International Journal of Entomology Research

www.entomologyjournals.com
ISSN: 2455-4758
Received: 10-09-2022, Accepted: 27-09-2022, Published: 13-10-2022
Volume 7, Issue 10, 2022, Page No. 125-129

Seasonal abundance, ecology and distribution of spider diversity in a semi-urban residential colony
at Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu, India
Gokul Prasath S1*, Tamizhselvi N2, Muthukumar P2
1
PG and Research Department of Zoology, Arulmigu Palaniandavar College of Arts and Culture, Palani, Dindigul, Tamil
Nadu, India
2
Assistant Professor, PG and Research Department of Zoology, Arulmigu Palaniandavar College of Arts and Culture, Palani,
Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract
Spiders hold a very ample amount of conservation importance and are under-explored. This study is not confined to a large
extent in plot size and duration; it is limited to a preliminary level of data documentation. This research focuses primarily on
spiders as the representative invertebrate fauna from this particular ecosystem. To provide a comprehensive overview of the
baseline inventory of spider diversity in this study area, as well as to investigate biodiversity indices In the present study, 95
individuals of 36 species across 12 families have been recorded within the study period. Among the 12 families, the Araneidae
family is the dominant family, comprising 10 species from 5 genera. The next dominant families are the Salticidae, comprising
9 species from 9 genera, followed by Lycosidae and Sparassidae, comprising 3 species each, Thomisidae, Theridiidae, and
Oxyopidae, comprising 2 species each, and Lycosidae and Philodromidae, comprising 1 species each. The family Araneidae
represents the most prominent family (27.7%), followed by Salticidae (25%), Lycosidae and Sparassidae (8.3%) each,
Thomisidae, Theridiidae, and Oxyopidae (5.5%) each, and Gnaphosidae, Hersiliidae, Scytodidae, Tetragnathidae, and
Theraphosidae (2.7%) each.

Keywords: spiders, seasonal abundance, biodiversity, semi-urban habitat, arachnids

Introduction digest and detangle their own webs in the morning, which is
Tamilnadu has a plethora of varied bio-diverse regions with crepuscular in nature (Levi, 2002) [8]. Most of them are web-
respect to the great species complex. Spiders’ communities braiding spiders, whereas some spiders hunt their victims on
are spread in all ecological habitats, which play a vital role the ground (ground dwelling spiders). Web spiders are
in maintaining ecological equilibrium owing to their high particularly sensitive to structural complexity. Spiders show
abundance and have exclusive insectivorous feeding habits dramatic morphological diversity and coloration. Generally,
(Wise, 1993; Nyffeler et al., 1994a) [20, 13]. Spiders are spiders are relatively small in size in domestic areas and
present in varying habitats depending on different species. A some are big in size in forest areas (Giant Huntsman Spider-
few of them are indoor varieties, and some others are leg span of 12 inches). The small-sized spiders' body length
outdoor spiders. Indoor spiders live in quiet, undisturbed is about 2–10 mm, and some giant tarantulas may reach a
areas where moisture and food are available because the body length of 80–90 mm (Malhotra et al., 2019) [10]. Male
moisture content often attracts other bugs. Spiders have a spiders are almost always smaller and have a shorter life
vital role in balancing food webs and shaping the span than females (Lietzenmayer et al., 2019) [9]. Spider
community structure among species. Hence, spiders are communities occupy the seventh position in total species
essential for the ecosystem too, as they eat bugs that affect diversity among all other assemblages of organisms
our crops, such as aphids and caterpillars. In several habitats (Sebastian and Peter, 2009) [15]. Spider communities may be
where they thrive, the pest crops have been regulated, found at different locations, such as house dwellings, grass
thereby enriching the native biodiversity. It is undoubtedly leaves, among foliage, below fallen logs, under bark,
clear that spiders are an integral part of global biodiversity underground burrows beneath stones, etc. The structural
in any major biome. complexity of spider habitat is the linear function of spider
Spiders are considered biological indicators which have a diversity and abundance (Malhotra et al., 2019) [10].
great role in assessing the ecological conditions and also Vegetation quality regimes as well as habitat disturbances
play an important role in the food chain. Although spiders can be accounted for in spider diversity studies (Mithali and
are widely feared, only a few species are dangerous to Pai, 2018) [11]. In different environments, parameters like the
people (Landova et al., 2021) [6]. Spiders are carnivorous availability of prey, seasonal and temperature selection
animals. They consume some arthropods, and their major influence the occurrence of spiders. The density and
preys are insects. The exclusive predatory behaviour of availability of prey for a spider population determine the
spiders has a notable impact on the ecosystem (Fathima et diversity. Vegetation assemblages also largely influence it
al., 2021) [2]. It regulates insects’ populations. Spiders with correspondence to seasonal changes (Krishnaveni et
construct webs to create their living habitats, in which most al., 2017) [5]. Urban habitats are no exemption for spider
of the time they lie. Some spiders start spinning their webs populations to make it through, but there are many
at dusk and remain active throughout the night. Then they controversies associated with their survival in urban human-

