Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2020 | 12(11): 16576–16596

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3094.12.11.16576-16596

#3094 | Received 09 January 2020 | Final received 13 January 2020 | Finally accepted 06 July 2020

A preliminary checklist of spiders (Araneae: Arachnida) in Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchmahal District, Gujarat, India

Reshma Solanki^1#, Manju Siliwal²& Dolly Kumar³

^1,3Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat 390002, India.

²Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society, 12 Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampatti-Kalapatti Road, Saravanampatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India.

# - deceased

¹solankireshma46@gmail.com, ²manjusiliwal@gmail.com, ³dollymsu@gmail.com (corresponding author)

Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publication: 26 August 2020 (online & print)

Citation: Solanki, R., M. Siliwal & D. Kumar (2020). A preliminary checklist of spiders (Araneae: Arachnida) in Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchmahal District, Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(11): 16576–16596. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3094.12.11.16576-16596

Copyright: © Solanki et al. 2020. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

Funding: None.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the following personnel/ organizations: PCCF, Gujarat Forest Department for giving permission to carry out spider surveys in Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda for granting UGC-RFSMS fellowship; Dr. Suresh Kumar, Wildlife Institute of India, for providing technical support; special thanks to Mr. Kartik Upadhyay for helping in the photography of spiders; Mr. Harshad Bariya and Mr. Pritesh Patel for their assistance during field work and for preparing the maps, respectively; Prof. Arun Arya, Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, for providing technical support.

Abstract: Studies relating to spiders in Gujarat have been sporadic and most of the spider documentation have been done from agriculture fields, wetlands and few from protected areas. One such undocumented area was Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchmahal District, Gujarat. Therefore, a study to document the spider diversity was carried out in Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary from July 2012 to October 2015. A combination of four sampling methods namely, belt transect along with hand-pick method, pitfall sampling, vegetation beating and leaf litter extraction were used for collection of spiders from different strata. During the study, a total of 138 species belonging to 90 genera and 29 families were recorded from the study area. Of which, 21 species and 17 genera were recorded for the first time from Gujarat State. The theridiid genus Cephalobares O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1870 was recorded for the first time from India. The families Araneidae, Salticidae, Theridiidae and Oxyopidae were found to be dominant in the area. We recognized seven feeding guilds namely ambushers, foliage runners, ground runners, orb weavers, sheet web-builders, space web-builders and stalkers. Amongst these, orb-weavers, stalkers and ground runners were dominant. This documentation, however, forms the baseline information for spiders of Jambughoda WLS, suggesting the great diversity of the spider fauna in this protected area, which can be further explored.

Keywords: Araneidae, orb-weavers, Oxyopidae, Panchmahal District, Salticidae, stalkers, Theridiidae, Vadodara District.

Spiders, in general, being chiefly entomophagous play an important ecological role in the terrestrial ecosystem (Marc et al. 1999; Skerl & Gillespie 1999). Due to their ability of aerial ballooning they can readily disperse into different habitats and being generalist predators they are abundant in all terrestrial habitats (Coddington & Levi 1991). They also play a significant role in controlling the insect populations in the agricultural fields (Riechert & Bishop 1990). They also play an important role in the food chain by being abundant food source for birds, lizards, wasps, and other animals. Over 48,643 valid species of spiders belonging to more than 4,173 genera and 128 families have been reported throughout the world (World Spider Catalog 2019). Out of which, over 1,700 species belonging to more than 450 genera and 61 different families have been reported from India (World Spider Catalog 2019).

Though in the past, spider documentation from Gujarat have been sporadic but is relatively better recorded as compared to other states in the country. Major contribution to the spider fauna of the Gujarat was done by Patel and team by describing 47 species from 18 families (Patel 1971, 1973, 1988, 1989, 2003; Patel & Patel 1972, 1975; Patel & Reddy 1990; Parasharya & Vyas 2013). Apart from these reports, several other sporadic checklists from agricultural fields (Kumar & Shivakumar 2006; Trivedi 2009) and habitats in Gujarat contributed to addition of new species and new distribution records (Siliwal & Kumar 2001; Kumar & Shivakumar 2006; Trivedi 2009; Parasharya et al. 2011; Vachhani et al. 2012; Parmar & Patel 2015; Vasava et al. 2015; Prajapati et al. 2016a,b,c). So far, over 400 species of spiders have been reported from Gujarat (Kumar 2015; Yadav et al. 2017).

