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Title: SPIDER PREDATION: SPECIES-SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF GUT CONTENTS BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION

Author
item GREENSTONE, MATTHEW - COLLABORATOR
item Shufran, Kevin

Submitted to: Journal of Arachnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/15/2002
Publication Date: 3/30/2003
Citation: GREENSTONE, M.H., SHUFRAN, K.A. SPIDER PREDATION: SPECIES-SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF GUT CONTENTS BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. 2003. JOURNAL OF ARACHNOLOGY. V. 31. P. 131-134.

Interpretive Summary: The incorporation of biological control into integrated pest management programs for wheat and barley insect pests is hampered by a lack of information on the role of insect and other arthropod predators. In a process analogous to DNA fingerprinting used in forensic cases, we used polymerase chain reaction primers to detect the remains of aphid pests in the guts of spiders. Although such methods have been used to detect prey remains in insect predators, this is the first demonstration of their use in spiders. These tools will enable us to determine which are the most important predators of aphids, and use the information to develop aphid management programs that improve the effectiveness of those predators.

Technical Abstract: We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers and assays for spider gut analysis. The assays were able to detect remains of the corn lead aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), and distinguish them from those of the bird cherry-oat aphid, R. padi (L.), in extracts of striped lynx spiders, Oxyopes salticus Hentz, at least 12 h after the spiders has consumed them. This is the first demonstration that PCR can be used to detect prey remain in spiders.