Ecotaxonomical Studies of Araneae

ECOTAXONOMICAL STUDIES OF ARANEAE

IN BAHAWALPUR.

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO “THE ISLAMIA UNIVERSITY OF BAHAWALPUR” PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

MS Zoology

Sumaira Kausar

Under the supervision of

DR. NUZHAT SIAL

Department of Life sciences,

The Islmia University of Bahawalpur,

CONTENTS Title Page # List of Tables...... iv List of Figures ...... v Abstract...... vi 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 01 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 03 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS ...... 10 3.1. Study sites ...... 10 3.1.1. Soil characteristic ...... 11 3.1.2. Plant Species 11 3.1.3. Climate 12 3.2 Methodology ...... ……13 3.2.1 Manual hand picking ...... 13 3.2.2 Pit fall traps ...... …… 13 3.2.3Jerking method 13 3.2.4 Preservation 13 3.3 Labelling of Specimens 13 3.4 Identification ...... 13 3.5 Statistical analysis ...... 14 4. RESULTS ...... 16 Key to families of Pakistani Spiders 16 4.1 Family Sparassidae 17 4.1.1 Genus Olios Walckenaer, 1837 17 4.1.1.1 Olios lutescens 17 4.1.1.2 Olios flavidus (O-P. Cambridge, 1895) 17 4.2 Family Hersilidae Audouin, 1826 18 4.2.1 Genus Hersilia Auduoin, 1826 18 4.2.1.1 Hersilia savigni Auduoin, 1826 18 4.3 Family Pholsidae C. L. Koch, 1851 19 4.3.1 Genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 19 4.3.1.1 Pholcus phalangioides (Fuesslin, 1775 19

4.4 Family Salticidae Latreile, 1804 20 4.4.1 Genus Marpissa C.L Kock, 1846 20 4.4.1.1 Marpissa mirabilis Tikader, 2000 20 4.4.1.1 Marpissa tigrina Tikader, 1965 20 4.5 Family Araneidae Simon, 1895 22 Key to Pakistani genera of family Araneidae 22 4.5.1 Genus Araneus Clerck, 1757 22 4.5.1.1 Araneus mitifica Simon, 1886 22 4.5.1.2 Genus Neoscona Simon, 1864 23 Key to Pakistani species of genus Neoscona 23 4.5.2.1 Neoscona theis (Walackenear) 23 4.6 Family Clubionidae Wagner, 1887 24 Key to the Genera of family Clubionidae 24 4.6.1 Genus Clubiona Latreille, 1804 25 Key to the Pakistani species of genus Clubiona Latreille 25 4.6.1.1Clubionafilicata O. P. Cambridge, 1874 25 4.6.1.2Clubionapashabhaii Patel & Patel, 1973 26 4.6.1.3Cludhia ludhinaensis Tikader 27 4.7 Family Gnaphosidae Pocock, 1884. 28 4.7.1 Genus Zelotes Gistel, 1848 28 Key to Pakistani species of Genus Zelotes Gistel, 1848 29 4.7.1.1 Zelotes sajali Tlkader and Gajbi 1979 29 4.8 Family Oxyopidae, Latreillae 1804 30 4.8.1 Genus oxyopes, Latereille, 1804 30 Key to Pakistani species of Oxyopes Latreille 31 4.8.1.1 Oxyopesjavanus Thorell 31 4.8.1.2 Oxyopes ratnae Tikader 1970 31 4.9 Family Lycosidae Simon, 1898 32 Key to the Genera of Family Lycosidae Simon,1898 32 4.9.1 Genus Pardosa Koch, 1848 32 Key to the species of Genus Pardosa Koch, 1848 33 4.9.1.1 Pardosa pusiola Thorell, 1891 33 4.9.1.2 Pardosa birmanica Simon 33 4.9.1.3 Pardosa rhenockensis 34

