Efficacy of spider and ant predators on the cotton fleahopper [Hemiptera: Miridae]

The efficacy of predators of immature cotton fleahoppers,Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter), was calculated using field and laboratory cage confinement tests for consumption rate. The predators tested were the striped lynx spider,Oxyopes salticus Hentz; the black and white jumping spider,Phidippus audax (Hentz); the celer crab spider,Misumenops celer Hentz; and the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invicta Buren. The spider predators were evaluated in a cotton field using predator-prey confinement cages on cotton plants. Average percent control (sensuAbbott 1925) of fleahoppers byO. salticus, P. audax, andM. celer were 42%, 66% and 32% respectively. The rate of fleahopper consumption by red imported fire ants was measured in the laboratory using various numbers of ants and fleahoppers. Daily percent control by ants ranged from 0.5% (single ant and fleahopper) to 100% (colony linked). The functional response of the 4 arthropod species to different prey numbers is illustrated and discussed as is the relative potential usefulness of natural enemies to suppress fleahoppers on cotton.