The prediction that single spider species (as exemplary generalist predators) limit associated prey populations to the same extent that species assemblages do was tested in a well controlled and replicated old field experiment involving the following treatments: (1) the natural spider assemblage (2) a numerically prominent web building spider, (3) a numerically prominent wandering spider, (4) a biomass prominent web‐builder, and (5) a biomass prominent wandering spider. Pest insect numbers were significantly higher in spider removal controls than in any spider treament over the four month period of the study, both in terms of total numbers and per spider effects. The individual spider species, in general, showed reduced prey limitation effects relative to that of the spider assemblage, though the magnitudes of these differences were small when compared to those exhibited between the various treatments and the spider removal control. When insect numbers were partitioned according to taxa, no treatment was found to have limited the predaceous insects nor the phytophagous hemipterans. All treatments, however, showed significant limiting effects on the phytophagous homopterans, coleopterans, and dipterans in the old field system, and other taxa were significantly reduced in at least one treatment in addition to the spider assemblage as a whole.
Arthropod-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, scrub typhus, and leishmaniasis continue to pose a significant threat to U.S. military forces deployed in support of operational and humanitarian missions. These diseases are transmitted by a variety of arthropods, including mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, sand flies, and biting midges. In addition to disease threats, biting arthropods can cause dermatitis, allergic reactions, and sleep loss; therefore, monitoring of vector impact and integrated use of personal protective measures (PPM) and methods to reduce the vector populations are needed to protect service members. The U.S. military has played a vital role in vector identification tools and the development and testing of many of the most effective PPM and vector control products available today, including the topical repellent DEET and the repellent/insecticide permethrin, which is applied to clothing and bed nets. Efforts to develop superior products are ongoing. Although the U.S. military often needs vector control products with rather specific properties (e.g., undetectable, long-lasting in multiple climates) in order to protect its service members, many Department of Defense vector control products have had global impacts on endemic disease control. Journal of Vector Ecology 34 (1): 50-61. 2009.
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