THE BIOLOGY_OF THE SPIDER, MISUMENOPS CELER {HENTZ), AND STUDIES ON .ITS SIGNIFICANCE AS A FACTOR IN THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF INSECT PESTS OF-SORGHUM By_ R. MUNIAPPAN t, Bachelor of Science. ,,, . -· Uni_.y.er.sj ty of Madras Madras, India 1963 Master of Science University of Madras Madras; Ind1 a 1965- Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - Au_gust, 1969 COKIJ.ItlO~ $TAl£ llffliVBmliW lL!iESJ~AFRV i ·.c ·;-· ~ t .. ~6,V;'hi,·.·.·• .t,, •. r_;.,;i,.·~·; ;:.: '<.-~..:, :. ,•·,-. ... 4 ..... ~~;.,~;"-,· ti~'-·· ·· · "'-:O•"'!')"l!"C.fil-,# THE BIOLOGY OF THE SPIDER, MISUMENOPS CELER (HENTZ), AND STUDIES ON ITS SIGNIFICANCE AS A FACTOR IN THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF INSECT PESTS OF SORGHUM Thesis Approved: ~1.~· Thesis Adviser . Dean of the Graduate College , ...:t...,., .•. ' 730038 PREFACE In recent years the importance of-.spiders in biological control _ has been well realized, and in many laboratories of the world work on_ this aspect is in progresso During the past five years.the Entomology Department of Oklahoma State Untversiity _has studied their utilization in the biological control of sorghum and other crop pests" Oro Harvey L, Chada, Professor of Entomology, Oklahoma State University, and Investigatfons leader, Entomology Research Division, United States Department of Agriculture, suggested this problem to the author and explained the need to do re$earch on this aspecto The author expresses silllcere appreciation to his major adviser, Dro Harvey L. Chada, for his advice, competent instruction and guidance, encouragement, helpful suggestions, and assistance in the preparation of this thesis o Grateful recognition is expressed to Dr, Do L Howell, Professor and Head of the Department of Entomology, Oro Ro .Ro Walton, Professor of Entomology, and Dr" Do L Weibel, Professor of Agronomy~ for their valu­ able criticism and suggestions cm the research and on the manuscripto Special appreciation 1s expressed to E. A. Wood, Jro, Research Entomologist, Entomology Research Division, Uo So Department of Agri­ culture, for his kind help during this studyo Also, the author would like to thank Carl Eo Clifton, Technician, Oklahoma State University; Don Eo Duncan, Agricultural Research iH Technician, Uo So Department of Agriculture; and Sharon Cress, Tech­ nician, Oklahoma State University, for their interest and enthusiastic assistance during this studyo. Special appreciation fi5 expressed to Zo Bo Mayo, Research A~s i st­ ant, for his help in generously providing corn earworm and fall armyworm larvae; to Dro Po No Saxena, Research Associate, for his time and help in microscopic photography, and to Donald Co Cress, Research Assistant, for his kind help.and $Uggest1onso Indebtedness is expressed to the Entomology Research Division, Uo So Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Entomology, Oklahoma State Univer~ity, for providing research facilities and mone­ tary assistanceo Thanks are due to Ao ' Kanagaraju and Vo Sridhar, Graduate Students in Mechanka 1 Engineering, for their he 1p, and to Grayce So Wynd, who typed this thesiso iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .. , o REVIEW OF LITERATURE . 3 Spiders Associated with Cultivated Crops 3 Spiders Associated with Horticultural Crops 5 Spiders Associated with Fa 11 Webworm , , , 6 Spiders Associated with Pasture Lands and Forests , 7 Life History of Spiders , , . , . , . , 8 Mating Behavior , , , .. 9 Food Habits , , , 9 MATERIALS AND METHODS 12 Source of the Misumenops .eel er Colony o 12 Laboratory Room, . , , , , , , , , , , 12 Rearing, Mating, and Egg-laying Chambers , . , , , , 12 Food Used for Rearing Spiders , 15 Handling the Spiderlings , , , .. , , . , 19 Feeding Tests .. , , ~ , o • , , , • , • 19 Life History Studies , , , , , , , , , . , , , , . 19 Population Dynamics of Spiders in the Alfalfa Field , 19 P1t~Trap Collection of S~iders 1n the Corn Field . o 20 Greenbug Control Studies with Phidippus audax (Hentz) 20 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . , , . , , , , 22 Life Cycle of Misumenops celer 22 Mating Behavior . , , , , , . , , , 22 Egg-sac Construction and Oviposition .. , 24 Mass Rearing.' . , , , .. , , . , .. 36 Feeding Tests with Misumeno~ celer , . , , , , . , , . , 39 Population Dynamics of Spiders in Alfalfa Field 44 Pit-Trap Collection of Spiders in Corn Field , , , , 46 Use of Phidippus audax for the Control 9f Greenbugs , 48 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 51 LITERATURE CITED . , . , 53 LIST OF TABLES Table Page L Time taken for copulating by Misumenops celer 25 IL Duration in days of the various developmental stages of Misumenops celer ........ , . • . 27 IIL Measurements in mm of the various stages of Misumenops celer .........•... 35 IV. Egg sacs prQduced during the year by Misumenops;celer in the laboratory . • . 37 ·· V. Data on egg sacs, eggs, and spiderling production of Misumenops celer .. , ....•........ , . 38 VI. Mortality of the various instars of Misumenops celer when rearerl at relative humidity varying from 80 to 83 perGent ... , , •......... 