Biological controls of intensive agroecosystems: wandererspiders in the Langa Astigiana

Spiders are typical terrestrial predators that show a high degree of diversity in agroecosystems according to prey capture strategies. Their role as biological controllers constitutes a challenging topic inapplied ecology. Confronted with prey shortages wanderer spiders actively search for more productive habitats. In this paper we model the population dynamics of wanderer spiders and their prey in an almost homogeneous agricultural landscape. The effect of human intervention through insecticide spraying is also considered.