimated 400–800 million tons of prey are annually killed by the global spider community

Nyffeler

Birkhofer

2017

Sci Nat

Self Cite

272

167

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Spiders have been suspected to be one of the most important groups of natural enemies of insects worldwide. To document the impact of the global spider community as insect predators, we present estimates of the biomass of annually killed insect prey. Our estimates assessed with two different methods suggest that the annual prey kill of the global spider community is in the range of 400–800 million metric tons (fresh weight), with insects and collembolans composing >90% of the captured prey. This equals approximately 1‰ of the global terrestrial net primary production. Spiders associated with forests and grasslands account for >95% of the annual prey kill of the global spider community, whereas spiders in other habitats are rather insignificant contributors over a full year. The spider communities associated with annual crops contribute less than 2% to the global annual prey kill. This, however, can be partly explained by the fact that annual crop fields are “disturbed habitats” with a low buildup of spider biomass and that agrobiont spiders often only kill prey over short time periods in a year. Our estimates are supported by the published results of exclusion experiments, showing that the number of herbivorous/detritivorous insects and collembolans increased significantly after spider removal from experimental plots. The presented estimates of the global annual prey kill and the relative contribution of spider predation in different biomes improve the general understanding of spider ecology and provide a first assessment of the global impact of this very important predator group.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An estimated 400–800 million tons of prey are annually killed by the global spider community

Nyffeler

Birkhofer

2017

Sci Nat

Self Cite

272

167

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“…Other factors, such as the consumption of nectar along the inner pitcher walls (Nyffeler et al. ), may also explain the higher incidences of linyphiid captures by pitchers. Although many other groups of spiders also consume nectar (Nyffeler et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although many other groups of spiders also consume nectar (Nyffeler et al. ), because the webs of linyphiids were commonly found attached to the pitcher rim, these spiders may have encountered the nectar more often than other groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carnivorous pitcher plants eat a diet of certain spiders, regardless of what's on the menu

Milne

Waller

2018

Ecosphere

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The purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, is a low‐lying carnivorous plant that uses pitcher‐shaped leaves to catch arthropod prey for nutrition. Spiders make up a significant portion of these prey. To determine the tendency of specific spider taxa to be captured by the plant, we compared the composition (by taxonomic family) of three spider assemblages: those captured by the plant, those residing on or over the plant, and those found nearby in the local environment. Although there were some broad similarities within the three spider assemblages, significant differences existed when specific families and guilds were considered. While some families (e.g., Linyphiidae and Lycosidae) and guilds (e.g., low sheet/tangle weavers) were heavily represented in all three assemblages, other groups varied, and we found that the taxonomic makeup of victimized and resident spiders did not always reflect their environmental abundances. Moreover, spider assemblages captured by S. purpurea were extremely similar across distant locations regardless of environmental spider assemblage composition, suggesting that S. purpurea is very selective in its spider capture regimen.

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“…Numerous predatory arthropod species, including spiders (Smith and Mommsen , Nyffeler et al. ), mites (van Rijn and Tanigoshi , van Rijn et al. ), predatory thrips (Parrella et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Plants trap pollen to feed predatory arthropods as an indirect resistance against herbivory

Wyk

Krimmel

Crova

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Plants commonly employ indirect resistance to reduce herbivory by provisioning predatory arthropod populations with additional resources. Numerous predatory arthropods consume pollen that is entrapped on dense, wooly trichomes of plants. Over two seasons, we supplemented pollen on the wooly leaves of turkey mullein, Croton setiger, in natural populations to determine if pollen entrapped on leaves supplements predatory arthropods and reduces herbivore populations and damage to the plant. Pollen supplementation increased the abundance of predatory spiders in both years and omnivorous Orius bugs in 1 yr but had no effect on predatory hemipterans. Pollen supplementation reduced the abundance of herbivorous fleahoppers. Pollen supplementation decreased the amount of leaf damage experienced by plants over the season, suggesting that pollen entrapment may act as an indirect resistance. While C. setiger plants have little control over the amount of pollen on their surfaces, pollen adds to the diet of predatory arthropods that reduce herbivory, thus attraction of predators may be an adaptive benefit of leaf structures such as wooly trichomes that entrap pollen.

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Plant-eating by spiders

Cited by 83 publications

References 92 publications

An estimated 400–800 million tons of prey are annually killed by the global spider community

An estimated 400–800 million tons of prey are annually killed by the global spider community

Carnivorous pitcher plants eat a diet of certain spiders, regardless of what's on the menu

Plants trap pollen to feed predatory arthropods as an indirect resistance against herbivory

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