Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2016 | 8(11): 9327–9333

 

 

 

 

Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Gujarat University Campus, Ahmedabad, India with additional description of Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976)

 

 

Dhruv A. Prajapati 1, Krunal R. Patel 2, Sandeep B. Munjpara 3, Shiva S. Chettiar 4 & Devendrasinh D. Jhala 5

 

 

1,5 Department of Zoology, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380009, India

1 Division of Arachnology, Department of Zoology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi, Kerala 682013, India

2 Central University of Gujarat, Sector 30, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382030, India

3 GEER Foundation, Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382007, India

4 Genexplore Diagnostic and Research Centre Pvt. Ltd., Ellis bridge, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380006, India

1 dhruvspidy215@gmail.com, 2 pkrunal90@gmail.com, 3 sandeepmunjpara@gmail.com, 4 scheti@gmail.com, 5 ddjhala@gmail.com (corresponding author)

 

 

 

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/jott.1835.8.11.9327-9333 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D40C41E4-2DA7-46D2-B5A4-EB183C12B149

 

 

Editor: Manju Siliwal, WILD, Coimbatore, India. Date of publication: 26 September 2016 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: Ms # 1835 | Received 27 January 2016 | Final received 20 August 2016 | Finally accepted 18 September 2016

 

Citation: Prajapati, D.A., K.R. Patel, S.B. Munjpara, S.S. Chettiar & D.D. Jhala (2016). Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Gujarat University Campus, Ahmedabad, India with additional description of Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976). Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(11): 9327–9333; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/jott.1835.8.11.9327-9333

 

Copyright: © Prajapati et al. 2016. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements:  We are grateful to Dr. P.A. Sebastian (Division of Arachnology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi) and Dr. Archana Mankad (Department of Botany, School of Science, Ahmadabad, Gujarat) for providing lab facilities. We are also indebted to Mr. K.S. Nafin (Christ College, Thrissur, Kerala) for his generous help during this work.

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract: We report a checklist of spiders based on a survey made from August 2013 to July 2014 in Gujarat University Campus, an urban area located in the middle of Ahmadabad City, Gujarat State. A total of 77 species of spiders belonging to 53 genera and 20 families of spiders were recorded from the study area represented by 31.74% of the total 63 families reported from India. Salticidae was found to be the most dominant family with 18 species from 14 genera. Guild structure analysis revealed six feeding guilds, namely stalkers, orb-web builders, space-web builders, ambushers, foliage hunters and ground runners. Stalkers and orb-web builders were the most dominant feeding guilds representing 28.58% and 20.78% respectively among all studied guilds. Species Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976) is reported for the first time from Gujarat with additional description and detailed genitalic illustrations.

 

Keywords: Gujarat University Campus, guild structure, Spiders, Taxonomy.

 

 

 

Members of the class Arachnida are distributed in diverse habitats. Most spiders feed on insects (an abundant life form on terrestrial habitat), hence, making them a very important member in the terrestrial food chain. Some of the studies (Patel & Patel 2001; Patel 2003; Siliwal et al. 2003; Patel et al. 2012) have been carried out in the protected areas of Gujarat for the diversity of spiders; however, there is a paucity of data on spider fauna of urban areas. Likewise, no data are available for spider diversity from Ahmedabad City of Gujarat State, India. Gujarat University Campus, located in the middle of Ahmedabad City, one of the fast developing cities of India, is abundant with woody vegetation and avian diversity (Jain et al. 2005). There are slow but gradual alterations of woody and semiarid micro-habitats in the study area because of an increase in vehicular traffic, establishment of new buildings, roads and other infrastructure. To understand the impact of such alterations on the diversity of spiders, baseline information is critically required. Therefore, the present study was carried out and this study is a first attempt to document the spider fauna of Gujarat University campus.

The gnaphosid spider Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976) was described by Platnick with only the female sex, later Platnick & Shadab (1981) described the male of E. tikaderi with only palpal illustrations. Tikader (1982) reported it without proper description of its male sex organ. Till date this species was known only from three states of India: Maharastra, Karnataka and West Bengal. In this paper we have reported E. tikaderi from Gujarat University Campus and its male is redescribed in detail for the first time.

