Litter and ground dwelling spiders araneae Arachnida of reserve forests of Dooars West Bengal
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Date
2013
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University of Calcutta
Abstract
Spiders are among the oldest, most omnipresent and numerous predators in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. They are easily characterized by two main body parts, viz.cephalothorax and abdomen, joined by a narrow pedicel, 4 pairs ofjointed legs, 6-8 simple eyes and 4-6 spinnerets.
Spiders have established themselves as a model organism in biochemical (for silk and venomproteins), behavioural (for sexual and web building) and ecological (for foraging, preypredator interaction and IPM) research. They are also utilized as ecological indicators in many terrestrial communities.
Appreciating the bioresource value of studying spiders, I present my work on the taxonomy of litter and ground dwelling spiders of Gorumara National Park (GNP), Chapramari Wild Life Sanctuary (CWLS), Jaldapara Wild Life Sanctuary (JWLS) and Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), West Bengal, India. The work embodies taxonomic account and distribution of the species recorded from different ranges ofthese reserve forests.The thesis starts with an Introductory section where the importance of the litter and ground dwelling spiders and the area ofstudy are discussed. Earlier works on the spiders is dealt in the Literature Review section. The next section deals with the Collection and Preservation
procedures, Identification of spiders, their General Morphology and Terminology and Abbreviations used.Taxonomic part includes the detailed account of the diagnostic characters and keys for the families, genera, and species. However, the well known species have not been redescribed
but have been suitably illustrated and keyed. Additionally as a suffix to each family a note on the biology is also given. This is followed by Distributional Pattern of spider taxa, Discussion, Summary ofthe work, References cited and Publications. A total of 89 species under 36 genera and 13 families are dealt with. Ofthese 12 species are new to the world, 7 from the country while 25 from the slate. Thirty two species are reported as endemic to India.