Rushikesh G. Pawar and C. B. Ganesh
Abstract
The present work was undertaken to determine the spider diversity in Londa (Belagavi District), which is located at the foothills of Western Ghats. The present study documented a total of 36 species from 30 genera, 15 families in the study area. The sub order Mygalomorphae was least with only one family idiopidae, whereas Araneomorphae was dominant with 14 families. The members of Araneidae were maximum with nine species, followed by Salticidae with six species, Tetragnathidae with four species, Lycosidae and Pholicidae with three species each and Sparassidae with two species. Lowest diversity was seen in families such as Corinnidae, Filistatidae, Gnaphosidae, Hersiliidae, Idiopidae, Miturgidae, Oxyopidae, Pisauridae, and Thomisidae that consisted of one species each. Species richness was higher in relation to the number of genus in Araneidae, Salticidae and Lycosidae, whereas numbers of genus and species remained same in other families. Occurrence of spiders belonging to Tetragnathidae, Pisauridae, Gnaphosidae, Araneidae, and Idiopidae was rare in the study area. Overall, these results suggest a need for conservation of ecosystem in this area in order to avoid depletion of rare species by reducing human activities such as deforestation, urbanization and different forms of environmental pollution.