 

 

 

Materials and Methods

Study area: Gujarat University Campus (GUC; 2302’5”N–2302’25”N & 72032’22”E–72032’56”E) is situated in Ahmedabad City which is part of central Gujarat State in western India (Fig. 1). The total study area of Gujarat University Campus is spread over 32.69 hectares. Biogeographically, the area falls in biotic province 4B - Gujarat Rajputana of 4-semi-arid zone (Rodgers & Panwar 1988). GUC has rich vegetation comprising 215 species of 171 genera belonging to 63 families (Jain et al. 2005). The study area consists of different types of micro-habitat patches, viz., garden (mostly covered with grassland and having a few flowering shrubs and trees), woody areas (highly vegetated area and mostly covered with trees), semi-arid (area with thorny shrubs along with grasses), urban (areas like road and parking where continuous human activities are observed) and houses (inside the buildings) for this study. Comparatively, the shrub covered patches are more, whereas, woody patches are less in GUC.

Methods: The present study was carried out for one year, from August 2013 to July 2014. Spiders were collected from the whole study area by visual searching. Stones and logs were also upturned and searched carefully for the presence of spider. Live specimens were photographed using a Sony HX100VTM camera, preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol and examined using a Magnüs MSZ-Bi stereo-zoom microscope. Dissected body parts (chelicerae and legs if needed as well as pedipalp of male and female genitalia) were photographed under a Leica M205 stereomicroscope equipped with a DFC2900 digital camera and the software package Leica Application Suite (LAS), Version 4.5.0. Adult spiders were identified up to species level and juvenile spiders were identified up to generic level with the help of available literature (Chamberlin & Gertsch 1958; Tikader 1970, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1987; Tikader & Malhotra 1980; Pocock 1900; Jocqué 1991; Majumder & Tikader 1991; Proszynski 2003; Benjamin 2004; Gajbe 2008; Eichenberger et al. 2012; Sebastian & Peter 2012; Proszynski‘s Salticidae of the World 2016).

 

 

 

Results and Discussion

Spiders belonging to 20 families, 53 genera and 77 species were recorded from GUC (Tables 1 & 2) during the study period. It represents 31.74% of the total 63 families reported from India (World Spider Catalog 2016). Also, seven species, viz., Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976), Hippasa loundesi (Gravely, 1924), Pardosa mukundi (Tikader & Malhotra, 1980), Pardosa mysorensis (Tikader & Mukerji, 1971), Thomisus pugilis (Stoliczka, 1869), Indoxysticus minutus (Ono, 1980) and Oxytate elongata (Tikader, 1980), collected from Gujarat University Campus are endemic to India (World Spider Catalog 2016). Salticidae family has the maximum members with 18 species of 14 genera which is followed by Araneidae family representing 12 species from seven genera. Guild structure analysis (Uetz et al. 1999) revealed six feeding guilds: stalkers, orb-web builders, space-web builders, ambushers, foliage hunters and ground runners (Table 1). Stalkers constituted the dominant feeding guild representing 28.58% of the total sample collected. Space-web builders and ambushers (both 11.69%) were the lowest selected feeding guild observed in the study area (Fig. 2).

Out of a total 77 species, 33 species are habitat specific and found only in a single micro-habitat patch. Among them 14 species namely Bianor sp., Cyclosa confraga (Thorell, 1892), Cyclosa sp., Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857), Tmarus sp., Oxytate elongata (Tikader, 1980), Zodariidae un id. sp. (juvenile), Asceua sp., Pardosa mysorensis (Tikader & Mukerji, 1971), Xestaspis sp., Rhomphaea sp.1, Rhomphaea sp.2, Uloborus sp.1 and Uloborus sp.2 were found only in woody patches; Phintella vittata (C.L. Koch, 1846), Phintella sp., Epeus sp., Marengo sp., Cyclosa spirifera (Simon, 1889), Thomisus sp.1 found only in garden patches; Neoscona mukerjei (Tikader, 1980), Indoxysticus minutus (Ono, 1980), Indoxysticus sp. and Heteropoda sp.2 only in urbanized patches, Cyclosa hexatuberculata (Tikader, 1982), Runcinia insecta (Simon, 1897), Pardosa mukundi (Tikader & Malhotra, 1980) and Hippasa loundesi (Gravely, 1924) only in semi-arid patches; and Oecobius sp., Scytodes sp., Artema sp., Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus, 1767) and Theridion sp. only in houses (Fig. 3; Table 2).