In Gujarat State, most of the spider documentation has been done from nonprotected areas like agriculture fields, wetlands etc. and very few from protected areas. A total of 27 regions are deemed as protected areas in Gujarat from which, only 10 areas areas have a documentation of spiders, viz., Barda WS (62 species) (Singh et al. 2000a), Hingolgadh Nature Education Sanctuary (56 species) (Singh et al. 2000b; Patel & Vyas 2001), Jessore WS (157 species) (Pandey et al. 2004a), Narayan Sarovar WS (24 species) (Singh et al. 2001), Purna WS (116 species) (Siliwal et al. 2003; Pandey et al. 2004b), Rampara WS (21 species) (Singh & Tatu 1999), Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary (42 species) (Patel et al. 2012), Shoolpaneshwar WS (147 species) (Pandey & Raval 2010), Vansda NP (124 species) (Singh et al. 2000c, Patel 2003), and Wild Ass WS (27 species) (Singh et al. 1999).

The Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary (WS) is one such unstudied protected area in central Gujarat located between Panchmahal and Vadodara districts known for its relatively rich biodiversity including flagship species like Sloth Bear and Leopard. Studies in the past in Jambughoda WS from this protected area were restricted to flora and higher vertebrates like mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes (Padate et al. 2003; Vyas 2006; Devkar et al. 2013). Moreover, invertebrate documentation from this area was restricted only to lepidopteran and few insect species (Padate et al. 2003). Therefore, in the present study, we initiated documentation of spider diversity from Jambughoda WS.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted in the Jambughoda WS, which is located between 22.333–22.550 ⁰N and 73.583–75.750 ⁰E in Panchmahal and Vadodara districts of Gujarat State, India (Figure 1). The sanctuary area extends over 130.38km² and is covered by three forest ranges, viz., Halol, Jambughoda, and Vadodara. Altitudes ranges from 230 to 354 m. Jambughoda WS consists of southern tropical dry deciduous type forest, further classified into four sub-types, i.e., 5A/ C 1b dry teak forest, 5A/C 2 southern dry mixed deciduous forest, 5/E 9 dry bamboo brakes, and 3B/C 2 southern moist mixed deciduous forest (Champion & Seth 1968). The sanctuary has both natural forest and plantations. The mean annual temperature in the sanctuary is 25.5˚C, with a maximum of 45˚C and a minimum of 7˚C and the area receives an average annual rainfall, which ranges 800–1,200 mm (Pandya & Oza 1998).

To explore the spider diversity of Jambughoda WS, the sampling was carried out from July 2012 till October 2015. A combination of four sampling methods namely, belt transect (Kapoor 2006) was applied for overall diversity count; pitfall sampling (Curtis 1980; Green 1999) was done for ground-dwelling spiders; vegetation beating was done for spiders inhabiting in vegetation; leaf litter extraction (Crossley & Hoglund 1962; Kapoor 2006) was used for spider taxa associated with moisture and sheltered areas. All the collected specimens were preserved in 70–80% ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and stored separately in clear tarsons polypropylene (PP) sampling containers (50ml). Each specimen was labeled which that included the date of collection, locality of collection and the name of collector. Further, these preserved specimens were identified under a using stereomicroscope (WILD^TM). Spiders were identified up to the species level using the standard monographs (Levi & Levi 1962; Tikader 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987; Tikader & Biswas 1981; Tikader & Malhotra 1980; Pocock 1900; Majumder & Tikader 1991; Gajbe 2008; Javed & Tampal 2010; Vankhede et. al. 2013; Keswani & Vankehede 2014). Whereas, immature spiders were classified up to the genus or family level. For species level identification epigyne was dissected and cleaned in concentrated lactic acid for 15–20 minutes. All specimens are deposited in the museum of Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, and curated by DK; later on these specimens will be deposited in a national repository.

Results and Discussion

The present study resulted in the record of 138 spider species belonging to 90 genera and 29 families from Jambughoda WS along with their natural history notes (Table 3; Image 1–138). Of these 29 families, the most dominant family was Araneidae (26 species) followed by Salticidae (17 species), Theridiidae (11 species), and Oxyopidae (10 species), however, families with high generic diversity were Araneidae and Salticidae (14 genera each), followed by Theridiidae (11 genera), and Gnaphosidae (six genera). Whereas, 15 families, viz., Clubionidae, Corinnidae, Ctenidae, Eresidae, Cheiracanthiidae, Liocranidae, Oecobiidae, Palpimanidae, Philodromidae, Prodidomidae, Scytodidae, Sicariidae, Stenochilidae, Titanoecidae, and Zodariidae were represented by a single genus.

