Preliminary Studies on Spider Diversity and Their Webs in Selected Sacred Groves in Kerala

5 Pages·2002·3.3 MB·

by  C Sivaperuman

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
References
Antony, A. & V.J. Kuttyamma (1971): A new species of parasitization by the pea crab Pinnotheres sp.) on
(
the pea-crab Pinnotheres Latreille (Crustacea: thebackwaterclamMeretrixcasta (Chemnitz) from
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:
Bombay state. Rec. Ind. Mus. 53: 251-260. ostreum parasiticontheoyster.Anat. Rec. 84: 45-46.
& ,
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Say. Biol. Bull. 114: 146-179. Entomol. Mag. 3: 85-90.
A
Durve, V.S. (1960): Study on Oysters. Ph.D. thesis, Tesch, J.J. (1918): The Decapoda Brachyuraofthe Siboga
UniversityofBombay. Expedition Goneplacidae and Pinnotheridae.
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48(3): 125-127. Yonge, C.M. (1960): Oysters. Collin’s, St. James Place,
Silas, E.G. & K. Alagarswami (1967): On an instance of London, pp. 118.
PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON SPIDER DIVERSITY
30.
AND THEIR WEBS IN SELECTED SACRED GROVES IN KERALA
Nature worship has been an ancient Indian with many entrance holes. These nests are most
tradition and all forms of life have been commonly found in India on Acacia trees and
considered as sacred in Hindu scriptures. Certain shrubs. Some ofthe spiders prepare no webs or
landscapes orplants were also considered sacred. snares to catch their prey. Families Lycosidae,
These sacred groves are pockets of climax Gnaphosidae, Clubionidae, Sparassidae,
vegetation preserved by religious sentiments. Salticidae, Oxyopidae and Thomisidae are
Such pockets are commonly referred to as “Kavu” hunting or running spiders. The role of spiders
in Malayalam, “Devarais” in Marathi, in the biogenesis ofdifferent agro-ecosystems has
“Pavithravanam” or “Sindhra vanam” in been studied since 1943 (Kagan 1943, Whitcomb
Kannada and “Kadu” in Tamil (Induchoodan et al. 1963, Whitcomb and Bell 1964, Neyffler
1988). It is well known that the sacred trees such and Benz 1979, 1980, Doane and Dondale 1979,
as banyan, peepal and other species of Ficus Doane et al. 1982). They have an important role
support a variety of life forms. in controlling pests. Crab spiders are of
Spiders may be sedentary, social and could tremendous economic relevance in tropical
be cannibalistic. They are skilful hunters countries as they capture and feed on cockroaches
(Lococids),jumpers (Attids), excellent architects and domestic insect pests. HeteropodaVenatoria,
and specialized swimmers. All spiders are the giant crab spider could be effectively used to
carnivorous. They are distributed extensively in control cockroaches and other insect pests
the field, thick forest floors as well as in the because of its preference for these creatures as
human habitations and deserted buildings, under prey.
stones and logs and the tree trunks. Some ofthe Iringole Sacred Grove: The Iringole
spiders like Araneus, Argiope, Leucauge and sacred grove is situated in Perumbavoor,
Gasteracantha are orb web weavers. Members Ernakulam district, Kerala. It is spread around
ofFamily Pholcidae make irregular webs, while about 10 ha and lies between 10° 10' N and 76°
those ofFamily Eresidae construct compact nests 30' E. The grove is more or less at sea level. The
144 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 99(1), APR. 2002
.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
forest type is Southern Tropical West Coast The spiders collected were preserved and
Evergreen (Champion and Seth 1968). It has a later identified with the help of a standard key
luxuriant growth oftrees, shrubs and herbs. The (Pocock 1900; Subramanyam 1968a, b; Tikader
dominant tree species are Hopea parviflora 1976, 1980, 1982; Tikader and Biswas 1981;
,
Hopea ponga, Valeria indica, Holigarna Vijayalakshmi and Ahimaz 1993) and an
arnottiana, Polyalthia fragrans Mesua ordinary hand lens. Quantitative information like
,
nagassarium Aporusa lindleyana, Casearia richness, diversity and evenness of distribution
,
esculenta, Cinnamomum malabathrum, Mallotus were found using SPDIVERS.BAS in
philippensis, Myristica malabarica. STATECOL (Ludwig and Reynolds 1988).