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dominated landscapes, either in direct or indirect ways. for future studies. The main objective of this study was to
With respect to conducting spider diversity studies and find out the seasonal abundance, ecology, and distribution
species variation, it is found that the effects of rapid of spider diversity patterns in a household garden ecosystem
urbanization on spider communities are complex and require and the surrounding semi-urban residential colony.
careful interpretation, which impacts directly on the major
loss of spider diversity (Branco and Cardoso 2020) [1]. Materials and Methods
Home gardens with mixed plantations, use of chemical Study Area
pesticides and insect repellents pose a serious threat to the The present study was carried out at Udumalpet in the
spiders, as the chemicals could even accumulate in those Tiruppur district of Tamilnadu, India. It is a city located
eco-food chain systems. Conserving spider composition in near the foothills of the Western Ghats and blessed with
household gardens lays the groundwork for future research copious water resources. The geographic coordinates of this
into arachnids and bridges the gap between conservation landform are Latitude 10.58ᵒ North and Longitude 77.24ᵒ
planning and execution. Potential sites should be identified East, respectively, with an average elevation of 1198 feet
as gardens with natural habitats and can be promoted for the above mean sea level. The topography slopes from west to
conservation of spiders. This documentation is important north. The study area is a semi-urban residential colony with
and holds crucial value in creating awareness about spider several private home gardens, avenue plantations, and has
conservation within the scientific community as well as the diverse natural vegetation supported by predominant species
general public. The distribution and level of occurrence of of trees. Spiders in varied ecological niches such as
spiders in our homes, surroundings, and farm lands in this terrestrial and arboreal types surrounding the study area
region is the first and baseline approach, thus providing data were selected and counted within their occurrence ranges.

Source: NRSC, Bhuvan Satellite image by ISRO

Fig 1: Study area

Methodology study area. By peering into leaf litter, rock crevices, soil
The study was conducted from September-2021 to burrows, and deadwoods such as fallen logs, twigs, barks,
February-2022, covering parts of a seasonal course on and debris, while arboreal spiders were also found in the
monsoon and summer. A preliminary survey was conducted, remains of webs and retreats (curled, silken leaves) in tree
and sites were randomly selected to locate prior trapping trunks, undergrowth, and the middle canopy.
sites. Therefore, in order to maximise species richness from Apart from surveying methods, spiders that visit commonly
different microhabitats, extensive types of collection as well in housing areas that were easily accessible were also
as trapping methods were conducted, like pitfall traps (for included in the study. From September–2021 to February–
catching wandering ground spiders). These trap vials were 2022, regular timely observations were made on a
kept empty without any fillings of anti-freezing agents, and systematic basis of constant time of a minimum of 2 hours a
those vials were half buried in soil and camouflaged with day and thrice a week (to avoid data bias in sample count
leafy litter. Spiders were collected using the vegetation and species recapture). Survey walks were made to collect
beating method (for shrubs and high herb bushes) and sweep samples in the early morning (06:00 to 07:00 AM) and in
netting (for grasses and creepers). Hand picking methods are the evening (17:00 to 18:00 PM) hours as many species of
used to collect spiders from leaf-blades, flowers, and dry Araneae were crepuscular and were fully active in this part
foliage. Transects were employed in different plots and of the time. This helped generate significance in data
sections. Transects were chosen in a random manner with collection and to assess the seasonality of species and to
semi-quantitative sampling methods to record spiders in the determine the abundance of species throughout the period of