Out of the 90 genera identified from the Jambughoda WS, 17 genera were recorded for the first time from Gujarat State (Table 1). The genus Cephalobares O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1870 belonging to family Theridiidae is documented for the first time from India during the present study. This genus was previously reported only from two countries, i.e., China and Sri Lanka, and comprise of only two species, namely, Cephalobares globiceps O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1870 reported from both the countries and Cephalobares yangdingi Gao & Li, 2010 reported only from type locality in China (World Spider Catalog 2017).

Amongst the recorded 138 species of spiders, 21 spider species were recorded for the first time from Gujarat (Table 2) wherein Poltys cf. columnaris of the family Araneidae and Zosis cf. geniculata of the family Uloboridae were juveniles; because of their peculiar external characteristics of abdominal shape and pattern they were identified easily till species level.

Out of the eight feeding guilds described by Uetz et al. (1999), we found seven feeding guilds based on foraging behaviour of spiders from Jambughoda WS namely, ambushers, foliage runners, ground runners, orb weavers, sheet web-builders, space web-builders, and stalkers. From all these seven functional groups the dominant guild was of orb weavers (39 species) followed by stalkers (27 species), ground runners (25 species), foliage runners (19 species), space web-builders (14 species), ambushers (11 species), and sheet web builders (3 species) (Figure 2). The dominance of orb weavers could be due to mixed vegetation found in the forest, which provides enough space to build their webs of different sizes and also provide protection from their predators (Siliwal et al. 2003; Patel et al. 2012).

In addition to this, during the present study we also came across six spiders which are probably new to science (Singa sp., Brignolia sp., Prodidomus sp., Epocilla sp., Euryopis sp., & Storena sp.) and will be published separately after comparative taxonomic work.

Conclusion

A preliminary checklist of spiders from Jambughoda WS, Panchmahal District, Gujarat is provided in this paper which is the first ever documentation of the spiders of Jambughoda from this sanctuary. Data presented here may aid future initiatives to build a biodiversity database of spider fauna in this region. The presence of 138 species of spiders in a dry deciduous forest like Jambughoda WS indicates that, to sustain such rich biodiversity the habitat has to be ecologically balanced and this southern tropical dry deciduous forest is one of them as it has capability to sustain such diverse number of flora and fauna including spiders. And, therefore, it was possible to get interesting first records of genus and species from this area. This documentation, however, is by no means inclusive but forms the baseline information for spiders of Jambughoda WS suggesting the great diversity of the spider fauna in this protected area.

Table 1. List of genera recorded for the first time from Gujarat, India.

	Families	List of genera
1	Araneidae	Gea C.L. Koch, 1843
2	Araneidae	Lipocrea Thorell, 1878
3	Araneidae	Singa C.L. Koch, 1836
4	Gnaphosidae	Megamyrmaekion Reuss, 1834
5	Hersiliidae	Murricia Simon, 1882
6	Oonopidae	Brignolia Dumitrescu & Georgescu, 1983
7	Oxyopidae	Hamadruas Deeleman-Reinhold, 2009
8	Pisauridae	Hygropoda Thorell, 1894
9	Pisauridae	Nilus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876
10	Prodidomidae	Prodidomus Hentz, 1847
11	Salticidae	Portia Karsch, 1878
12	Salticidae	Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886
13	Theridiidae	Cephalobares O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1870*
14	Theridiidae	Euryopis Menge, 1868
15	Theridiidae	Meotipa Simon, 1894
16	Theridiidae	Yaginumena Yoshida, 2002
17	Uloboridae	Zosis Walckenaer, 1841

*This genus is recorded for the first time from India.

Table 2. List of species recorded for the first time from Gujarat, India.

	Families	List of species
1	Araneidae	Gea subarmata Thorell, 1890
2	Araneidae	Lipocrea fusiformis (Thorell, 1877)
3	Araneidae	Poltys bhabanii (Tikader, 1970)
4	Araneidae	Poltys cf. columnaris Thorell, 1890
5	Araneidae	Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982
6	Clubionidae	Clubiona foliata Keswani & Vankhede, 2014
7	Ctenidae	Ctenus narashinhai Patel & Reddy, 1988
8	Gnaphosidae	Scopoides kuljitae (Tikader, 1982)
9	Gnaphosidae	Zelotes mandae Tikader & Gajbe, 1979
10	Hersiliidae	Murricia hyderabadensis Javed & Tampal, 2010
11	Oxyopidae	Hamadruas sikkimensis (Tikader, 1970)
12	Oxyopidae	Peucetia yogeshi Gajbe, 1999
13	Pisauridae	Hygropoda cf. mahendriensis Vankhede, Keswani & Rajoria, 2013
14	Pisauridae	Nilus phipsoni (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898)
15	Sicariidae	Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820)
16	Tetragnathidae	Tetragnatha extensa (Linnaeus, 1758)
17	Tetragnathidae	Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877)
18	Theridiidae	Coleosoma blandum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1882
19	Theridiidae	Meotipa picturata Simon, 1895
20	Theridiidae	Yaginumena maculosa (Yoshida & Ono, 2000)
21	Uloboridae	Zosis cf. geniculata (Olivier, 1789)

Table 3. List of spider species documented from Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchmahal District, Gujarat, India.

