Collembola is a common detritivore in many cropping system. In order to understand the impact of Collembola on predators and the prey shifting behaviour in rice ecosystem, research was carried out to develop a monoclonal antibody (McAb) for major species of Collembola for identification. This paper reports the characterization of the McAb and evaluation to detecting the Collembola diet of spiders.
A McAb for Collembola, namely 2F10, was developed using hybridoma technique. It had high absorption values even it was diluted over 1.024×108 times. It is specific to the proteins of Entomobrya griseoclivata (Packcord), Hypogastra matura and Bourletiella christianseni (Banks), and has no-reaction with other species in subtropical rice ecosystem.
A double antibody sandwich method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established to detect the Collembola antigens in the guts of the spiders. In this detecting system, 2F10 diluted 4000 times (34.193 ng/L), enzyme-linked antibody HRP-2F10 diluted 1500 times (2.463 ng/L) and samples diluted 50 times (50ml/individual) were used. About 4.49 μg prey antigens (1/2 a Collembola individual) remaining in a predator gut could be detected under this system. It could recognize E. griseoclivata proteins after one adult was ingested by Pardosa pseudoannulata for about 4.5 hours at 25℃.
Samples of major spider species collected from rice paddies in Hangzhou, Fuyang and Anji were studied using this system. The result showed that Dolomedes sp., Paradosa pseudoannulata, Marpissa magister and Plexippus setipesp preyed significantly on more Collembola than Ummeliata insecticeps, Coleosoma octomaculatum and Tetragnatha sp.