The diversity of spider indicates the presence of its associates especially insects. Insects are the main prey base for spiders as well as for many other higher fauna such as birds and reptiles (Sebastian & Peter 2012). Woody patches in GUC are gradually decreasing due to construction of new buildings and infrastructure. Anthropological activities like construction of new roads and parking for vehicles can cause habitat loss and threat to the current diversity of spider species in the study area. The same habitat is shared by other faunal groups such as birds, arboreal mammals and reptiles. Therefore, such alteration of the habitats in GUC should be carried out only after proper environment impact assessment study.

Amongst 77 species, one species Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976) is recorded for the first time in Gujarat State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taxonomy

Gnaphosidae Pocock, 1898

 

 

 

Eilica tikaderi (Platnick, 1976) 

(Image 1A–F, Fig. 4A–B)

Diagnosis: The genus Eilica can be distinguished from other all genera of the family Gnaphosidae by two or three laminae on the cheliceral retromargin (Image 1B). The females of E. tikaderi can be easily distinguished from all other Eilica species by “V-shaped” mark on the epigyne (Image 1C), the basal spermathecal ducts being divided into globose median and tubular lateral portions (Image 1D). Males can be easily distinguished by disto-retrolaterally directed spur of embolic base, the embolic tip lies far away from cymbium, shape and position of median apophysis (Image 1E–F; Fig. 4A–B).

Female (Image 1A–D): Cephalothorax oval, reddish-brown in colour, having small longitudinal fovia with dark reticulation. Chelicerae brown, with two laminae on retromargin. Endites with scopule. Sternum oval, light brown in colour. Legs brown in colour. Abdomen grey with light brown striation. Anterior spinnerets widely separated. Body length 6.21mm. Prosoma length 2.61mm, width 2.28mm. Opisthosoma length 3.6mm, width 2.82mm. Femur II 1.76mm. Eye diameters: AME 0.11mm, ALE 0.15mm, PME 0.13mm, PLE 0.15mm; eye inter-distances: AME-AME 0.11mm, AME-ALE 0.03mm, PME-PME 0.14mm, PME-PLE 0.11mm, ALE-PLE 0.12mm. Epigynum (Image 1C–D): Epigynum with horizontal ‘bow-shaped’ anterior margin, ventrally having “V-shaped” mark, but incomplete at the base (Image 1C). Spermathecae with basal ducts divided into wide median and narrow lateral portions, small dorsal lobe, and large ventral lobe (Image 1D).

Male (Image 1E–F, Fig. 4A–B): All details similar to the female except the following: Cephalothorax pear-shaped, brown in colour. Femora darker than other leg segments. Chelicerae light brown. Body length 3.13mm. Prosoma length 1.76mm, width 1.16mm. Opisthosoma length 1.37mm, width 1.02mm. Femur II 1.18mm. Eye diameters: AME 0.04mm, ALE 0.06mm, PME 0.03mm, PLE 0.06mm; Eye inter-distances: AME-AME 0.06mm, AME-ALE 0.03mm, PME-PME 0.05mm, PME-PLE 0.05mm, ALE-PLE 0.08mm. Pedipalp (Image 1E–F, Fig. 4A–B): Palpal segments dark brown in colour. Embolic base with disto-retrolaterally directed narrow spur (Image 1E, Fig. 4A). Embolus extremely long, whip-like, embolic tip lies far from the cymbium (Image 1E, Fig. 4A). Bulb anteriorly have whitish non-sclerotized region; retrolaterally directed hook-shaped median apophysis arising from the distal region of the non-sclerotized region (Image 1F, Fig. 4A). Tibia with single, broad based and backwardly tilted retrolateral tibial apophysis (Fig. 4B).