	Family	Scientific name	No. of specimens collected & sex	Voucher no. 12,13,14,15	Natural history notes	Image no.
1.	Araneidae	Araneus mitificus (Simon, 1886)	3F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-61 ZOL-13-ARA-62 ZOL-13-ARA-63 ZOL-14-ARA-125	Found resting in the retreat of folded leaf which was attached to the one end of its orb web	Image 1
2.	Araneidae	Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841)	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-1 ZOL-12-ARA-2 ZOL-12-ARA-3	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 2
3.	Araneidae	Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-4 ZOL-12-ARA-5 ZOL-12-ARA-6	Observed feeding on moths, grasshoppers entangled in its web	Image 3
4.	Araneidae	Chorizopes sp.	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-126	Collected from underside of leave resting in its mesh web	Image 4
5.	Araneidae	Cyclosa confraga (Thorell, 1892)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-127	Collected from its web, decorated with a longitudinal line of debris passing through the hub were the spider camouflages itself	Image 5
6.	Araneidae	Cyclosa hexatuberculata Tikader, 1982	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-64	Collected from its web, decorated with a longitudinal line of debris passing through the hub were the spider camouflages it self	Image 6
7.	Araneidae	Cyclosa moonduensis Tikader, 1963	1F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-7 ZOL-12-ARA-8	Observed hanging by a single strand of silk over the lower vegetation	Image 7
8.	Araneidae	Cyclosa spirifera Simon, 1889	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-65	Collected from its web, decorated with a longitudinal line of debris passing through the hub were the spider camouflages it self	Image 8
9.	Araneidae	Cyrtophora cicatrosa (Stoliczka, 1869)	2F	ZOL-12-ARA-9 ZOL-12-ARA-10	Observed resting in upside down position at the center of its tent shape web	Image 9
10.	Araneidae	Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775)	2F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-66 ZOL-13-ARA-67 ZOL-14-ARA-128	Observed resting in upside down position at the center of the tent shape web	Image 10
11.	Araneidae	Eriovixia excelsa (Simon, 1889)	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-11 ZOL-12-ARA-12 ZOL-14-ARA-129	Nocturnal spider, during day time hides in their retreat (rolled leaf) attached at one end of its web	Image 11
12.	Araneidae	Eriovixia laglaizei (Simon, 1877)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-130	Nocturnal spider, collected from its orb web	Image 12
13.	Araneidae	Eriovixia poonaensis (Tikader & Bal, 1981)	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-174	Nocturnal spider, found resting during day time in its retreat (rolled leaf)	Image 13
14.	Araneidae	Gasteracantha kuhli C.L. Koch, 1837	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-175	Collected from its orb web	Image 14
15.	Araneidae	Gea subarmata Thorell, 1890	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-176	Small orb web with uniformly circular radii constructed between blades of grass. Spider was found resting in the centre of the web. New record from Gujarat	Image 15
16.	Araneidae	Larinia chloris (Audouin, 1826)	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-13	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of the orb web	Image 16
17.	Araneidae	Lipocrea fusiformis (Thorell, 1877)	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-14	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of the orb web	Image 17
18.	Araneidae	Neoscona mukerjei Tikader, 1980	3F, 2M	ZOL-12-ARA-15 ZOL-12-ARA-16 ZOL-12-ARA-17 ZOL-13-ARA-68 ZOL-13-ARA-69	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 18
19.	Araneidae	Neoscona nautica (L. Koch, 1875)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-131	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 19
20.	Araneidae	Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841)	3F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-70 ZOL-13-ARA-71 ZOL-14-ARA-132 ZOL-14-ARA-133	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 20
21.	Araneidae	Neoscona vigilans (Blackwall, 1865)	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-72	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 21
22.	Araneidae	Poltys bhabanii (Tikader, 1970)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-134	Nocturnal spider, observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 22
23.	Araneidae	Poltys cf. columnaris Thorell, 1890	1J	ZOL-15-ARA-177	Nocturnal spiders, looks like dry broken twig of plant. At night they were found resting in the centre of their large orb web	Image 23
