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Article: Spiders are farmers' best friends, says arachnid expert.(News)
- Article from:
- The Mercury (South Africa)
- Article date:
- September 5, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Independent News & Media PLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BYLINE: Sholain Govender
PRETORIA: Spiders are helping to get food to your table.
This is according to the manager of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (Sansa), Prof Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman, who has been working with these eight-legged creatures for the past 40 years.
While spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks are all arachnida, according to the professor, who works at the Agricultural Research Council Plant Protection Centre, spiders are most important because they eat insects which can destroy crops.
"Spiders are farmers' best friends," said Dippenaar-Schoeman, who also serves as a professor at Tuks.
She was ...