Life history of Argiope trifasciata (Savigny, 1825) (Araneae: Araneidae) reared and food consumption under laboratory condition

Zaher, Ibrahim A. I.; El-Gendy, Amr A.

doi:10.21608/jpfs.2023.259275.1003

Life history of Argiope trifasciata (Savigny, 1825) (Araneae: Araneidae) reared and food consumption under laboratory condition

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Agricultural Zoology and Nematology, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/jpfs.2023.259275.1003

Abstract

Argiope trifasciata (Savigny, 1825) is a large orb-weaving spider that was raised on various prey species in a laboratory setting with a temperature degree of 28±2°C and a relative humidity of 70–80%. Before becoming an adult, this spider went through seven spiderling instars for females (140.98 days) and six for males (87.89 days). The study also showed that first spiderling instar consumed a large number of the two-spotted red spider mite while the second through fourth in stars were fed on Drosophila melanogaster and Spodoptera littoralis but all individuals of the fifth instar were fed on the larvae and adults of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, Acrotylus, Aiolopus and house fly Musca domestica. During the sixth and seventh spiderling instars, the adult females were exclusively fed on the larvae and adults of Acrotylus, Aiolopus, and Spodoptera littoralis. The spider's life cycle lasted 162.64 days for the female and 109.89 days for the male. The egg mass containssix hundred and forty spiderlings.

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