24.	Araneidae	Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-178	Nocturnal spider, collected from its orb web constructed between two lower branches of Tectona grandis	Image 24
25.	Araneidae	Singa sp.	2F, 1M	ZOL-15-ARA-179	Observed hanging with a single strand of silk attached on one side to a leave and other side to a shrub branch	Image 25
26.	Araneidae	Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857)	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-180	Observed resting in upside down position at the center (Hub) of its orb web	Image 26
27.	Clubionidae	Clubiona drassodes O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-18	Found resting on the underside of leaf	Image 27
28.	Clubionidae	Clubiona filicata O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-73	Found resting on the underside of leaf	Image 28
29.	Clubionidae	Clubiona foliata Keswani & Vankhede, 2014	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-74	Observed wandering on the foliage	Image 29
30.	Clubionidae	Clubiona pashabhaii Patel & Patel, 1973	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-19	Found resting on the underside of leaf	Image 30
31.	Corinnidae	Castianeira zetes Simon, 1897	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-135	Found running in the leaf litter	Image 31
32.	Ctenidae	Ctenus narashinhai Patel & Reddy, 1988	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-75	Found running in the leaf litter	Image 32
33.	Eresidae	Stegodyphus pacificus Pocock, 1900	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-181	Colonial spider, collected from its web which was having many entrances	Image 33
34.	Eresidae	Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch, 1892	2F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-76 ZOL-13-ARA-77 ZOL-14-ARA-136	Colonial spider, collected from its web which was having many entrances	Image 34
35.	Cheiracanthiidae	Cheiracanthium inornatum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-78 ZOL-13-ARA-79	Collected resting on the grass blade	Image 35
36.	Eutichuridae	Cheiracanthium melanostomum (Thorell, 1895)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-137	Collected while it was resting on the underside of leaf	Image 36
37.	Eutichuridae	Cheiracanthium triviale (Thorell, 1895)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-138	Collected while it was resting on the underside of leaf	Image 37
38.	Eutichuridae	Cheiracanthium sp.	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-182	Collected while it was resting on the underside of leaf	Image 38
39.	Gnaphosidae	Drassodes sp.	1J	ZOL-15-ARA-183	Found under the bark of palm tree	Image 39
40.	Gnaphosidae	Haplodrassus sp.	1J	ZOL-15-ARA-184	Collected by pitfall method	Image 40
41.	Gnaphosidae	Megamyrmaekion ashae Tikader & Gajbe, 1977	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-185	Collected by pitfall method	Image 41
42.	Gnaphosidae	Scopoides kuljitae (Tikader, 1982)	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-186	Collected by applying litter sampling	Image 42
43.	Gnaphosidae	Scopoides sp.	1J	ZOL-15-ARA-187	Collected by applying litter sampling	Image 43
44.	Gnaphosidae	Trachyzelotes jaxartensis (Kroneberg, 1875)	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-188	Collected by pitfall method	Image 44
45.	Gnaphosidae	Zelotes mandae Tikader & Gajbe, 1979	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-139	Collected by pitfall method	Image 45
46.	Hersiliidae	Hersilia savignyi Lucas, 1836	3F, 2M	ZOL-12-ARA-20 ZOL-12-ARA-21 ZOL-13-ARA-80 ZOL-12-ARA-22 ZOL-13-ARA-81	Found camouflaged on the bark of trees. Observed feeding on Camponotus compressus	Image 46
47.	Hersiliidae	Murricia hyderabadensis Javed & Tampal, 2010	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-189	Found camouflaged on the bark of trees	Image 47
48.	Liocranidae	Oedignatha sp.	1M	ZOL-14-ARA-140	Collected by applying litter sampling	Image 48
49.	Lycosidae	Evippa sp.	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-23	Collected by pitfall method	Image 49
50.	Lycosidae	Hippasa lycosina Pocock, 1900	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-24	Collected by pitfall method	Image 50
51.	Lycosidae	Lycosa poonaensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-25	Collected by pitfall method	Image 51
52.	Lycosidae	Lycosa sp.	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-26	Collected by pitfall method	Image 52
53.	Lycosidae	Pardosa birmanica Simon, 1884	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-27	Collected by pitfall method	Image 53
54.	Lycosidae	Pardosa sumatrana (Thorell, 1890)	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-82	Collected by pitfall method	Image 54
55.	Oecobiidae	Oecobius putus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-28 ZOL-12-ARA-29 ZOL-12-ARA-30	Collected from its web, constructed at the corner of huts in the village	Image 55
