Studies on the Diversity and Screening of Spiders for Antimicrobial Activity from Agroecosystems of Latur District

Abstract

Agro- biodiversity is a component of biodiversity which refers to the co-existence and newlineinteraction of all crops and animal breeds, their wild relatives and other species within newlinethe crop lands and surrounding environments. Biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems newlineprovides the basis for human food production systems and has provided cultural, newlinereligious, spiritual and aesthetic value for human societies. Despite the number of newlinebeneficiary services provided by agro-biodiversity, the combined ecological and newlinesocial functions of much of the world s agro-biodiversity are not fully explored. newlineIn this respect, Arthropods are crucial for maintenance of agricultural newlineproductivity due to their involvement in crop pollination and pest control, which help newlineto reduce the need for pesticide inputs. The large scale use of chemicals pesticides in newlineagro ecosystems led to the development of resistance to target pests and consequently newlinealso has a negative effect on natural enemies and other benefits causing disruption of newlinebiodiversity. In order to minimize the intensive use of chemicals, one of the effective newlinestrategies is to use spiders as biocontrol agent of insect pests in agroeocosystems. newlineSpiders are seventh most diverse order in global diversity. They are newlineomnipresent in natural ecosystems and are exceptional arthropods because of their newlinecomplete dependence on predation as a trophic strategy. Existing data provide ample newlineevidence that simple habitat micromanipulations can affect spider populations and newlineimpact plant production in agroecosystem. Therefore, exploring the spider newlineassemblages is important to understand the species composition, abundance and newlinespecies diversity which reflect on the occurrence of most numerous spider families in newlineagro ecosystems. Further, their contribution in insect pest control is well established newlinewhich is evident from recent reports in controlling mosquito population. newlineThe spider silk which consists entirely of large proteins has attracted the newlinehuman interest for thousands of years. It is the extraordinary natural fibe