 

 

 

References

 

 

 

Benjamin, S.P. (2004). Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic hypothesis for the jumping spider subfamily Ballinae (Araneae, Salticidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 142: 1–82; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00123.x

Chamberlin, R.V. & W.J. Gertsch (1958). The spider family Dictynidae in America north of Mexico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 116: 1–152.

Eichenberger, B., Y. Kranz-Baltensperger, R. Ott, W. Graber, W. Nentwig & C. Kropf (2012). Morphology of new Indian/Indonesian Gamasomorpha and Xestaspis species (Araneae: Oonopidae). Zootaxa 3160: 1–68.

Gajbe, U.A. (2008). Fauna of India and the Adjacent Countries - Vol. 3 (Spider (Arachnida: Araneae: Oxyopidae)). Zoological survey of India, Kolkata, 117pp.

Jain, N.K., S.N. Patel & M.V. Patel (2005). Birds of Gujarat University Campus, Ahmedabad. Zoos’ Print Journal 20(12): 2111–2113; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1134a.2111.3 

Jocqué, R. (1991). A generic revision of the spider family Zodariidae (Araneae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 201: 1–160.

Majumder, S.C. & B.K. Tikader (1991). Studies on some spiders of the family Clubionidae from India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper 102: 1–174.

Patel, B.H. & R.V. Vyas (2001). Spiders of Hingolgadh Nature Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. Zoos’ Print Journal 16(9): 589–590; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.16.9.589-90 

Patel, B.H. (2003). Spiders of Vansda National Park, Gujarat. Zoos’ Print Journal 18(4): 1079–1083; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.18.4.1079-83 

Patel, S.B., N.B. Bhatt & K.B. Patel (2012). Diversity of spider fauna of Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary, Gujarat. Life Sciences Leaflets 7: 74–79.

Platnick, N.I. (1976a). A new Eilica from India (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 3: 189–190.

Platnick, N.I. & M.U. Shadab (1981). On the Spider Genus Eilica (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Bulletin American Museum Of Natural Histor 170: 183–188.

Pocock, R.I. (1900). The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor and Francis, London, 279pp.

Prószyński, J. (2003). Salticidae (Araneae) of the Levant. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 53: 1–180.

Prószyński J. (2016). Monograph of Salticidae (Araneae) of the world 1995–2015. Part II. Global Species Database of Salticidae (Araneae). http://www.peckhamia.com/salticidae/. Electronic version accessed 12 July 2016.

Rodgers, W.A. & H.S. Panwar (1988). Planinga Wildlife Protected Area Network in India - Vol 1 & 2. A report prepared for the Department of Environment, Forests and Wildlife, Government of India at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 608pp.

Sebastian, P.A. & K.V. Peter (2012). Spiders of India. Universities Press, India, 395pp.

Siliwal, M., B. Suresh & B. Pilo (2003). Spiders of Purna Wildlife Sanctuary, Dangs, Gujarat. Zoos’ Print Journal 18(11): 1259–1263; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.18.11.1259-63 

Tikader, B.K. (1970). Spider fauna of Sikkim. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 64: 1–83.

Tikader, B.K. (1975). Key to Indian spiders. Bombay Natural History Society 73: 356–370.

Tikader, B.K. (1977). Studies on spider fauna of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indian Ocean. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 72: 153–212.

Tikader, B.K. (1980). The Fauna of India - Vol. 1 (Part 1, Thomsidae (Crab-Spiders)). Zoological Survey of India, Culcutta, 248pp.

Tikader, B.K. (1982). The Fauna of India - Vol. 2. Zoological Survey of India, Culcutta, 533pp.

Tikader, B.K. (1987). Handbook of Indian Spiders. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, 251pp.

Tikader, B.K. & M.S. Malhotra (1980). The Fauna of India - Vol. 1 (Part 2 (Lycosidae (Wolf-Spiders)). Zoological Survey of India, Culcutta, 448pp.

Uetz, G.W., J. Halaj & A.B. Cady (1999). Guild structure of spiders in major crops. Journal of Arachnology 27: 270–280.

World Spider Catalog (2016). World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 17.0, accessed on 12 July 2016.