4.9.2 Genus Evippa Simon,1882 34 Key to Species of Genus EvippaSimon 35 4.9.2.1 Evipa sohani 35 4.9.3 Genus HipassaSimon, 1885 35 4.9.3.1 Hipassa partita (Cambridge) 1876 36 4.9.4 Genus Lycosa Latreille 1804 36 4.9.4.1 Lycosa poonaensis 36 4.9.4.2 Lycosa kempi Gravely, 1924 37 4.9.4.3 Lycosa madani Pocock, 1901 37 4.10 Family Uloboridae Thorell, 1869 38 4.10.1 Genus Uloborus Latreille, 1806 38 4.10.1.1 Uloborus danolius Tikader, 1969 38 4.11 Family Thomisidae Sundevall, 1833 39 Key to Pakistani Genera of Family Thomisidae 39 4.11.1 Genus Thomisus Walckenaer 1805 39 4.11.1.1 Thomisus dhakuriensis Tikader 40 Ecological Studies 47 α –Diversity Indices 47 6 Summary 58 7 Literature review 60

iii

LIST OF TABLES

NO. TITLE PAGE 1. Monthly meteorological data record from February-2013 to October. 2013 12 2. List of families along with genera and species recorded in each family 41 3. Number and abundance of species recorded from different habitats during the study period (February 2013- October 2013) 42 4. List of families along with number of genera and species 45 5. Simpson and Shannon Indices of the whole data 48 6. Monthly variation in Diversity indices 50

LIST OF FIGURES

NO. TITLE PAGE 1. A Different areas of Bahawalpur 10 1. B Map of Pakistan 10 2. Map of Baghdad-ul-Jadeed Campus 11 3. Relative diversiry of different species of spiders 44 4. Families along with total number of Genera and species. 46 5. Month wise Richness values of Spiders 57 6. Month wise Richness values of Spiders 57 7. Species first time reported from Bahawalpur 77

ABSTRACT This study was conducted todescribe the spider fauna of Bahawalpur. Spiders were collected and identified taxonomically. In the present study total 793 spiders were collected which belongs to 11 families, 15 genera and 26 species. The diversity of spiders recorded during February 2013 to October 2013 showed highest in June and lowest in February and July. The peak aboundance was recorded in family Lycosidae 35.93%, then in the familyOxyopidae 11.97%, Araneidae 10.46%, Pholsidae 9.83%, Clubionidae 8.32%, Sparrasidae 6.80%, Salticidae 6.05%, Thomisidae 4.03%, Hersilidae 3.02%, Uloboridae 1.76%, and Gnaphosidae 1.76%. From the present study it is concluded that Bahawalpur region is one of the zone where spiders have considerable prevalence. It is also concluded that abiotic factors such as temperature (ºC), rainfall (mm) and humidity (%) significantly influence prevalence of spiders. This is a limited attempt which hasbeen made to provide a preliminary work. Advance explorations on the subject will certainty expose much more species of spiders of the Bahawalpur. It is however, hoped that this study will be supportive to future researchers for better working in this attractive area of Araneae.