56.	Oonopidae	Brignolia sp.	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-141	Collected by pitfall method	Image 56
57.	Oonopidae	Unidentified species 1	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-142	Collected by pitfall method	Image 57
58.	Oxyopidae	Hamadruas sikkimensis (Tikader, 1970)	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-190	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 58
59.	Oxyopidae	Oxyopes ashae Gajbe, 1999	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-143	Found resting on grass blades	Image 59
60.	Oxyopidae	Oxyopes bharatae Gajbe, 1999	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-144	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 60
61.	Oxyopidae	Oxyopes birmanicus Thorell, 1887	2F	ZOL-12-ARA-31	Found resting on grass blades	Image 61
62.	Oxyopidae	Oxyopes pankaji Gajbe & Gajbe, 2000	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-145	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 62
63.	Oxyopidae	Oxyopes sp.	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-32	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 63
64.	Oxyopidae	Peucetia akwadaensis Patel, 1978	1M	ZOL-14-ARA-146	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 64
65.	Oxyopidae	Peucetia viridana (Stoliczka, 1869)	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-147	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 65
66.	Oxyopidae	Peucetia yogeshi Gajbe, 1999	1F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-148	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 66
67.	Oxyopidae	Peucetia sp.	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-33	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 67
68.	Palpimanidae	Unidentified species 2	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-83	Collected by pitfall method	Image 68
69.	Philodromidae	Tibellus elongatus Tikader, 1960	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-	Collected from the branch of tree where it was fully camouflaged	Image 69
70.	Pholcidae	Crossopriza lyoni (Blackwall, 1867)	2F, 2M	ZOL-12-ARA-34	Collected from tangled web constructed between the lower vegetation in the forest	Image 70
71.	Pholcidae	Pholcus fragillimus Strand, 1907	2F, 2M	ZOL-12-ARA-35 ZOL-13-ARA-84 ZOL-12-ARA-36 ZOL-13-ARA-85	Collected from its tangled untidy web constructed between the lower vegetation in the forest	Image 71
72.	Pholcidae	Pholcus phalangioides (Fuesslin, 1775)	2F	ZOL-13-ARA-86 ZOL-13-ARA-87	Collected from its tangled web constructed between the lower vegetation in the forest	Image 72
73.	Pisauridae	Hygropoda cf. mahendriensis Vankhede, Keswani & Rajoria, 2013	3F, 2M	WILD-14-ARA-1277, WILD-14-ARA-1278, WILD-14-ARA-1279, WILD-14-ARA-1276, WILD-14-ARA-1293	Found near the streams of water, resting at periphery of stream and waiting for its prey (Hunting position)	Image 73
74.	Pisauridae	Nilus phipsoni (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898)	2F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-149 ZOL-14-ARA-150 ZOL-14-ARA-151	Found near the streams of water, resting on stones at the periphery of streams	Image 74
75.	Pisauridae	Perenethis venusta L. Koch, 1878	1M	ZOL-15-ARA-191	Found on the vegetation near the stream of water	Image 75
76.	Pisauridae	Pisaura podilensis Patel & Reddy, 1990	1F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-152 ZOL-15-ARA-192	Collected from the upper side of leaf near its nursery web	Image 76
77.	Prodidomidae	Prodidomus sp.	1M	ZOL-15-ARA-193	Accidentally found moving in the leaf litter and collected by handpick method	Image 77
78.	Salticidae	Epocilla sp.	1M	ZOL-14-ARA-153	Found in the underside of leaf	Image 78
79.	Salticidae	Harmochirus brachiatus (Thorell, 1877)	1M	ZOL-14-ARA-154	Found under the bark of Palm tree	Image 79
80.	Salticidae	Hasarius adansoni (Audouin, 1826)	2F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-88 ZOL-13-ARA-89 ZOL-13-ARA-90	Found underside of leaf	Image 80
81.	Salticidae	Hyllus semicupreus (Simon, 1885)	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-91 ZOL-13-ARA-92	Found underside of leaf	Image 81
82.	Salticidae	Marpissa tigrina Tikader, 1965	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-155	Found underside of leaf	Image 82
83.	Salticidae	Marpissa sp.	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-156	Collected from the lower vegetation by handpick method	Image 83
84.	Salticidae	Menemerus bivittatus (Dufour, 1831)	1F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-37 ZOL-12-ARA-38	Found underside of leaf	Image 84
85.	Salticidae	Myrmarachne tristis (Simon, 1882)	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-93 ZOL-13-ARA-94	Found underside of leaf	Image 85
