do spiders eat aphids/mealy's?

[qualia]

i helped a little spider onto my TBM today he seemed to be settling in quite nicely last i checked, will he help protect from any mealy's or aphids which might seek to make residence? i have spiders on almost all my cacti, they're cool.

[Chef's Foreskin]

I know ladybug's eat aphids......

I know some spider's eat the eggs of mealy bugs....

By my guess the more bugs besides infectual bugs the better!

RF

[Amazonian]

Small spiders will eat the aphids for sure. Cute little things those wee jumping spiders with their huge sets of eyes. The jumping spiders are also good as they don't build a web to catch the insects, so there is no unsightly dust collector.

[Bert&Ernie]

Will be good to find out cause any jumping or non jumping spiders I find I put them on my cacti

[johnnyzero64]

Praying mantis are carnivores too.

[qualia]

^^

but i have none of them

[space cadet swami]

I tried to put a small praying mantis on my plants yesterday...we both had different ideas of where he/she was going. He was eating an ant at the time.

[Sallubrious]

Small spiders will eat the aphids for sure. Cute little things those wee jumping spiders with their huge sets of eyes. The jumping spiders are also good as they don't build a web to catch the insects, so there is no unsightly dust collector.

 

I love that pic Amz

My kids get a look like that on their faces when I catch them doing something they know they shouldn't.

I call it "The caught with the hand in the bicky tin look"

That spider even looks like he has a biscuit in his grasp (sort of).

Edited April 19, 2012 by SallyD

[Chef's Foreskin]

Hahaa that picture is awsome! I never thought I would say a spider looked cute, but there ya go

RF

[ThunderIdeal]

ladybug and their larvae, praying mantis, assassin bugs and lacewing larvae are the main beneficial insects

i don't think spiders make any serious difference.

[qualia]

hmm, well, how can i attract those beneficial insects?

i imagine spiders would attack a good majority of those? esp. lady bugs?

[ThunderIdeal]

i dunno about spiders eating them, those insects i mentioned are all quite formidable. googling 'how to attract beneficial insects' returned a lot of useful-looking results.

the obvious first step is to stop using insecticides or use them very carefully. learn to ID lacewing eggs/larvae, ladybug larvae (which look a bit like a fast moving mealybug) and assassin bugs if you can't already, so then you can avoid disturbing them.

[kadakuda]

i doubt spiders eat many mealy, but htey sure eat a lot of ants tha tfarm the mealy.