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Interactions between nectar-seeking insects (primarily bumble bees Bombus spp. and honey bees Apis mellifera L.) visiting common milkweed (Asciepias syriaca: Asclepiadaceae) inflorescences and their commonest predator at the inflorescences, the crab spider Misumena vatia (Clerk) (Thomisidae), were recorded. Densities of Misumena were low. On average a given insect would only be attacked once each 4-6 d by a spider, and predicted periods until capture of the different species ranged from 21 to 109 d, far longer than any individual visited milkweed. Insects showed no sign of avoiding spiders.
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Douglass H. Morse (1986) studied this question.
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