Diversity and abundance of Spider population (Arachnida: Araneae) in some selected localities in and around Madurai city, India

Abstract

A study of spider species diversity was conducted in some selected localities of in and around Madurai city from October 2019 to March 2020. A total of 29 species of spiders belonging to 22 genera from 6 families were identified from the study sites. Araneidae and Salticidae were found to be the most dominant family with species from 6 and 7 genera respectively. Based on guild structure analysis, Orb-web builders and stalkers were the most dominant feeding guilds. There were considerable disparities in spider species diversity and distribution across all study sites during the study period, with Vadipatti (23 species) having the highest spider species diversity and Kelavasal (7 species) having the lowest diversity. Spider species diversity (Shannon’s index), richness (Margalef’s index) and evenness (Pielou’s index) indices were higher on Vattipatti (2.23; 3.37; 0.46), and least in the Kelavasal (1.11; 1.06; 0.23). Among 29 species, Argiope anasuja, Cyrtophara cicatrosa, Cyrtophora citricola, Gasteracantha geminata and Myrmarachne bengalensis were the most dominant species in Vatipatti and Arasakulam due to the existence of their prey and diverse range of plants, which influenced that these species were more dominant. The present study revealed that spider diversity was higher in rural areas (Vatipatti and Arasakulam) with superior ecological settings, but lower in urban areas (Thiagarajar College campus and Kelavasal) with the most intact ecological environment