38 VII. Average number of insects eaten per day by the several Misumenops eel et. ins tars .. , , , . , .. , , . 41 VIIL Food material extracted from the house fly by the adult male and female Misumenops celer spider 43 Vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Cotton-stoppered gl,ss tube rearing chamber for rear~ ing spiderlings from the fourth instar to maturitY 13 2. Medicine cup used as a rearing chamber for second and third ihstar spiderlings ........ 14 3. Plastic cage designed to maintain 80-83 per cent relative humidity for rearing second and third instar spiderlings. A, polyethylene sheet cover; B, plastic cage; C, medicine cups containing spiderlings; and D, petri dish with water ......... , , , , , 16 4. Aquarium tank used to maintain 80-83 per cent relative humidity for rearing spiderlings from the fourth instar to maturity. A, polyethylene sheet cover; B, aquarium tank; C, cotton-stoppered glass tube rearing chambers; and D, petri dish with water 17 5, Tray containing glass tube rearing chambers for spid~rs after oviposition was completed , , ....... , . 18 6. Individual egg of Misumenops celer, greatly enlarged 28 7. Egg mass inside the egg sac of Misumenops heler, .. , 29 8. Post-embryonic stage of Misumenops celer with chorion attached I) e Q e O Q O O O e, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 9. Chorion attached to the exuviam of the post embryo of Misumenops celer , .. , ... , .. , , , , , 32 10. First instar spiderlings of Misumenops celer 33 11 .. First instar spiderlings of Misumenops celer in an opened egg sac ......... , , , . , , 34 12, Population dynamics of Misumenops celer, Oxyopes salticus, Tetragnathus sp., and other spiders in the alfalfa field during the summer, Stillwater, Okla. 1968 0 GI o O ID O O fl O o O O O o O O O O O O O O 45 vJi. Figure Page i 13. Population trend of spiders in a corn field sampled by means of pib-traps during the summer, , Stillwater, OklahQma, 1968 . • . 47 14. Biological control of the greenbug infesting barley in the laboratory~ L - three pots each infested with 50 greenbugs. R - three pots similarly infested, but greenbugs controlled by i nfes tat ion with three Phidipeus audax spiderlings per pot . 50 · Viii INTRODUCTION Spiders are well known for their predatory habits. Their signifi­ cant role in controlling the pests of sorghum, corn, alfalfa, wheat, orchard, and plantation crops, etc., has been realized only very recently, The economic role of spiders in field crops has been studied to some extent in the United States by W. H. Whitcomb and co-workers in Arkansas cotton; H•. L .. Chada. and co....:workers. in Oklahoma sorghum; C. D. Dondale and co-workers in Canadian apple and pear orchards; and by S. Hukusima and co-workers in Japanese apple and pear orchards. Earlier research work at Oklahoma State University has shown that spiders play an important part in the control of insects attacking sorghums, Among them~ one of.the crab spiders, Misumenops celer (Hentz), was commonly found inhabiting the sorghum whorls and heads where it fed on the insects present. It was also commonly found in alfalfa and corn fields. To encourage and utilize the beneficial organisms like spiders in cultivated crops, their biology, population dynamics, migration, food preference, etc. , must be known. A review of the literature proved that no work has been published on the biology of the spider, M. celer, Hence, the mating behavior, oviposition, incubation, hatching, duration, and measurements of different instars, feeding behavior, and food pref­ erence have been studied. Also, techniques were developed for mass 1 ,rearing this spider in the laboratory. Population dynamics of spiders I 1in alfalfa and corn have also been studied, since these crops are grown adjacent to grain sorghum fields and there is a possibility of spiders migrating between them. The jumping spider, Phidippus audax (Hentz), was also tested in the greenhouse for the control of greenbugs on Rogers barley plants. REV.IEW OF. LITERATURE . Literature on the. association of spiders .with crop,.plants is very limited when compared. to the literature .. ava.i.1 able .. ;on .thei.r., taxonomic . aspects. The importance of spiders. in.the field .of biol_ogical control ha.s been realized only very recently. Spiders Associated with Cultivated Crops The spiders associated with sorghum have been listed and studied by Bailey arid Chada (1968) in Oklahoma,. They reported the presence of spiders in larg~ nµmbers.throughout the growing season, and that·they preyed upon many of the insect pests.that attack sorghum. Harris (1961) noted that spid~rs Thomisus sp. and Diaea sp. prey upon ovipositing female sorghum midges',., in Nigeria. Everly (1938) observed spiders of the families Salticidae and Thomisidae in sweet corn fields .throughout the season. Hensely, et al. (1961) and Negam and Hensely (1967) found that heptachlor had an adverse effect on the spider fauna in the sugarcane fields of Louisiana. Raatikainen and Huhta (1968) found that Tetragnatha extensa, (L), Linyphia pusilla Sundev'.' Xysticus cristatus (Clerck), and I· µlmi ;(Hahn) were the commonest spiders in oat fields of Finland.