VALIDATION OF A SIMPLE METHOD FOR MONITORING AERIAL ACTIVITY OF SPIDERS

Abstract

Many species of spider disperse by ballooning (aerial dispersal), and indices of aerial activity are required in studies of population dynamics and biological control in field crops where spider immigrants are needed for pest suppression. Current methods (e.g., suction traps, sticky traps, deposition traps) of monitoring aerial activity are very labor-intensive, expensive, or require a power supply. We tested Ballooning Index (BI), an alternative, simple method utilizing inexpensive equipment. This method involved the monitoring of spiders climbing an array of 30 cm tall wooden sticks placed vertically in short turf. During a two-year study in arable land in the UK, the incidence of spiders (mainly Linyphiidae) on sticks was correlated with the numbers caught at 1.4 m and 12.2 m above ground in suction traps. Climbing activity on sticks was greater during the morning than in the afternoon, and this activity started progressively earlier in summer than in winter. There was no seasonal change in the proportion of spiders caught at the two heights in suction traps. The pattern of catches (on sticks and in suction traps) suggested strongly that the majority of ballooning spiders dispersed by a number of short flights, rather than by a single long flight, and that segregation of immigrants and emigrants is not possible by any current method. The BI method appears to be, however, a simple and reliable technique for monitoring the overall aerial activity of ballooning spiders.