Araneofauna of Nawabganj bird sanctuary, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Spiders are eight legged arthropods belonging to the order Araneae of the class Arachnida and Phylum Arthropoda. The present study was carried out to investigate the diversity of spiders in Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary which is a large wetland located in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India, covering an area of about 224.60 hectares. The study was conducted from May 2016 to October 2016. During this study a total of 55 Spider species were identified belonging to 41 genera & 14 families. Out of this, majority of spiders were belonging to family Araneidae (~20%) followed by Salticidae (~18%) and Lycosidae (~10%). Total species reported here represents about 23% of total spider families found in India.