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1 June 2005 Crab spiders show mixed effects on flower-visiting bees and no effect on plant fitness components
Reuven Dukas, Douglass H. Morse
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Abstract

Predation on flower-visiting insects can potentially reduce pollination levels and hence plant fitness. We tested this prediction in a field experiment with 10 matched pairs of milkweed patches in which one patch in each pair contained crab spiders and the other patch was predator free. Significantly fewer honeybees were observed in the spider than no spider patches, but there was no spider effect on the two species of bumblebees. A possible explanation for this difference is that the honeybees suffered three times higher predation rates than the bumblebees. There were no spider effects on either the rate of pollinia removal from milkweed flowers or the number and mass of seeds produced. The results suggest that crab spiders may have only small effects on bees and plant fitness, at least where bees are abundant.

Reuven Dukas and Douglass H. Morse "Crab spiders show mixed effects on flower-visiting bees and no effect on plant fitness components," Ecoscience 12(2), 244-247, (1 June 2005). https://doi.org/10.2980/i1195-6860-12-2-244.1
Received: 2 November 2004; Accepted: 1 January 2005; Published: 1 June 2005
KEYWORDS
abeilles et bourdons
araignées-crabes
bees
Crab spiders
insect plant interactions
interactions entre insectes et végétaux
pollination
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