Spiders in rice-paddy ecosystems shift from aquatic to terrestrial prey and use carbon pools of different origin.

ABSTRACT: Spiders are important bio-control agents of rice insect pests such as plant- and leafhoppers. To investigate temporal changes in spider prey and variations in prey due to landscape structure around rice fields, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of rice field arthropods were analysed over three consecutive sampling dates during the rice cropping season. Initial isotope composition of gnats and midges emerging from submersed rice fields indicates a larval algae diet, while later values suggest a switch to rice-derived carbon. Initial δ¹³C values of plant- and leafhoppers were higher in fields of rice-heterogeneous landscapes, indicating migration from source populations feeding on C4 grasses into rice fields; later, their δ¹³C values approached those of rice. Isotope

SUBMITTER: Radermacher N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7058567 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature