Spiders in sprayed and unsprayed cotton fields in Israel,their interactions with cotton pests and their importance as predators of the Egyptian cotton leaf worm,spodoptera littoralis

Densities of spiders in sprayed and unsprayed cotton fields were determined during 1981 and 1982. Eighteen families were found in an unsprayed field and 13 in sprayed fields. Species of Clubionidae, Gnaphosidae and Philodromidae comprised more than half of the total number collected. The mean weekly number of spiders per meter of cotton row was 9.1 in the unsprayed field and 5.1–5.6 in sprayed fields. Spider populations fluctuated similarly in sprayed fields in both observation years, with only one peak in July, whereas there were two peaks in the unsprayed field. Spiders played an important role in suppressing pest populations and in delaying pest outbreaks early in the cotton growing season. Thus, early pesticide applications to cotton fields are unnecessary. In a biocontrol experiment, spiders suppressed larvae of the Egyptian cotton leaf worm,Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.), thereby reducing damage to cotton leaves.