Spiders were collected by using ground pitfall trap and shaking method (vegetation beating). Pitfall-traps were practiced once every week in four medicinal and ornamental crops in Fayoum Governorate. A total of 315 spiders of 22 species, 2lgcnera and 15 families were collected, from 320 pitfalls and shaking method collections from of March, 10 to end of August, 2010. The family Lycosidae, was found to be the dominant in the four experimented fields, recording 159 individuals, representing 74.6 % of the total ground collected fauna; followed by the family Philodromidae which represented 20.1 % of the total of aerial collected spiders and being abundant in Red pepper vegetation. The composition of ground collected spider and their densities differed in the four vegetations from that of the aerial collected spiders. The activity densities of ground collected spider communities in the Spearmint, Castor bean, Roselle and Red pepper recorded 34, 64 and 73 and 45 individuals respectively, while those of aerial collected spider were 63 , 7 and 29 individuals in Spearmint, Castor bean and Red pepper. No spiders were collected from vegetation of Roselle plant. Community composition of the ground and the aerial collected spiders were determined throughout the period of study using the Shannon-Wiener and Simpson Indices of diversity. Obtained results revealed that species diversity differed in the two communities. Monthly fluctuations of the total number of spiders showed high populations in June .
Spiders found in open and green houses fields of two vegetables (cucumber and pepper) were studied during the cultivation season 2007 and 2008 at Giza region. The obtained data proved that the number of collected spiders associated with cucumber in green house were nine families. Five families of insect pests were recorded and only one mite family, Tetranychidae. Considering the population of the collected spiders and their associated insect and mite pests, the highest total number of these spiders on cucumber plants was recorded during January and then decreased reaching to the lowest population during June. The highest population of insect pests was determined during April while the lowest level of the population was recorded during February. June was the month showed the highest abundance of the spider mites while the lowest population was noticed during January and February. The same spider families were recorded in green houses and in the open field of cucumber and the number of collected individuals were clearly lower than those of green house. April had the highest number of spiders which rapidly decreased reaching to the lowest abundance during May.
Spiders associated with cotton and maize plants were recorded in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, during 2009 season, Results revealed th e occ unen ce of eighteen sp ider species belonging to nine families. Ei ght and sixteen species were co ll ected from cotton an d mai ze plants, respectively. Thomisus spini(er Cambridge was th e most t!-equent spec ies, with 100.00 and 20.45 % for absolute frequency and relative freq uency of occUJTence, respectively, wh il e all Erigone sp., Gnathonarium den/alum (W ider), Ewyopis sp., and Cyrtuphora citricola (Forskal) recorded the lowest freque ncy occurrence 5.5 and l.l 3 %, respectively. Life cycle and female fec undity of Ko chiura aulica (Koch) (Theridiidae) were studied when fed on Spodoptera littorals (Boisd .) second instar larvae. Feeding capacity was also estimated. Obtained data cleared that K. aulica can be used as a biocontrol agent in integrated pest management program.
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