CHAPTER.1 INTRODUCTION Order Araneae includes the major part of predatory fauna of agro-ecosystem of Pakistan (Mushtaq et al., 2000). Spiders belong to phylum Arthropoda (including more than 900,000 described species of insects); sub phylum Chelicerata; class Arachnida; order Araneae form the most predominant group of predaceous organism of kingdom Animalia (Richert and Lockley, 1984). Araneae is the 7th largest order in terms of species description. It includes 43,678 species, 3898 genera and 112 families (Platnick, 2013; Manju Siliwal et al., 2005). The most important characters of spiders are carapace, chelicerae,fangs, spinnerets for silk production, epigynum (female reproductive organ), breathing organs as trachea and book lungs (Nieuwenhuys, 2008).It is believed that evolution of spiders and insects is parallel (Karren, 2002). Spiders are found in different habitats, on grasses, forest floor, under stones, bark, logs, near water sources, underground caves, human habitation and mountainous area (Gajbe, 2004). Spiders are found both in fresh and marine water (Karren, 2002). The spider’s significance as biological control of pest is universal (Pearce et al., 2004). Spiders reduce prey densities in agricultural fields (Symondson et al., 2002; Pearce and Zalucki, 2006). Most abundant predators of agro ecosystem are spiders (Marc et al., 1999; Nyffeler and sunder land, 2003; Pearce and Zalucki, 2006). Most are polyphagous predators of insects (Schmidt et al., 2004; Takashi et al., 2006). Spiders are completely dependent on insects and arachnids and regulate the pest of different crops. Except two small families all spiders have poison glands and use their venom to kill the prey (Gajbe, 2004). Spider’s food is mostly consisting of soft bodied insects which have more body fluids. (Sandidaque, 2005; Rajeshwaram et al., 2005; Haunt et al., 2005; Bastawade and Khandal, 2006; Singh and Sihag, 2007).Spider’s population vary with the canopy cover and moisture level (Hore and Uniyal, 2008). Not only adult stages of Spiders are critical predators it also act as predator at egg, nymphal and larval stages for pests of crops (Harwood and Obrycki, 2006). Pesticides are used to kill these pests that are not only dangerous for human health but also kill non targeted species (Rana et al., 2010). Spiders are generalist predators and are more efficient in reducing prey densities (Richert, 1999; and Symondson et al., 2002). Many spiders’ species limit some specific prey populations due to their behavioral specializations (Malony et al., 2003). In Pakistan various studies on ecology, abundance and biodiversity of spiders on cotton, canola and maize were carried out by Ghafoor (2002); Saleem (1999) and Tahir

(2008). Pakistan is rich in spider fauna but no consolidated report on spider fauna of Pakistan exists. The pioneer work on taxonomy of spider’s fauna of Pakistan was done by Dayal (1935), Pocock (1900). The recent documentation on spider fauna is provoided by Parveen et al., (2012) and Parveen and jamal (2012). In Punjab work on taxonomy of spiders was done by Mushtaq et al., (2003). Some studies on ecology, taxonomy and economic importance of spiders of Punjab have been provided by;Dyal, (1935); Arshad et al., (1984); Mushtaq and Qadir, (1999), Ghafoor and Beg,(2002); Butt and Beg, (2001) and Mukhtar, (2004) .Great diversity of spiders has been found in different habitats of agro ecosystem of Punjab (Mushtaq and qadir, 1999). Ghafoor and Beg, (2002) reported 2 new species from Faisalabad. Tahir and Butt, (2009) studied spider fauna of Punjab and reported 12 families, 30 genera and 44 species including 3 new species. District Bahawalpur is covering an area of 24,830 km2. It has specific demographic, topographic and geographical characteristics. The atmosphere of the district is dry, less humid and rate of evaporation and temperature is high (Farooq et al., 2010). The annual rainfall is 100-250 mm and mostly in monsoon (Akbar and Arshad, 2000). Sial, (2003) studied spiders fauna of cholistan desert (Bahawalpur) and reported 62 species, 32 genera and 10 families. The objectives of present study are as follows.  To record, classify and describe the spiders into different families, genera and species collected from different localities of Bahawalpur.  To survey some habitats of Bahawalpur for collection of spider’s fauna.