Mookuthala Sacred Grove: Mookuthala Fourteen species ofspiders were recorded
sacred grove (c 3 ha) is situated in the (Table 2), all ofwhich are widely distributed in
Nannamukku Village of Malapuram district, India. Mookuthala sacred grove had the highest
Kerala and lies between 10° 49-11° 40' N and number of spider species (8) followed by
75° 50'-76° 35' E. Sangukulangara (7) and Iringole (6).
The Mookuthala forest sacred grove is a Iringole Sacred Groves: A total of 152
lowland, Southern Tropical West Coast spiders were recorded during the study period in
Evergreen type (Champion and Seth 1968). The Iringole. Argiope anasuja (35.52%) was the
dominant tree species in this locality is commonest in the area followed by Araneus
Poeciloneuron indicum (Butham Kolli). Aglaia nympha (22.36%), Hippasa agelenoides
elaegnoidea, Caryota urens and Ervatamia (17.10%), Gasteracantha geminata (15.78%),
heyneana are also abundant. Cyrtophora moluccensis (8.55%) and Tegenaria
Sangukulangara Sacred Grove:
sp. (0.65%).
Sangukulangara sacred grove (c. 3 ha) is situated Mookuthala Sacred Grove: A total of275
in Srinarayanapuram near Kodungallur of spiders were recorded during the study period in
N
Thrissur district, Kerala between 10° 43' and Mookuthala. Argiope anasuja (36.00%) was
76° 53' E and can be classified as Southern found to dominate in the area followed by
Tropical West Coast Evergreen (Champion and Araneus nympha (20.00%), Hippasa agelenoides
Seth 1968). The vegetation mainly consists of (11.27%), Tegenaria sp. (10.54%),
Hopea ponga Memecylon umbellatum, Gasteracantha geminata (8.72%), Crossopriza
,
Artocarpns hirsutus, Syzygium caryophyllatum, lyoni (8.72%), Lycosa quadrifer (4.36%) and
Garcinia gummi-gutta and Xanthophyllum Poecilotheria rufilata (0.36%).
,
flavescens. Sangukulangara Sacred Grove: Out of
The study was conducted in three selected the 472 spiders recorded in Sangukulangara, the
sacred groves in Kerala from December 1991 to highest percentage recorded was ofStegodyphus
March 998 following quadrate method (Ludwig sarasinorum (44.06%) followed by Argiope
1
m m
and Reynolds 1988). Plots of 10 x 10 were anasuja (21.9%), Hersilia savignyi (13.13%),
laid randomly in different locations in the grove. Table
1
Each grove was surveyed in the morning (0730- DETAILS OF SAMPLING EFFORT
0930 hrs), afternoon (1200-1400 hrs) and
Nameofgrove No. of No. of Total No. of
evening (1600-1800 hrs). The spiders were
daysspent plots spiders
identified along with the type ofweb, number of
radials, number ofrings, web height from ground Iringole 9 270 152
Mookuthala 8 240 275
level and the plant species used for anchoring
Sangukulangara 8 240 472
the web (Table 1).
JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 99(1), APR. 2002 145
,
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Table2 1 .24), indicating the richness of the area.
SPIDER SPECIES RECORDED
Evenness Indices: To quantify the
THE THREE SACRED GROVES
IN
evenness component ofthe diversity, five indices
Family and Speciesname SGI SG2 SG3
were used. El, E2 and E3 are considered here
Araneidae
I. for interpretation because these values are
ArgiopeanasujaThorell 54 99 102
Gasteracanthageminata sensitive to the number ofspecies in the sample.
(Fabricius) 24 24 47 The evenness was observed to be more in lringole
Nephilamaculata (Fabricius) - - 24
and less in Mookuthala sacred grove (Table 4).
