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

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.