CHAPTER.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Spiders (Order Araneae, Class, and Arachnida) are general predator’s arthropods (Turnbull, 1960; Putman, 1965; Dondale; 1966). Some species of Spiders control pest population of plants (White comb et al. 1963; Sasaba, 1974). The pioneer work on the spider’s taxonomy was done by (Simon, 1864; Latreille, 1804; Koch, 1836; Leach, 1815 and Cambridge 1885). Petrunkevitch (1933) investigated the natural classification of spiders based on study of their anatomy. Catalogues of Roewer (1942, 1954) and Bonnet (1945, 1955-59) give an overview on the taxonomy of spiders, which covers about work oftwo centuries. Lehtinen (1967) prepared a comparative and phylogenetic system of classification. Catalogue of Brignoli (1983) integrated all the genera and species of spiders described after the publication of Roewer's catalogue, i.e. after 1940 and give systematic list of about 7,000 species of spiders described in the literature from 1940 to 1981. Platnick (1989) added new taxa and taxonomic references and provide synonyms of various taxa. He also provides a bibliography of work relating to the taxonomy of Araneae published from 1981 to 1987. Platnick (2004) present world spider’scatalogue based largely on Roewer's volumes with additions from Bonnet and Brignoli. The list included all descriptions of new species, all post-Roewer transfers or synonyms of previously described taxa and all taxonomically useful (i.e. illustrated) references to previously described taxa. According to this catalogue, up till now a total of 110 families, 3542 genera and 38432 species of spiders have been described. Spider fauna of America was studied by previous arachnologists (Levi and Levi, 1968; Kaston, 1978; Levi, 1992). Stirnaman et al. (1998) gave an annotated checklist of 480 species, distributed among 29 families in Missouri. Huber (2000) revised the new world pholcid spiders at the generic level with an emphasis on spiders of South America. A total of 47 current genera occurred in the new world, 22 were newly described. A primary key to genera of the new world spiders was presented. Re descriptions were provided for 11 genera and 59 species and 106 species were newly described.Levi (2002) provided keys to the genera of family Aranedae from America. Edward (2004) revised the genus Phidippus (Araneae: Salticidae) of Florida State and gave update information. Heimer and Nentwig (1991) recorded 1100 species of spiders from Central Europe, all species were described and keys were provided to families, genera and species.

Nentwig et al (2003) release an Internet identification key to the spiders of Central Europe for 46 families. The key integrated all the Central European species with illustrations, glossary and bibliography. Key to the families and keys to the genera in each family were also presented. Namkung et al., (2000) revised a list of Korean spiders, including 46 families, 225 genera and 622 species, of these, 61 new species and 37 alterated scientific names were added. The spider fauna of Korea have more similarities with Japanese spider fauna than other countries. Kim and Kim (2002) revised the family Araneidae from Korea. Kim and Cho (2002), and Namkung (2003) made considerable contribution by providing a book on the spiders of Korea. Tanikawa (1998) provided a revision of the Japanese spiders of the genus Neoscona (Araneae: Araneidae). Yashida (2003) compiled a book on taxonomy of family Theridiidae from Japan containing latest information. Barrion and Litsinger (1995) described the Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia with special reference to Philippines. They recognized a total of 342 species belonging to 131 genera under 26 families, of these, 258 species and 8 genera were new to science. Keys to the families, genera and species were also provided. The spider fauna of China was studied by many workers. Yin et al. (1997) reported 3 subfamilies, 33 genera and 292 species (one subspecies and five species uncertain) of the family Araneidae from China and keys to subfamilies, genera and species were also given. Song and Zhu (1997) worked on the families Thomisidae and Philodromidae from China. They deal with a total of 32 genera and 145 species. Description and geographical distribution of all the species and ecological or biological note to some common species were given. Keys to the subfamilies, genera and species were also provided, some very useful information on spiders of China has been provided by recent workers.(Song et al., 1999. And Hu, 2001).Zhu et al.,2003) described the family Tetragnathidae in detail. Roberts (1985, 1987) provided information on morphology, behavior, classification, nomenclature, collection and preservation of spiders, key to the families of Ireland was also given. Helsdingen (1996) published a revised catalogue, covering all the available literature on the distribution of Irish spiders. Species names were updated to describe the recent taxonomic and nomenclatural work. Roberts (1995) published guide to the spiders of Britain and Northern Europe. Some 450 species were described and illustrated. Keys to subfamilies and genera were also given.

