|Spiders are key components of all ecosystems in which they live and considered to be useful indicators of the overall species richness and health of terrestrial communities. However, spiders of the Western Ghats are poorly explored group and detailed information about their systematics, diversity and ecology is scarce. The present study is an attempt to investigate the spider faunal diversity in the selected habitats in the Western Ghats of North Wayanad region, Kerala, India. A total of 150 species belonging to 73 genera under 20 families were recorded from the selected habitats. Kartikulam forest reserve (Site D) showed the highest species richness and lowest species richness was recorded from Mananthavady region (Site A). Guild structure analysis of the collected spiders revealed seven functional groups viz. stalkers, orb-web builders, ambushers, space-web builder, ground runners, foliage runners and sheet-web builders. To conclude, the highest species richness is correlated with flora and fauna in these sites. The knowledge generated from the present study gives valuable and updated information on diversity of species of Western Ghats and the data can be used for future research on spider fauna.
The study was conducted to explore the spider diversity in different plantations of Western Ghats Wayanad, Kerala state, India. The investigation was carried out for the period from February 2019 to February 2020. A total of 100 species belonging to 74 genera under 20 families were recorded from the selected habitats. This represents 51% families recorded from the Western Ghats, Kerala. The highest species richness was found in the coffee plantation (site A) with 56 species belonging to 12 families. The tea plantation (site B) recorded 27 species belonging to 11 families. The rubber plantation (site C) showed the lowest species richness with 17 species belonging to ten families. Guild structure analyses of the collected spiders revealed nine functional groups viz.., orb-web builders, stalkers, ambushers, cob-web builders, ground runners, foliage runners, tent web builders, sheet-web builders and funnel web builders. The pattern and the architecture of webs varied among different families. During the period of study, five different web patterns were recorded- orb web, tent web, cob web, sheet web and funnel web. It is concluded that the structure of the vegetation is expected to influence the diversity of spiders in different plantations.
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