86.	Salticidae	Myrmarachne sp.	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-39	Collected from its retreat constructed in a rolled leaf	Image 86
87.	Salticidae	Phintella vittata (C.L. Koch, 1846)	3F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-40 ZOL-13-ARA-95 ZOL-13-ARA-96 ZOL-12-ARA-41	Found underside of leaf	Image 87
88.	Salticidae	Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1826)	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-97 ZOL-13-ARA-98	Found wandering on the walls of huts in the village	Image 88
89.	Salticidae	Plexippus petersi (Karsch, 1878)	1F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-157 ZOL-13-ARA-99	Found wandering on the walls of huts in the village	Image 89
90.	Salticidae	Portia sp.	1M	ZOL-15-ARA-194	Observed wandering on the ground within the leaf litter	Image 90
91.	Salticidae	Rhene albigera (C.L. Koch, 1846)	1M	ZOL-15-ARA-195	Found underside of leaf	Image 91
92.	Salticidae	Stenaelurillus sp.	1F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-158 ZOL-14-ARA-159	Collected wandering on the ground and in the dry leaf litter	Image 92
93.	Salticidae	Telamonia dimidiata (Simon, 1899)	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-42 ZOL-13-ARA-100 ZOL-12-ARA-43	Found underside of leaf	Image 93
94.	Salticidae	Thyene imperialis (Rossi, 1846)	2F, 2M	ZOL-12-ARA-44 ZOL-13-ARA-101 ZOL-12-ARA-45 ZOL-13-ARA-102	Found underside of leaf	Image 94
95.	Scytodidae	Scytodes fusca Walckenaer, 1837	2F	ZOL-13-ARA-103 ZOL-13-ARA-104	Found underside of leaf	Image 95
96.	Scytodidae	Scytodes pallida Doleschall, 1859	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-160	Found inside the folded leaf probably resting during day time	Image 96
97.	Scytodidae	Scytodes thoracica (Latreille, 1802)	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-196	Found inside the folded leaf probably resting during day time	Image 97
98.	Scytodidae	Scytodes sp.	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-197	Found underside of leaf	Image 98
99.	Sicariidae	Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820)	2F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-105 ZOL-13-ARA-106 ZOL-14-ARA-161	Collected from the leaf litter and also from its web constructed in the crevices of mines walls	Image 99
100.	Sparassidae	Heteropoda bhaikakai Patel & Patel, 1973	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-46	Collected from the inner & outer walls of huts in the village, also seen in the leaf litter of Tectona grandis	Image 100
101.	Sparassidae	Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus, 1767)	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-47	Collected from the outer walls of huts in the village, also seen in the leaf litter of Tectona grandis	Image 101
102.	Sparassidae	Olios bhavnagarensis Sethi & Tikader, 1988	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-107	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 102
103.	Sparassidae	Olios gravelyi Sethi & Tikader, 1988	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-108	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 103
104.	Sparassidae	Olios milleti (Pocock, 1901)	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-48	Collected from the folded leaf	Image 104
105.	Sparassidae	Olios wroughtoni (Simon, 1897)	1M	ZOL-12-ARA-49	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 105
106.	Sparassidae	Olios sp.	1F	ZOL-12-ARA-50	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 106
107.	Stenochilidae	Stenochilus hobsoni O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871	1M	ZOL-15-ARA-198	Collected by pitfall method. Probably inhabits in leaf litter	Image 107
108.	Tetragnathidae	Guizygiella indica (Tikader & Bal, 1980)	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-109 ZOL-13-ARA-110	Collected from its orb web constructed between lower branches of tree	Image 108
109.	Tetragnathidae	Guizygiella melanocrania (Thorell, 1887)	2F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-111 ZOL-14-ARA-162 ZOL-14-ARA-163	Collected from its orb web constructed between lower branches of tree	Image 109
110.	Tetragnathidae	Guizygiella shivui (Patel & Reddy, 1990)	2F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-112 ZOL-13-ARA-113 ZOL-13-ARA-114	Collected from its orb web constructed between lower branches of tree	Image 110
111.	Tetragnathidae	Leucauge decorata (Blackwall, 1864)	3F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-51 ZOL-12-ARA-52 ZOL-12-ARA-53	Collected from its web near the water stream	Image 111
112.	Tetragnathidae	Tetragnatha extensa (Linnaeus, 1758)	1F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-54 ZOL-12-ARA-55	Found resting on the leaves of lower branches of Pongamia pinnata tree near water stream	Image 112
113.	Tetragnathidae	Tetragnatha mandibulata Walckenaer, 1841	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-56 ZOL-13-ARA-115 ZOL-13-ARA-116	Found resting on the leaves of lower branches of Pongamia pinnata tree near water stream	Image 113
114.	Tetragnathidae	Tetragnatha maxillosa Thorell, 1895	1F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-164 ZOL-14-ARA-165	Found resting on the leaves of lower branches of Pongamia pinnata tree near water stream	Image 114
115.	Tetragnathidae	Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877)	1F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-166 ZOL-14-ARA-167	Found resting at the periphery of streams on twigs of plants with their legs stretched longitudinally	Image 115
116.	Theridiidae	Argyrodes argentatus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1880	1F, 1M	ZOL-13-ARA-117 ZOL-13-ARA-118	Observed hanging on a single strand of silk attached to nearby vegetation or twigs	Image 116
117.	Theridiidae	Cephalobares sp.	3F, 1M	WILD-14-ARA-1299, WILD-14-ARA-1300, WILD-14-ARA-1301, WILD-14-ARA-1298	Collected from the web of Guizygiella shivui, kleptoparasitic	Image 117
118.	Theridiidae	Coleosoma blandum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1882	1M	ZOL-12-ARA-57	Collected from the base of dried palm tree leaf by handpick method	Image 118
119.	Theridiidae	Euryopis sp.	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-199	Observed hanging by a single strand of silk attached to the leaves/branch of tree from both the sides	Image 119
120.	Theridiidae	Latrodectus hasselti Thorell, 1870	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-168	Collected from the underside of rock by uplifting it. Female was observed guarding the egg-sac	Image 120
121.	Theridiidae	Meotipa picturata Simon, 1895	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-169	Observed hanging on a single strand of silk attached to the leaves/branch of tree from both the sides	Image 121
122.	Theridiidae	Nihonhimea mundula (L. Koch, 1872)	3F	ZOL-12-ARA-58 ZOL-13-ARA-119 ZOL-14-ARA-170	Collected from mesh web. In which it was resting in the conical shaped folded dry leaf	Image 122
123.	Theridiidae	Rhomphaea projiciens O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896	2F, 1M	ZOL-12-ARA-59 ZOL-13-ARA-120 ZOL-13-ARA-121	Mostly seen hanging on a single strand of silk attached from both the sides on either leaf/branch of tree/shrub	Image 123
124.	Theridiidae	Steatoda sp.	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-200	Found in the crevices and holes of the trees	Image 124
125.	Theridiidae	Yaginumena maculosa (Yoshida & Ono, 2000)	1M	ZOL-15-ARA-201	Collected from small untidy mesh web constructed underside of large leaves	Image 125
126.	Thomisidae	Amyciaea forticeps (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873)	2F, 1M	ZOL-14-ARA-171 ZOL-14-ARA-172 ZOL-15-ARA-202	Collected from the trail of red weaver ants on tree branches. They were also observed feeding on these ants	Image 126
127.	Thomisidae	Camaricus sp.	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-122	Collected from the lower foliage by handpick method	Image 127
128.	Thomisidae	Indoxysticus minutus (Tikader, 1960)	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-123	Found on lower branches of tree, fully camouflaged with the background	Image 128
129.	Thomisidae	Runcinia sp.	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-203	Collected from the underside of leaf	Image 129
130.	Thomisidae	Thomisus sp.	1F	ZOL-13-ARA-124	Found on and underside of lower foliage/shrubs	Image 130
131.	Titanoecidae	Pandava sp.	2F, 1M	WILD-14-ARA-1268, WILD-14-ARA-1269, WILD-14-ARA-1267	Collected from the underside of loose barks of tree and can be easily located by the outline of cribellate silk at the periphery of loose bark	Image 131
132.	Uloboridae	Miagrammopes sp.	1J	ZOL-15-ARA-204	Collected from leaf litter by handpick method	Image 132
133.	Uloboridae	Uloborus danolius Tikader, 1969	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-205	Collected from its web constructed in between dry twigs	Image 133
134.	Uloboridae	Uloborus krishnae Tikader, 1970	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-206	Observed resting underside of the leaf in its web	Image 134
135.	Uloboridae	Uloborus sp.	1F	ZOL-14-ARA-173	Found hanging on a single strand of silk attached underside of leaf	Image 135
136.	Uloboridae	Zosis cf. geniculata (Olivier, 1789)	1J	ZOL-15-ARA-207	Collected from its web constructed attached to the walls of mines	Image 136
137.	Zodariidae	Storena gujaratensis Tikader & Patel, 1975	1M	ZOL-12-ARA-60	Leaf litter dwelling spider; collected by pitfall method	Image 137
138.	Zodariidae	Storena sp.	1F	ZOL-15-ARA-208	Leaf litter dwelling spider; collected by pitfall method	Image 138

For figure & images – click here

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