Merrett and Murphy (2000) presented a complete revised checklist of British fauna of spiders which included 645 species. Some previously proposed synonyms were also accepted. Tang et al., (2012) reported two new species of the genus Hamataliwa (Araneae: Oxyopidae) Hamataliwacucullata sp. Nov. (male, female) and Hamataliwatorsiva sp. Nov. (female).,from the Gaoligong mountains areaof China: Yunnan Province, Zhang et al., (2013) rerecorded three genera and five species from three national parks of Northern Vietnam: Alistra hamata sp. Nov. (Male), Hahnia himalayaensis Hu. and Zhang, 1990 (male, female), H. rimiformis sp. Nov. (Male,female), H. zhejiangensis Song and Zheng, 1982 (male, female) and Scotospilus longus sp. Nov. (Male, female) Marusik et al., (2012) described new species of Paradosa monticola andP. persica sp. Nov., from Fars Province of Iran. Two species, P. buchari Ovtsharenko, and P. pontica (Thorell, 1875), were reported first time from Iran. Bolu et al., (2008) collected 129 specimens which belonges to 21 species 16 genera and 9 families, spiders were collected from 10 localities with more spiders in the almond orchards. Among the species, Atea sturmi (Hahn, 1831) was new record for the aranea-fauna of Turkey. The study was the first attempt on spider fauna of almond orchards in Turkey. Zhang et al., (2005) described five lynx spider species of the genus Hamataliwa Keyserling from China, including two new species, Hamataliwa aurita sp. Nov and H. cordata sp. Nov. The species Oxyopes labialis Song, 1991 and O. sikkimensis Tikader, 1970 are transferred to Hamataliwa as their genital structures articulate with the diagnosis of Hamataliwa.H. sanmenensis Song, and Zheng, 1992 was re described from type specimens from Sanmen County of Zhejiang Province, China. The spider fauna of Indo Pak Sub-continent was explored previously by several European workers, like (Stoliczka., I869; Simon, 1892-1895; Thorell, 1895; Pocock, 1900, Gravely, 1921, 1922 and Sherriffs, 1951, 1954). Later on Indian arachnologists, like Sinha,(1951, 1952), Tikader, 1965 a, b, c, 1967 a,b, 1969, 1970, 1974 a, b, 1977 a, b), Patel and Patel (1973), and Patel (1975, 1977) were also made significant contribution to the spider fauna of India. Tikader (1980) compiled a book on thomisid spiders of India, comprising two subfamilies, 25 genera and 115 species, of which 23 species were new to science. Keys to the subfamilies, genera and species were also provided. He reviewed the general taxonomic characters of spiders with special reference to Thomisidae. Tikader and Biswas (1981) studied 15 families, 47 genera and 99 species from Calcutta and vicinity.

Tikader (1982) studied spider fauna of India (Araneidae). He recognized 101 species under 21 genera; five species were new to science. Keys to the subfamilies, Genera and species of Araneidae were provided. He also developed key to the families of Indian spiders. Biswas (1984) described a new species of genus Larinia (Araneidae) from India. Biswas (1987) examined families Araneidae, Gnaphosidae and Salticidae from Orissa state of India and reported 31 species under 17 genera, out of which six were already known and 25 were new records. Keys to the species and a list of 81 species under 17 families, known from the state at that time were also given. Sethi and Tikader (1988) studied giant crab spiders (Heteropodidae) from India and gave some useful informationabout crab spiders. Majumder and Tikader (1991) considered some spiders of family Clubionidae from India. They described 84 species belonging to 15 genera, of which, 12 species in five genera were described as new to science. Reddy and Patel (1992) described a new species of the genus Neoscona (Araneidae) from coastal area of Andra Pradesh, India. Biswas and Biswas (1992) studied the spider fauna of West Bengal, India. They reported 213 species, belonging to 70 genera under 20 families, of which 11 species in eight genera were described as new to science while 39 species in 25 genera under 10 families were recorded for the first time from West Bengal. Keys to all the taxonomic categories were provided. Biswas and Majumder (2000) recorded 27 species, 15 genera under six families from Tripura, India. Except one species all were recorded for the first time from Tripura. Patel and Biswas (2001) studied the spider fauna of Hingolgadh, Nature Education Sanctuary of Gujrat, India. They recorded a total of 56 species of spiders belonging to 34 genera distributed in 18 families. Patel (2003) surveyed the spider fauna of Vansda National Park, Gujrat and collected 124 speciesrepresented 67 genera under 22 families, 18 species in 12 genera were first records for Gujrat. Two families were new records to this area and one genus of the family Araneidae was recorded for the first time from India. Patel (2003b) carried out a preliminary survey of spider fauna of ParambikuIam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India. A total of 91 species of spiders belonging to 53 genera distributed in 24 families were recorded, three new species were described. Biswas and Raychaudhuri (1996a) studied the genus Clubiona (Clubionidae) from Bangladesh giving important information. Biswas and Raychaudhuri (1996b) presented a detailed taxonomic account of the genus Tetragnatha (Tetragnathidae) in Bangladesh, including key to the species. In all 14 species were recognized, of these, one species was described as new. Some valuable contribution on the taxonomy of spiders (families

