Spider Diversity in Different Agro-Ecosystems of Kodagu District of Western Ghats (A Preliminary Checklist)

Abstract

Spiders are the most diverse of all arachnids and omnipresent in their distribution, both in natural and man-made environments. The study was conducted in the period of January 2022 to January 2024 at different agroecosystems (coffee plantation, pepper, cardamom etc) in Kodagu district of Western Ghats, Karnataka. A total of 100 species belonging to 79 genera and 17 families were recorded. Among the families, Araneidae (17 genera, 28 species) and Salticidae (20 genera, 26 species) were abundant. Followed by Thomisidae (9 genera, 10 species) and Theridiidae (7 genera, 9 species). Tetragnathidae, Sparassidae and Oxyopidae had 4 genera and 5 species each. The other families Clubonidae, Corinnidae, Theraphosidae, Lycosidae, Hersilidae, Philodromidae, Uloboridae, Linyphiidae, Lamiacae, Pholcidae, Ctenidae, Gnaphosidae had around 1-2 genera and 1-3 species. This study awaits an intensive and an extensive survey to record a near complete spider fauna.