Cyrtophoramoluccensis
The E4 and E5 values are unaffected by the
(Doleschal) 13
Araneusnympha Simon 34 55 - richness (Ludwig and Reynolds 1988).
Hersilidae
11.
Hersiliasavignyi Lucas _ _ 62 Table4
Oxyopidae EVENNESS INDICES OF SPIDERS
111.
Oxyopesrufisternis Pocock _ 11 IN THREE DIFFERENT SACRED GROVES
IV. Lycosidac Indices SGI SG2 SG3
LycosaquadriferGravely 12 _
El 0.85 0.84 • 0.79
Hippasaagelenoides(Simon) 26 31 -
E2 0.77 0.72 0.67
V. Pholcidae
E3 0.73 0.68 0.62
Crossoprizalyoni Blackwall 24
E4 0.92 0.83 0.78
VI. Psechridae
E5 0.90 0.79 0.72
Fecenia travancoria Pocock . _ 18
VII. Eresidae SGI = lringole, SG2 = Mookuthala, SG3 =Sangukulangara,
Stegodyphussarasinorum Karsch _ 208 E1-E5=Evenness indicesproposedbyvariousauthors(Ludwig
VIII. Theraphosidae and Reynolds 1988)
Poecilotheriarufilata Pocock 1
IX. Agelenidae Diversity Indices: Simpson’s index (1) are
Tegenariasp. 1 29 _ highest in Sangukulangara, followed by lringole
Total 152 275 472 and Mookuthala. Shannon Wiener index H’ is
SGI = lringole, SG2= Mookuthala, SG3 Sangukulangara, the most widely used index in community
-=absent
ecology. The H’ value increases when all the
Table3
RICHNESS INDICES OF SPIDERS IN THREE species are represented by same numbers of
DIFFERENT SACREDGROVES individuals or in other way with even distribution
N
Indices SGI SG2 SG3 ofabundance’s. 1 value is high for Mookuthala
N 6.00 8.00 7.00 (5.78) and shows an even distribution of
o
R1 0.99 1.24 1.97 abundance when compared with lringole and
R2 0.49 0.48 0.32 Sangukulangara (Table 5).
SGI = lringole, SG2 = Mookuthala, SG3 Sangukulangara,
N = No. ofspecies, R1 = Margalef index, R2 = Menhinck
() Table 5
index DIVERSITY INDICES OF SPIDERS
IN THREE DIFFERENT SACREDGROVES
Gasteracantha geminata (9.9%), Nephila
maculata (5.08%), Fecenia travancoria (3.81%), Indices SGI SG2 SG3
and Oxyopes rufisternis (2.33%).
X 0.23 0.20 0.27
Richness Indices: The richness indices of
H’ 1.53 1.75 1.55
the spider community in three different sacred N1 4.66 5.78 4.72
groves are presented Table 3. The R1 value is N2 4.29 4.81 3.68
=
high in Sangukulangara sacred grove (R1 1 .97) SGI = lringole, SG2= Mookuthala, SG3 Sangukulangara,
=
followed by the Mookuthala sacred grove (R1 N1 and N2= Hill’s diversitynumbers
146 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 99(1), APR. 2002
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Abundance: All the spider species studied Table6
show uniform abundance in all the sacred groves ABUNDANCE OFSPIDERSPECIES
(Table 6). Stegodyphus sarasinorum, found in IN THREE SACREDGROVES
social webs, was found only in the
Abundance(m2
Sangukulangara sacred grove, hence the high )
abundance factor. SI. No. Speciesname SGI SG2 SG3
The present study on spiders indicates
1 Argiopeanasuja .01 .01 .01
highest number of species in Mookuthala 2 Gasteracanthageminata .01 .01 .01
followed by Sangukulangara. lringole, the largest 3 Nephiiamaculata - - .01
ofthe sacred groves studied had only six species. 4 Cyrtophoramoluccensis .01 - -
5 Araneus nympha .01 .01 -
The study does not indicate much variation in
6 Hersiliasavignyi - - .01
the numberofspecies observed. However, it does 7 Oxyopesrufisternis - - .01
indicate a uniform abundance in all the groves. 8 Lycosaquadrifer - .01 -
The diversity indices do not show much 9 Hippasaagelenoides .01 .01 -
10 Crossoprizalyoni - .01 -
difference between sacred groves.