Araneidae, Salticidae and Clubionidae) of Bangladesh has been done by recent workers (Biswas and. Raychaudhuri, 1998a, b; Biswas, 1999; Biswas and Begum, 1999: Biswas and Raychaudhuri, 2000; Biswas and Raychaudhuri, 2003). Gupta and Silwal (2012) reported 102 species belonging to 78 genera and 23 families with Salticidae, Araneidae and Thomisidae being the dominant families among all the reported families. Four new records of spider species for India were recorded viz., Dipoenura fimbriata Simon, 1909 (Theridiidae), Molione triacantha Thorell, 1892 (Theridiidae), Thwaitesia margaritifera O.P - Cambridge, 1881 (Theridiidae) and Marengo crassipes Peckham and Peckham, 1892 (Salticidae). Anjali and Prakash (2012) reported 34 species of spiders belonging to 12 families from semi arid region of Agra, of which the dominant one in terms of number of species were from families Salticidae, Oxyopidae, Lycosidae, Araneidae, Pholcidae. The spiders observed were “orb-web builders”, “ground dwellers”, “sheet-web builders” whose occurrence was in the ratio of 5:28:1 Patil, Sachin R (2012) reported 117 spider species under 20 families and 58 genera from district Jabalpur (India). Meshram Archana (2011) described 117 spider species from 20 families and 55 genera. The spider diversity was dominant in the order of Araneidae (26 species) followed by Gnaphosidae and Oxyopidae (14 species each), Salticidae and Thomisidae (12 species each) and then Lycosidae (8 species).Hippargi et al., (2012) reported the Spider of genus Orchestina Simon, 1882 that was the first record from the family Oonopidae in India. Information about the spider fauna of Pakistan is very poor. Dyal (1935) was first to report 20 families, 65 genera and 121 species of spiders from Lahore and vicinity, out ofwhich 46 were new to science. Qureshi (1982) reported eight species of spiders from Lahore in addition to those recorded by Dyal (1935). Arshad et al. (1984) recorded 18 species belonging to 13 genera and eight families from Peshawar and adjoining areas. Khatoon (1985-86) listed 13 families, 37 genera and 67 species of spiders form Pakistan. Mushtaq et al. (1995a, b) recorded two genera and four species of family Salticidae from Faisalabad, of these one species was new to science. Khan et al. (1995) reported two new records of the genus Phidippus from Faisalabad. Mushtaq and Qadir (1999) described three new species of the genus Oxyopes (Oxyopidae) from Pakistan. Butt and Beg (1996, 2000, and 2001) worked on the spiders of Faisalabad and described seven new species. Mushtaq et al. (2000) revised the genus Plexipus (Salticidae) and described two new species.

Ghafoor and Beg (2002) described two new species from Faisalabad. Some information on spiders of Punjab, and Kaghan (NWFP) were also provided by workers (Hameed, 1993; Waris, 1994; Shabbir, 1997; Qadir, 1997; Gill, 1999; Fatima, 1999; Nazir, 1999; Nazir, 2001; Razzaq, 2002) in the form of thesis but their work was mostly unpublished and was confined to a small area. Perveen and Jamal (2012) described 23 species under 15 genera and 9 families were collected and identified during April-September 2009-10 from frontier region of Peshawar, FATA, and Pakistan. The identified families were Clubionidae, Scytodidae and Sprassidae, each covered 4%; Araneidae, Gnaphosidae, Pholicidae and Salticidae each covered 9%; Thomisidae covered 13%, and, Lycosidae was dominant family which covered 43% spiders’ fauna of FATA. Somro et al., (2012) identified 10 spider species under 6 families, namely Lycosidae, Clubionidae, Araneidae, Oxyopidae, Salticidae and Thomisidae from cotton fields of Faisalabad.Bukhari et al., (2012) described spider fauna of Guava orchard which comprised of 21 species, 10 genus and 6 families. The contribution of families was Araneidae 6.50%, Clubionidae 2.36%, Gnaphosidae 6.50%, Lycosidae 57.39%, Salticidae 25.59% and Thomisidae 6.50%. Ghafoor and Beg (2002) described 2 new species of spiders belonging to genus cyclosa nephila from cotton fields of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Mukhtar (2013)reported 2 new species of oxyopidae, Oxyopes machuensis and Oxyopes shakilae from Punjab. Bukhari et al., (2012) captured Araneid fauna by pitfall trapping method and reported seven families, ten genera and twenty two species. Family Lycosidae (62.35%) comprised of genus Lycosa, Pardosa and Hippasa while Salticidae (22.47%) consisted of Marpissa and Plexipus. Thomididae (9.5%) contained Thomisus bulani, T. Elongates and T. pugilis whereas families of Araneidae (1.68%), Clubionidae (1.68%), Gnaphosidae (1.12%) and Oxyopidae (1.12%) Mukhtar and Tahir (2013) described Genus Chorizopes (Araneae: Araneidae) for the first time from Punjab (Pakistan) which was represented by only a single species that was new to science (Chorizopes rajanpurensis n.sp.) Butt et al., (2006) reported three new species of family Lycosidae; Lycosa terrestris, Lycosa nigricans and Lycosa maculate from Punjab. Butt and Beg (2004) described four new species of the genus Zelotus, collected from the orchardsof Faisalabad, Pakistan. Ghafoor and Mahmood (2011) collected total of 178specimens of araneid fauna under seven families, 10 genera and 22 species. The Lycosidae (111 specimens) was the most common family where as Oxyopidae (2 specimens) found least common among all the families. The Lycosidae was represented by nine species where as Oxyopidae by one.

Mukhtar et al., (2012) collected total of 545 specimens from Trifolium and Brassica field, representing 12 families, 34 genera, and 66 species, Lycosidae was the most dominant family and comprised 47% of the total number, followed by Linyphiidae (27%) and Salticidae (13%). Numerically the most abundant species in the samples was Pardosa sumatrana Thorell, 1890 (4.5 %) followed by Evippa banarensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 (3.6%), Neoscona theisi Walckenaer, 1841 (2.9 %) and Evippa rubiginosa Simon, 1885 (2.2 %). Hassan et al., (2005) described one new species Brevipalpus rosaensis and two already known species i.e., B.recula Chaudhri and B.karachiensis Chaudhri from some localities of central Punjab. Mukhtar et al., (2012) collected total of 810 specimens from 8 different localities of Sargodha (Punjab) Pakistan which include 56 species belonging to 16 families and 34 genera. All the species were already recorded from Pakistan but 54 species were first time reported from district Sargodha. Perveen et al (2012) collected and identified 23 species of spiders under 15 genera and 9 families from tribal areas (FATA) of Pakistan. The identified families were 4% each for Clubionidae, Scytodidae and Sprassidae; 9% each for Araneidae, Gnaphosidae, Pholicidae and Salticidae; 13% for Thomisidae and43% for Lycosidae. Sial et al., (2012) reported 10 families, 32 genera and 62 species from cholistan desert of district Bahawalpur. Family Lycosidae with 68% of spider fauna was considered to be the dominant. Mukhtar and Mushtaq (2005) reported new speciesclubiona filicata of genus clubiona from Punjab which was new record from Pakistan.