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study. No live/type specimens were collected during the Kokilamani et al., (2019) [4], and spider diversity on
entire period of study for reasons like species rarity of some Mangalore University Campus was observed by Sumangala
peculiar spiders, endemic nature, and most importantly, to et al., (2018).
give due respect to the ethical beliefs in not causing any In India, which holds rich biodiversity, there is an urgent
harm to live specimens. When a spider was located, it was need to understand our spider communities closer to home.
immediately photographed in the field itself with a Maximum occurrences were noted in human habitats, and
smartphone having a 32 megapixel camera and built-in this might be due to lower predation chances and high
macrophotography feature support, along with the aid of an resource availability for the spiders that live in urban
APEXEL 100 mm 10 X Professional 4K Macro lens for the habitats than in wild ones. During the present study, a total
phone, mounted on a three-axis handheld gimbal stabilizer. of 12 spider families were observed in this region. Among
Nocturnal observations were also made. It was hard to them are the Orb weaver, the Oval St. Andrews cross spider,
precisely track the critters, so flash light was used with a the Signature spider, the Tent web weavers, the Pointillist
macro diffuser to provide proper illumination when neoscona, the Jumping spider, the mimicking spider, the
photographing the samples. Some species were collected for housefly catcher, the wolf spider, the Huntsman spider, the
close examination. They were released into the same Crab spider, the Indian grass lynx spider, the Red house
environment without causing any harm. Taxonomy and spider, the Brown widow spiders, the Mouse spiders, the
nomenclature for species identification followed as per Levi Tree trunk spiders, and the Brown spitting urban landscape
et al., (2022) [7]; Sebastian and Peter, (2009) [15]; Tikader, units too have high biodiversity value and ecological
(1987) [18], along with standard manuals and published significance, so this type of scientific information could
literature, were highly helpful in species identification. The enrich the existing conservation and management strategies
Shannon-Wiener (1949) [16] diversity index (H) was used to in backyard biodiversity landscapes, as highlighted by
interpret the diversity of spiders from the sampled site, and Gajbe et al., (2003) [3].
the relative abundance for recorded spider species was The semi-urban regions of this area recorded much species
calculated using PAST software and biodiversity pro diversity in the months of September-2021 to February-
software version 2. 2022 and the seasonal course of the monsoon. The observed
species were calculated with the Shannon index formula and
Results and Discussion obtained a result value of H = 2.86, which falls within the
A total of 36 species across 12 families were recorded in optimum range of the index, indicating the quality of the
this study. The scientific name and common name of each study area ecosystem. It can be interpreted as this
spider were identified on the basis of distinguishing community of 36 populations identified for this study has
morphological characters and the structure of the genitalia shown the high diversity of this habitat within the framed
given in Table 1 and figure 3. The guild structure analysis of period of study. The Shannon evenness value was obtained
the spiders revealed 7 types of feeding guilds based on the as EH = 0.79, indicating that the habitat has an even
habits and habitats of spiders recorded in the study, which distribution of species as the obtained value falls under the
can be seen in Figure 2. The current study would hopefully optimum range of Shannon evenness criteria, from which it
serve to bring more urbanites into spider conservation, and can be concluded that the selected habitat within the
this would create an awareness that is reflected in the duration of the study has high diversity and an even
protection and mapping of local biodiversity, especially for distribution of spider populations. As per the statement of
spiders. So far, spiders appear to be avoided by the general Rain (2016) [14], the Shannon index results are within the
public due to irrational fear and cultural conditioning of range of 1.5 to 3.5. This means that the structure of the
false beliefs woven around them, such as being bitten or habitat is stable and balanced. Ngabekti et al., (2021) [12]
allergic to those organisms, which are widespread have observed the moderate spider diversity in the vast area
misconceptions. In the current study, a total of 95 species of Kebun Wisata Pendidikan University Negeri Semarang,
belonging to 36 genera under 12 families were recorded Indonesia, and they calculated the Shannon index value
from the semi-urban residential colony of the Udumalpet obtained as H = 3.65, which is a high value compared to our
region, Tamilnadu. Fathima et al., (2021) [2] documented 93 results. Also, they confirmed that the diversity value was
species belonging to 71 genera under 19 families from influenced by the evenness index, which was EH = 0.86 and
different plantations in the Western Ghats, Wayanad, these results confirmed that rich spider diversity was
Kerala. Among the spider diversity, the maximum number obtained in the study area. The study revealed that spider
of species was found in the Araneidae family, constituting diversity is influenced by the type of habitat, vegetation, and
10 species from 5 genera, followed by the Salticidae with 9 environmental disturbances. Unlike the other ecologically
species from 9 genera. The Lycosidae and Sparassidae important eco-zones like the Western Ghats in Tamilnadu,
families have three species each; Thomisidae, Theridiidae, which have the most diverse and abundant biotic features,
and Oxyopidae have two species each; and Gnaphosidae, the present study area sampled in the monsoon season had a
Hersiliidae, Scytodidae, Tetragnathidae, and Theraphosidae wide variety of unique microhabitats and those arrays of
families have a single species each. The family Araneidae mixed habitats exhibited high levels of heterogeneity,
represents the most prominent family (27.7%), followed by thereby providing different microclimatic zones and
Salticidae (25%), Lycosidae and Sparassidae have 8.3% alternative food sources that might have favoured the
each, Thomisidae, Theridiidae, and Oxyopidae have 5.5% spider’s survival.
each, and Gnaphosidae, Hersiliidae, Scytodidae,
Tetragnathidae, and Theraphosidae have 2.7% each. These Conclusion
results were confirmed by the results of Vinay and Vivek The present study it has been concluded that Semi-urban
(2021) [19] and Sidheek (2021). A similar study was carried residential colony at Udumalpet, Tamilnadu, has a moderate
out at Tumkur University Campus, Tumakuru, India, by diversity of spider species with 95 spiders belong to 36

