The diet of the black widow spider Latrodectus mirabilis (Theridiidae) in two cereal crops of central Argentina

Iheringia. Série Zoologia

Gabriel Pompozzi²  Nelson Ferretti¹  Leonela Schwerdt²  Sofía Copperi²  Adriana A. Ferrero²  Miguel Simó¹ 

[1] ,Universidad Nacional del Sur Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia Laboratorio de Zoología de Invertebrados II Bahía Blanca ,Argentina

关键词: Diet composition;    capture rate;    polyphagous predator;    South America;    Composición de dieta;    tasa de captura;    predador polífago;    America del Sur;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0073-47212013000400009

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

The spider Latrodectus mirabilis (Holmberg, 1876) is commonly found in cereals crops of central Argentina. We studied its diet composition at the field and capture rate on leaf-cutting ants based on laboratory experiments. This study comprises the first approach that documents the diet of L. mirabilis in wheat and oat fields of central Argentina. We identified 1,004 prey items collected from its webs during the last phenological stages of both cereal crops. The prey composition was variable but the spiders prey mainly on ants (Formicidae, Hymenoptera), who represented more than 86% of the total. Meanwhile, in the capture rate experiences we registered a high proportion of ants captured by spiders at the beginning of experiences, capturing the half of the ants from total in the first four hours. Summarizing, we reported a polyphagous diet of this spider species in wheat and oat fields. Ants were the most important prey item of this spider, as found in other Latrodectus spiders around the world.

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