Natural prey of the lynx spider Oxyopes lineatus (Araneae: Oxyopidae)

Abstract

The natural prey of the lynx spider Oxyopes lineatus Latreille, 1806 was studied in a meadow in the subtropical zone of Azerbaijan. The percentage of specimens of O. lineatus found while feeding was low (4.3%). Spiders were observed feeding both day and night. The investigation has shown that O. lineatus is a polyphagous predator feeding on a wide range of arthropods, with representatives of nine arthropod orders found in its diet. The primary food of O. lineatus was Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Homoptera, which collectively made up about three quarters of all prey. Worker ants constituted about 20% of the diet suggesting that O. lineatus is a myrmecophagic spider. The length of prey killed by O. lineatus ranged between 0.50 and 8.50 mm (mean 2.72 mm), varying from 12.1 to 171.4% (mean 61.4%) of the length of their captors. The most frequently captured prey were arthropods not exceeding the length of the spiders (87.5%). © Entomologica Fennica. 2007.