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genera of 12 families with in the season. The spiders making and to obtain a legal conservation status for spider
recorded in this study compared to other studies can be species. This study lays the foundation and aids for other
related to fumigation usually carried out on household areas such studies by deploying additional collection methods in
as well as people's perception of spiders as human enemies, contrast with different seasonal attributes that have been
which could also be a factor for changing spider diversity. investigated.
All of this data is used to learn about the spider species The present study might be beneficial to catalogue the
colonization present in these areas for future research. This poorly documented spider fauna and perhaps to influence
kind of study provides necessary resources for policy the discovery of new species along the way.

Table 1: Spiders recorded during the study

S.No Family Scientific Name Common Name
Araneus cavaticus Barn orb weaver
Araneus marmoreus Marbled orb weaver
Araneus ventricosus Round orb weaver
Argiope aemula Oval St. Andrews cross spider
Argiope pulchella Signature spider
1 Araneidae
Cyrtophora citricola Tent web weavers
Neoscona crucifera Hentz orb weaver
Neoscona punctigera Pointillist neoscona
Neoscona scylla Black spotted orb weaver
Thelacantha brevispina Asian spiny backed orb weaver
Carrhotus viduus Jumping spider
Chrysilla volupe Rainbow jumper
Hyllus semicupreus Heavy bodied jumper
Menemerus bivittatus Grey wall jumper
2 Salticidae Myrmarachne melanocephala Bicolour Ant mimicking spider
Pleippus paykulli Pan tropical jumper
Plexippus petersi Common housefly catcher
Telamonia dimidiata Two striped jumper
Thyene imperialis Jumping spiders
Hippasa agelenoides Funnel web wolf spider
3 Lycosidae Lycosa bistriata Huntsman spider
Pardosa pseudoannulata Thin legged wolf spiders
Olios lamarcki Tropical huntsman
4 Sparassidae Olios milleti Green crab spider
Heteropoda venatoria Pan tropical huntsman
Peucetia viridana Indian grass lynx spider
5 Oxyopidae
Oxyopes javanus Grass lynx spiders
Nesticodes rufipes Red house spider
6 Theridiidae
Latrodectus geometricus Brown widow spiders
Thomisus labefactus Masked crab spiders
7 Thomisidae
Thomisu spugilis Flower crab spiders
8 Gnaphosidae Scotophaeus blackwalli Mouse spider
9 Hersiliidae Hersilia savignyi Tree trunk spider
10 Scytodidae Scytodes fusca Brown spitting spiders
11 Tetragnathidae Leucauge decorata Long jawed orb weavers
12 Theraphosidae Plesiophrictus millardi small burrowing tarantula

Fig 2: Chart showing guild structure of spiders

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Fig 3: Graph showing genera and species distribution among spider family

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