dippenaar.qxd 2005/12/09 10:26 Page 91 A check list of the spiders of the Kruger National Park, South Africa (Arachnida: Araneae) ANNA S. DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN and A. LEROY Dippenaar-Schoeman, Anna S. and A. Leroy. 2003. A check list of the spiders of the Kruger National Park, South Africa (Arachnida: Araneae).Koedoe 46(1): 91–100. Pre- toria. ISSN 0075-6458. As part of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA), projects are underway to determine the biodiversity of arachnids present in protected areas in South Africa. Spiders have been collected over a period of 16 years from the Kruger Nation- al Park, South Africa. A check list is provided consisting of 152 species, 116 genera and 40 families. This represents about 7.6 % of the total known South African spider fauna. Of the 152 species, 103 are new records for the park. The ground dwelling spiders com- prise 58 species from 25 families. Of these, 21 % are web dwellers and 62 % free liv- ing, while 17 % live in burrows. From the plant layer, 94 species have been collected of which 53 % were web builders and 47 % free living wandering spiders. Key words: Araneae, biodiversity, check list, Kruger National Park, South Africa, spi- ders. Anna S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Private Bag X134, Pretoria 0001, Republic of South Africa; Astri Leroy, P.O. Box 2810, Wilropark, 1731, Republic of South Africa. Introduction tain Zebra National (Dippenaar-Schoeman 1988), Roodeplaat Dam Nature Reserve Conservation biologists are starting to recog- (Dippenaar-Schoeman et al. 1989), Karoo nise the importance of the invertebrate com- National Park (Dippenaar-Schoeman et al. ponent in the functioning of healthy ecosys- 1999), Makelali Nature Reserve in the tems. Therefore, any approach to conserva- Limpopo Province (Whitmore et al. 2001) tion needs to take into account the composi- and the Western Soutpansberg (Foord 2002). tion of these invertebrate fauna. Inventories, with resulting check lists, provide valuable The aim of this study was to compile the first baseline information on species present and check list of the spider species of the Kruger are the first step toward a better understand- National Park (KNP) and to determine the ing of the fauna of the area. percentage of species protected. This was not an intensive survey but reflects on collecting In 1997, the South African National Survey done in the park over a period of 16 years. of Arachnida (SANSA) was initiated (Dippe- Although this survey may not reflect the true naar-Schoeman & Craemer 2000) with its diversity and species richness of the area, it main aim to make an inventory of the arach- does give an indication of species present. nid diversity of South Africa. One of the pro- jects of SANSA is to compile an inventory of spiders presently conserved in parks and reserves in South Africa. Material and methods Although spiders constitute an abundant and highly diverse group of invertebrate animals, Study area little is still known about their diversity even The Kruger National Park (KNP) is situated in the in conserved areas. From South Africa check Lowveld region of the Mpumalanga and Limpopo lists exist for the spider fauna of the Moun- Provinces of South Africa. The park is 350 km long ISSN 0075-6458 91 Koedoe 46/1 (2003) dippenaar.qxd 2005/12/09 10:26 Page 92 from north to south with a surface area of (ground and plant search, turning rocks and sifting of 1 948 528 ha. The climate is subtropical, with the leaf litter) or using a sweepnet or beating tray for annual rainfall varying between 700 mm in the south grass and low shrubs. The new records were identi- and 400 mm in the north. It falls within the Savanna fied by the first author and are housed in the Nation- Biome and the vegetation includes mixed bushwil- al Collection of Arachnida (NCA) at the ARC-Plant low woodlands, mountain bushveld, thorn thicket, Protection Research Institute in Pretoria. The lack of thorn veld, sourveld, scrubveld, sandveld and river- taxonomic research in southern Africa within certain ine forest. families made the identification of some genera to species level impossible. In some families, only immature specimens were collected, hampering Collecting methods identification to species level. This means that, in Sporadic collecting was mainly undertaken from both instances, only generic names are included in 1985 to 2001. Spiders were sampled by hand the check list. The species list includes published Table 1 Guild classification of spiders collected in the Kruger National Park. Guilds Abbreviation Guild explanation WANDERING SPIDERS (W) Ground wandering spiders (GW) Free living FGW free-living spiders running on the soil surface when active Burrow living BGW living in burrows Plant wandering spiders (PW) Free living FPW free-living spiders running on the plant surface when active WEB-BUILDING SPIDERS (WB) Orb-web OWB orb-webs consisting of a frame with mooring and bridge lines that anchors the web and radial signal threads arranged like the ribs of a umbrella converging onto the centre of the web with circular spiral threads Funnel-web FWB sheet-webs made over soil surface with a funnel-shaped retreat Gumfoot-web GWB three-dimensional webs consisting of a central area with or without a retreat. The upper part comprises mooring, signal and catch threads and a lower part with mooring and catch threads. The lower catch threads studded with sticky droplets are attached to the substrate Retreat-web RWB silk threads used to catch prey radiating from retreat Sheet-web SHWB sheet-webs which, usually consists of an upper sheet with mooring, sig- nal and catch threads Space-web SPWB space-webs which, fill open space and are usually attached with mooring threads to different substrates. Koedoe 46/1 (2003) 92 ISSN 0075-6458 dippenaar.qxd 2005/12/09 10:26 Page 93 records of spiders previously recorded from the Results and discussion Kruger National Park. Numbers present Guilds Forty families represented by 116 genera and A guild is a group of species that potentially compete 152 species are presently known from the for jointly exploited limited resources (Polis & KNP (Table 2). Of the 152 species listed 103 McCormick 1986). Because most spiders live in a are new records for the KNP (Table 2 & 3). The orb-web spiders of the family Araneidae defined environment with limitations set by both are the most diverse and represented by physical conditions and biological factors (Foelix 23 species, followed by the crab spiders 1982), species can be grouped into guilds based on (Thomisidae) with 15, the lynx spiders available information on their habitat preferences (Oxyopidae) with 9 and the wolf spiders and predatory methods. For the present study two (Lycosidae) and jumping spiders (Salticidae) main guilds were recognised, namely wandering spi- with 8 species each. Fifteen families are rep- ders (W) and web builders (WB), with further subdi- resented by a single species. A total of 91 visions based on micro-habitat and general behav- species are free living wandering spiders iour (Table 1). (59 %) while 61 species (41 %) build webs. Table 2 Spider families collected at the Kruger National Park indicating the number of species and genera in each family and the number of species that are new records (NR) Family Genera Species Nr Family Genera Species Nr Araneidae 15 23 15 Oxyopidae 3 9 4 Archaeidae 1 1 0 Palpimanidae 1 1 1 Barychelidae 1 1 1 Philodromidae 3 4 3 Caponiidae 1 1 1 Pholcidae 3 3 3 Corinnidae 2 2 2 Phyxelididae 1 1 0 Ctenidae 1 1 1 Pisauridae 5 5 3 Cyrtaucheniidae 1 1 1 Prodidomidae 1 2 2 Deinopidae 1 1 1 Salticidae 8 8 7 Dictynidae 2 2 1 Scytodidae 1 1 1 Dipluridae 1 1 0 Segestriidae 1 1 1 Eresidae 3 6 2 Selenopidae 2 6 1 Gnaphosidae 6 6 1 Sicariidae 2 2 2 Hersiliidae 1 2 0 Sparassidae 3 3 2 Idiopidae 1 1 1 Tetragnathidae 5 7 6 Linyphiidae 2 2 1 Theraphosidae 4 5 1 Liocranidae 1 1 1 Theridiidae 5 5 5 Lycosidae 8 8 8 Thomisidae 9 15 14 Mimetidae 1 1 1 Uloboridae 1 2 2 Miturgidae 2 4 2 Zodariidae 4 4 2 Oecobiidae 2 2 2 Oonopidae 1 1 1 Tot: 40 116 152 103 ISSN 0075-6458 93 Koedoe 46/1 (2003) dippenaar.qxd 2005/12/09 10:26 Page 94 Ground wandering spiders Schoeman 2002a; Gallon 2002), viz., Ceratogyrus bechuanicus Purcell, 1902, Twenty-five families represented by 58 Harpactira gigas Pocock, 1898, Auga- species are associated with the ground layer, cephalus breyeri (Hewitt, 1919) and A. juno- 10 species live in burrows made in the di (Simon, 1904). ground, 36 species are free living and 12 are web dwellers. Web-building spiders Plant wandering spiders Twelve species construct their webs on or Web-building spiders close to the soil surface. The following web From the field layer 52 % of the species (50) types were found: funnel-webs of the collected build webs. The orb-web spiders Dipluridae (Allothele malawi Coyle, 1984); were the most diverse and represented by retreat-webs of the Eresidae (Dresserus col- three families namely the Araneidae soni Tucker, 1920), Hersiliidae (Tama sp.), (23 spp.), Tetragnathidae (7 spp.) and Ulo- Oecobiidae (2 spp.) and the Phyxelididae boridae (2 spp.). Members of the genera (Xevioso orthomeles Griswold, 1990); Argiope, Afracantha and Gasteracantha of space-web of the Pholcidae (3 spp.) funnel- the Araneidae and Leucauge, Nephila, web of the lycosid (Hippasa australis Nephilengys and Tetragnatha of the Tetrag- Lawrence, 1927) and the gumfoot-webs of nathidae construct large orb-webs between the theridiids (Latrodectus geometricus C.L.