Department of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa - 848125, Samastipur, Bihar, (India).
1A part of approved M.Sc. (Ag.) thesis submitted by Shatrughna Sahu to Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa-848125, Samastipur, Bihar, (India).
Spiders collected from different rice ecosystems of North Bihar (India) comprised 61.26 per cent identified species. Amongst the four species, Lycosa pseudoannulata predominated (21.78%) over Callitrichia formosa (16.33%), Agriope catenulata (14.56%) and Clubiona japonica (8.59%). L. pseudoannulata preyed more on GLH (43.3%) than rice hispa (6.67%), stem borers (3.3%) and rice leaf folder (3.3.%). Further, L. pseudoannulata was the most efficient predator, the number of GLH predated 10 days after caging being 4.80 per day, followed by Clubiona sp. (4.23 GLH/day), A. catenulata (3.79 GLH/day), and Callitrichia formosa (2.67 GLH/day). The population of L. pseudoannulata varied from 10.0 to 32.0 per cent, the maximum being on 95- and 110-day old crop and the lowest on 140-day crop. C. formosa was more in the early growth stages, i.e., 20–30 days after transplanting (DAT). In the case of A. catenulata, the maximum being recorded at 95 DAT (28.0%) and minimum (4.0%) at 35 DAT. Also, C. japonica maintained higher population at the later stages ofcrop growth, i.e., at 125 or 140 DAT (20.0%) followed by 95 and no DAT (12.0%).
