21 Ara 2024 Cumartesi
An updated checklist of the spider (Arachnida: Araneae) fauna of West Bengal, India
Abstract : In this article, an updated checklist of spider diversity in the West Bengal state of India is presented. A total of 567 species of spiders described under 245 genera belonging to 39 families are enlisted that have been described and/or recorded from 23 out of 24 districts of West Bengal, India. Maximum species diversity of spiders was observed in Darjeeling (36 families, 157 genera, 299 species) followed by Jalpaiguri (21 families, 89 genera, 164 species), North 24 Parganas (22 families, 72 genera, 143 species), Alipurduar (17 families, 69 genera, 139 species), South 24 Parganas (17 families, 62 genera, 136 species), Kolkata (25 families, 77 genera, 128 species), and Purba Medinipur (22 families, 99 genera, 111 species) and 4-51 species of spiders in other districts. Among the families, Salticidae is the most abundant family which comprises 103 species belonging to 54 genera and is distributed in 21 districts of West Bengal followed by Araneidae (95 species, 36 genera, 21 districts), Lycosidae (62 species, 14 genera, 16 districts), Thomisidae (48 species, 22 genera, 13 districts), Oxyopidae (32 species, 4 genera, 15 districts), Sparassidae (26 species, 8 genera, 12 districts), Gnaphosidae (21 species, 11 genera, 9 districts) and Tetragnathidae (21 species, 4 genera, 19 districts). Representation of other families is moderate (10-20 species) to poor (1-9 species). Ten families are represented by single species and are distributed in only 1-2 districts. Some of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, forest areas, agricultural fields, human dwellings etc. particularly in terai region of West Bengal still await intensive and extensive survey programmes to record a near complete spider fauna.