Studies on diversity of spider fauna in rice agro-ecosystem in mid-hills of Meghalaya

Abstract

The present study was conducted to document spider diversity in the rice field in the mid-hills of Meghalaya. The study was conducted from July to October 2018. A total of 731 numbers of individuals falling under 41 species belonging to 23 genera from 10 families were identified from the rice field during the study period. Araneidae was the most dominant family represented by 6 genera with 16 species, followed by the family Lycosidae represented by 2 genera with 4 species. The third largest family was Oxyopidae which was represented by a single genus with 3 species. A guild structure analysis of the spiders revealed six feeding guilds such as orb web weavers, stalkers, ground runners, space web builders, ambushers and foliage runners. The dominant guild was orb web weavers.