11 Feceniatravancoria - - .01
Among the recorded species, Argiope 12 Stegodyphussarasinorum - - 12
anasuja and Gasteracantha geminata were 13 Poecilotheriarufilata - .01 -
common in all the areas. Five species namely 14 Tegenaria .01 .01 -
Nephiia maculata, Oxyopes rufisternis Hersilia
,
savignyi, Fecenia travancoria and Stegodyphus Acknowledgements
sarasinorum were confined only to
Sangukulangara sacred grove. Three species The first author acknowledges the Division
namelyLycosa quadrifer, Poecilotheriarufilata of Wildlife Biology, A.V.C. College,
,
Crossopriza lyoni were recorded only from Mayiladuthurai and Division ofWildlife Biology,
Mookuthala sacred grove and Cyrtophora Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Kerala,
moluccensis was observed only in lringole. for providing various facilities to carry out this
Occurrence of various species in sacred work. Thanks are also due to Dr. P. S. Sabastian,
groves seems to be correlated with the vegetation Department ofZoology, Sacred Heart’s College,
type and biotic interference. Nephiia maculata Kochi, for his help in the identification of the
,
the spiderwith large sized web was recorded only spiders. The suggestions made by Dr. G.
from the least disturbed, but thick grove in Ramaswamy, Reader, Division of Wildlife
Sangukulangara. Lycosa quadrifer and Biology, A.V.C. College, for the improvement
Poecilotheria rufilata are ground dwelling ofthis paper is also acknowledged.
spiders. Hippasa agelenoides and Tegenaria sp.
are seen mostly on grasses. These four species December 21, 1999 C. SIVAPERUMAN
were found mostly in Mookuthala followed by PS. EASA
lringole, the groves having grassy ground floor. Division of Wildlife Biology,
The tree dwellers are mostly seen in Kerala Forest Research Institute,
Sangukulangara and Mookuthala where most Peechi 680 653, Kerala, India.
SWETHARANYAM
trees are undisturbed. Further, the presence of S.
bonnet macaque, which move around a lot in Division of Wildlife Biology,
lringole could have also been one ofthe reasons A.V.C. College (Autonomous),
forthe absence oflarge web making species such Mannampandal 609 305,
as Nephiia maculata Nagai District, Tamil Nadu, India.
.
JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 99(1), APR. 2002 147
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
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NOTES ON CLEmTIS BOURDILLONII V\jm (FAMILY RANUNCULACEAE)
31.
With one plate)
(
Clematis bourdillonii was described in not be collected and is not represented in MH”.
1914 by S.T. Dunn, on the basis oftwo collections They examined both the specimens (syntypes)
&
554 860 of T.F. Bourdillon from Merchiston present at University College herbarium,
Estate, Travancore (presently in Kerala). He Thiruvananthapuram, and Bourdillon 860 was
chose the name as a tribute to the memory of designated as the lectotype. Recently, I located one
T.F. Bourdillon, who botanised Travancore ofthe type specimens ofC. bourdilloniiDunn, 554
during 1872-1908. The species is distinguished ofT.F. Bourdillon and a photo ofBourdillon 860
by its larger flowers and prolonged anther in the Madras Herbarium, Coimbatore.
connective from C. gouriana Roxb. and by the The publication on the rediscovery of
entire leaf margin, without undulations, and Clematis bourdillonii Dunn from Kodaikanal
glabrous plants (except flowers) from Hills by Ramachandran (1998) prompted me to
C. hedysarifolia DC. This species is endemic to examine the collection from Mathikettan shola,
the southern Western Ghats, and is known only 9.xii.l994, V.S. Ramachandran 10283 Madras
by the type collections from Merchiston Estate. Herbarium (MH). The specimens from
In flora of thiruvananthapuram, Mohanan Mathikettan shola (Ramachandran 10283, MH),
and Henry(1994) statethat“Thisrare species could characterised by ternate leaves with long,
148 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 99(1), APR. 2002