Life cycle of the agrobiont spider species Pardosa Agrestis (Westring, 1861) (Arachnida: Araneae) from arable fields at Stari Žednik (Vojvodina, Serbia)

Abstract

Agrobiont spiders are among the largest and most frequent groups of predators in agricultural areas, having an important role in pest control. Since land cultivation results in the reduction of their abundance several times a year, the pace of the recovery of the populations and their phenology primarily depends on the reproductive biology and development. The aim of this research was monitoring of the impact of crop rotation, insecticides use and field management on the life cycle of the agrobiont spider species Pardosa agrestis (Westring, 1861). The research was conducted on three experimental fields near the site Stari Žednik (Vojvodina, Serbia), which was managed by the conventional, integrated and organic methods. P. agrestis is characterized by the bimodal phenology and has the highest abundance in the organic management system in oil-seed rape fields. The study of insecticide application impact on the species phenology has shown that the use of pyrethroid agrochemicals has a negative impact on P agrestis phenology.