Phenology and impact of abiotic factors with a temporal lag on the abundance of common crab spider, Xysticus cristatus (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae: Thomisidae) in the agroecosystems of Kashmir

Abstract

ABSTRACT Xysticus cristatus is a Palearctic species, very abundant in the north-western Himalayas having a temperate climate. It is one of the predominant species in the agroecosystems of Kashmir. For a period of two years, we conducted a study on the population of Xysticus cristatus inhabiting the agroecosystems of Kashmir. A phenological study was conducted under field and laboratory conditions and temperature, rainfall, and humidity were monitored as indicators of population size. The spiders appear to have an annual reproductive cycle and a spring–summer stenochronous phenological pattern. Adult spiders emerge in spring, recruitment of spiders occurs in summer, they undergo overwintering in the immature stage and all stages of development show sequential phenological maxima. Under laboratory conditions, almost all spiders took VII instars to develop, and considerable variations were observed among all the instars. The abundance of Xysticus cristatus did not show any correlation with climatic variables at time 0, although there was a correlation with temporal lag. The best-adjusted correlation was found with a 3 month time lag, indicating that species require time to respond to changes in the environment.