New data on the spider fauna (Araneae) of the Penza Region (Russia)

Abstract

Arachnological research in the Penza Region was conducted in the 1980s and in the mid-2000s only. Initially, a list of 112 species was published and spider distribution within five types of habitats throughout the region was analyzed (Pyatin, 1988). Later on, spiders were studied in four segments of the Privolzhskaya Lesostep Nature Reserve and the species lists for each segment were compiled (Polchaninova, 2008, 2015a, b, 2020). In total, 273 spider species of 23 families were recorded from the reserve. The segments are located in four administrative districts of the region. The present paper provides an annotated list of 71 spider species recorded for the first time from the Lunino District. The material was collected by pitfall trapping in 2004 and 2005 in five habitats in the Nature Monument Solontsovaya Steppe: meadow steppe on the chernozem soil on a gentle slope (33 species), steppe on the clayey soil on a steep gully slope (33 species), steppe on the solonetz soil on a gentle slope (43 species), sand and clay quarry (28 species), and bank of a pond (29 species). The most abundant was the spider assemblage of the meadow steppe (736 individuals) dominated by Pardosa fulvipes (62 % of total spiders collected in the habitat). Other spider assemblages were less abundant (minimum 243 individuals on the pond bank and maximum 324 individuals in the solonetz steppe), and their dominance structure was more uniform. The dominant complexes consisted of Gnaphosa lugibris, Haplodrassus signifier and Xerolycosa miniata in the clayey steppe (53 % of total spiders in the habitat), X. miniata, P. fulvipes, P. palustris, and P. agrestis in the solonetz steppe (60 %), X. miniata and P. fulvipes in the quarry (57 %), and P. fulvipes, P. palustris, and Diplostуla concolor on the pond bank (63.5 %). Thus, Pardosa fulvipes and Xerolycosa miniata were the most numerous species at the study site. A high abundance of both species was also observed in the Borok segment of the Privolzhskaya Lesostep Nature Reserve, which suggests similarity of ecological conditions in the grassland habitats of both localities. One species, Mastigusa arietina, is new to the Penza Region. Taking into account 40 species recorded by М. Pyatin (1988) but absent from our collection, the spider fauna of the Penza Region numbers 313 species of 27 families.