BIOECOLOGY OF Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus) (Araneae: Sparassidae) AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN A TR...

Studies on the reproduction, development, and habitat exploitation of the vagrant Heteropoda venatoria spiders in most commercial banana agro-ecosystems in Cameroon and marketed bananas were conducted to understand the possible reason(s) for the high population densities of the vagrant Heteropoda venatoria spiders in most commercial banana agro-ecosystems in Cameroon and marketed bananas. At night, courtship, mating, and oviposition took place. During copulation, one pedipalp's male embolus is placed in its mouth and then alternately inserted into the female epigynum for about 2.5 hours. A female produced a cream-whitish spherical cocoon with a diameter of about 20 mm and laid eggs within it between 28 and 30 days. She then collected and carried the cocoon underneath her abdomen with the help of her pedipalps for roughly 30 days without eating, losing a large amount of weight in the process. Ensued spiderlings from the egg cocoon gathered on the surface of the empty cocoon 31.90.7 days later, but retreated within it when disturbed. The spiderlings moulted once a month on average. Females had a substantially longer total developmental period than males. In juveniles, appendages lost during fouled moulting were restored, but not in adults. Female spiders are larger than male spiders, with longer legs and larger pedipalps terminal segments. Males outnumbered females in both the field and the lab. Spaces in flower bracts, banana bunches, leaf petioles, and under banana pseudostem barks were among the spider microhabitats in the banana agroecosystem. As a result, the banana agroecosystem provides "time-specific microhabitat and prey diversity" that is beneficial to the spider's survival in lowering phytophagous insect populations on the crop. As a result, spider populations in banana fields should be managed carefully in order to maximise their value as natural adversaries of insect pests on the banana crop.

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