Volume 26, Issue 78, July - December, 2025

Functional diversity of some spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in forest landscapes of Bethuadahari, West Bengal, with a new record from India

Shuvadeep Sen, Md. Reaz Mondal, Arka Kumar Akuli, Somnath Mandal^♦

Department of Zoology, Bidhannagar College, EB-2, Sector 1, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700064, West Bengal, India

^♦Corresponding Author
Department of Zoology, Bidhannagar College, EB-2, Sector 1, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700064, West Bengal, India

ABSTRACT

The spiders located on both sides of the transects in the forest areas of Bethuadahari were recorded without collection of any specimens. Systematic analysis of the spider habitus photographs revealed an assemblage of 32 spider species, belonging to 23 genera and 10 families. Documentation of Argiope cameloides Zhu & Song, 1994 under family Araneidae is being reported for the first time from India extending its geographical distribution range from China. Based on the number of species, Araneidae was most dominant with eleven species under six genera followed by Salticidae with eight species under six genera. Spiders were found to inhabit tree or shrub foliage, tree bark and leaf litter within 9ft above the ground. Guild Structure analysis revealed a diverse assemblage of spider guilds with seven distinct foraging strategies. Orb-web weavers were the most dominant guild represented by 44% of species, followed by stalkers (25%), Scattered line weavers (13%), Ambush hunters (9%), Foliage runners (3%) and Space web weavers (3%) and ground runners (3%).

Keywords: Diversity, Guild structure, stalkers, Araneidae, Salticidae.

Species, 2025, 26(78), e32s3157

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v26i78.e32s3157

Published: 27 July 2025