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(Reference retrieved automatically from Google Scholar through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Beneficial effects of flower-dwelling predators on their host plant

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Author(s):
Romero‚ G.Q. ; Vasconcellos-Neto‚ J.
Total Authors: 2
Document type: Journal article
Source: ECOLOGY; v. 85, n. 2, p. 446-457, 2004.
Abstract

We examined the effects of the sit-and-wait spider Misumenops argenteus (Thomisidae) on the herbivore assemblage and fitness of the perennial woody shrub Trichogoniopsis adenantha (Asteraceae). Because crab spiders prey on both pollinators and phytophagous insects, they can have potentially negative and positive effects on plants. In a manipulative experiment using paired plants, spiders decreased the density of sucking and some endophagous herbivores on the leaves and capitula and reduced the number of damaged achenes produced by the plants. Damaged capitula had a higher proportion of fertilized achenes in plants with spiders than without spiders, but not undamaged capitula. These results indicate that M. argenteus exerted a double positive effect on seed production in T. adenantha. The effect of M. argenteus on herbivores may be taxon specific and vary among years with different herbivore abundances. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 99/05446-8 - Biodiversity of Arachnida and Myriapoda of the State of São Paulo
Grantee:Antonio Domingos Brescovit
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants