This study investigated the range and number of prey consumed by a population of M. menardi in an abandoned mine drainage adit at Mary Tavy, on the edge of Dartmoor (Devon, UK). The adit was visited each week from October 1997 to November 1998 and any spider found feeding was interrupted and its prey removed and preserved in alcohol. Over the 13 months a total of 69 prey were recovered representing 18 taxa. While a number of flying insects used the adit as a refuge in which to over winter they formed a small percentage of the total prey consumed. Most of the prey were members of the soil or litter fauna (myriapods and slugs) that were observed walking over the surface of the adit walls.
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1 August 2005
THE DIET OF THE CAVE SPIDER META MENARDI (LATREILLE 1804) (ARANEAE, TETRAGNATHIDAE)
Peter Smithers
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litter fauna
Meta menardi
myriapods
prey
slugs