Spiders are polyphagous predators. They display a variety of prey-capture tactics. Some spiders spin silk webs to ensnare prey, others actively hunt prey.
- Approximately 40 species can be found in apple orchards in the UK.
- They do not show specificity towards their prey and generally attack their prey relative to the rate of encounter.
- They can have significant effects on pest populations.
- Web-spinning spiders have been shown to significantly reduce numbers of rosy apple aphid returning from its summer host in the autumn.
- Unfortunately, spiders are adversely affected by pesticides and the number and range of species present in commercially sprayed orchards is much lower than in unsprayed orchards.