Anti-Herbivore Protection By Mutualistic Spiders And The Role Of Plant Glandular Trichomes

• Published in: Ecology (Durham) 2008-11, Vol.89 (11), p.3105-3115
• Main Authors: Romero, Gustavo Q, Souza, José César, Vasconcellos-Neto, João
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Arachnida; Araneae; arthropod communities; Arthropoda; Asteraceae; Biological and medical sciences; Flowers & plants; fruit flies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Herbivores; Host plants; Infestation; inflorescences; insect pests; Insects; Invertebrates; Leaves; Lynx; Melissa officinalis; mutualism; Ovaries; ovules; Oxyopidae; Peucetia flava; Peucetia rubrolineata; Phytophagous insects; plant glands; plant pests; Plants; pollination; Predation; Predators; scavenging behavior; shrubs; Spiders; Symbiosis; Trichogoniopsis adenantha; Trichomes; tropical rain forests
• ISSN: 0012-9658; 1939-9170
• DOI: 10.1890/08-0267.1

Although specific associations between spiders and particular types of plants have been reported for several taxonomic groups, their consequences for spiders and plants are still poorly undertstood. The most common South American lynax spiders, Peucetia flava and P. rubrolineata, live strictly associated with various plant species that have glandular trichomes. To understand more about these spider—plant relationships, we investigated the influence of the spiders on the fitness of a neotropical glandular shrub (Trichogoniopsis adenantha) and on the arthroped community structure on the plant. We also tested whether glandular hairs provided any benefit to the spiders. Spiders reduced the abundance of several species and guilds of herbivores on the leaves and inflorescences. Consequently, damage to the leaves, capitula, ovaries, corollas, and stigmas caused by leaf-mining and chewing insects, as well as endophagous insects, were strongly reduced in the presence of Peucetia spp. Although the spiders fed on flower visitors, their negative influence on ovary fertilization was only marginally nonsignificant (P = 0.065). Spiders on plants of Trichogoniopsis adenantha that fed on common fruit files that had died before adhering to the glandular trichomes (Melissa officinalis) did not feed on dead on dead files and lost 13—20% of their biomass. These results indicate that Peucetia spiders are effective plant bodyguards and that when there is limited live prey they may feed on insect carcasses adhered to glandular trichomes. Since several spider species of the genus Peucetia live strictly associated with glandular trichome-bearing plants in neotropical, Neartic, Paleartic, and Afrotropical regions this type of facultative mutualism involving Peucetia and glandular plants mey be common worldwide.