Available online at www.worldscientificnews.com WSN 67(1) (2017) 1-67 EISSN 2392-2192 On the Araneid Fauna (Araneae: Araneidae) of the Tea Estates of Dooars, West Bengal, India Tapan Kumar Roy1,a, Sumana Saha2,b and Dinendra Raychaudhuri1,c 1Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, IRDM Faculty Centre, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Narendrapur, Kolkata - 700103, West Bengal, India 2Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Barasat Govt. College, Barasat, Kolkata - 700124, West Bengal, India. India a-cE-mail address: [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] ABSTRACT The present study is devoted to 32 araneid species under 14 genera recorded from the tea estates of Dooars, West Bengal, India. Of these, Cyrtophora bituberculata is considered new to science; while Acusilas coccineus Simon, 1895 is the first record from the country. Hither to unknown male morphs of Cyclosa moonduensis Tikader, 1963 and C. simoni Tikader, 1982 are also reported. Cyclosa krusa Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 though reported from India by Saha et al., 2016, lacks detail description of the Indian representatives. All the species considered new in some way or other are described and suitably illustrated. The recorded genera and species are suitably keyed together with relevant illustrations. Keywords: Araneidae, New Species, New Records, New Male Morphs, Tea Estates, Dooars, West Bengal World Scientific News 67(1) (2017) 1-67 Reviewer Prof. Jerzy Borowski Department of Forest Protection and Ecology, SGGW, Warsaw, Poland -2- World Scientific News 67(1) (2017) 1-67 1. INTRODUCTION Tea, a major monoculture plantation crop, is a permanent but typical ecosystem that provides habitat continuity for 1031 species of arthropods and 82 species of nematodes globally (Chen & Chen, 1989; Hazarika et al., 2009). In Asia, 230 species of insects and mite pests attack tea (Muraleedharan, 1992). However, 173 arthropods and 16 nematodes are reported to be the pests of tea in North-East India (Hazarika et al., 1994). The unquestionable contribution of spiders in biological control is now well appreciated. Accordingly, the spider fauna of several crop systems are being thoroughly documented in some parts of the world, e.g. cotton, soybean, alfalfa, maize, citrus orchards, deciduous orchards and rice (Barrion & Litsinger, 1995; Satpathi, 2004). But unfortunately the spider fauna of tea-ecosystem is yet to be explored other than China (Zhang, J. W. 1993; Huong, L. T. T. 1999 and BoGang, C. 2003). Against these backdrops, we carried out a systematic study on the spiders of tea ecosystem of Dooars, West Bengal, India. It is worth mentioning that such a study is first of its kind in India. Among the recorded araneo fauna typical orb weavers are the largest group from the tea estates. These araneids are currently represented by 3096 species belonging to 169 genera throughout the world (World Spider Catalogue, 2017). This includes 163 Indian species belonging to 28 genera (Keswani et al., 2012). During our survey for the spiders of tea ecosystem of Dooars, we could sample 32 species of araneids under 14 genera from eight tea estates of Dooars namely Shikarpur T. E., Kailashpur T. E., Meenglas T. E., Nepuchapur T. E., Nagrakata T. E., Bhogotpore T. E., Kurti T. E. and Dalgaon T. E. Search of literature guided us to conclude that Cyrtophora bituberculata is a new species, Acusilas coccineus Simon, 1895 is new from India; male morphs of Cyclosa moonduensis Tikader, 1963 and C. simoni Tikader, 1982 are hither to unknown. Detail knowledge on the Indian Cyclosa krusa Barrion & Litsinger is still wanting (Saha et al., 2016). Description and necessary illustrations of the referred species are provided. All the recorded genera and species are suitably keyed together with relevant illustrations. 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS Araneids were collected mainly by hand from the foliages and tea bushes, shade tree trunks and fencing trees. Samples were also collected from the ground by pitfall traps. Survey was made during the period 2008-2011. The study area included eight Tea Estates namely Shikarpur T. E., Kailashpur T. E., Meenglas T. E., Nepuchapur T. E., Nagrakata T. E., Bhogotpore T. E., Kurti T. E. and Dalgaon T. E. Of these, the former four belong to Western Dooars while the rests are within the jurisdiction of Central Dooars. Spider specimens thus sampled were preserved following Tikader (1987) and Barrion and Litsinger (1995). They were studied under Stereo Zoom Binocular Microscopes, model Olympus SZX-7. The measurements indicated in the text are in millimeters (mm), made with an eye piece graticule. Materials are in the deposition of Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, IRDM Faculty Centre, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Narendrapur, Kolkata. Abbreviations used: AL= abdominal length, ALE= anterior lateral eye, AME= anterior median eye, AW= abdominal width, CL= cephalothoracic length, CW= cephalothoracic -3- World Scientific News 67(1) (2017) 1-67 width, PLE= posterior lateral eye, PME= posterior median eye, TL= total length, BTE= Bhogotpore Tea Estate, DTE= Dalgaon Tea Estate, KTE= Kailashpur Tea Estate, KUTE= Kurti Tea Estate, MTE= Meenglas Tea Estate, NTE= Nepuchapur Tea Estate, NATE= Nagrakata Tea Estate, STE= Shikarpur Tea Estate, WB= West Bengal, J= Juvenile. 3. RESULTS Family: Araneidae Clerck, 1757 Key to genera: 1. Spinnerets situated on an elevated circular area, surrounded by a thick flange in the form of a ring or tube; abdomen hard, with anterior, median and posterior pairs of spines ----------- Gasteracantha Sundevall - Spinnerets neither on elevated circular area nor surrounded by thick flange; abdomen neither hard nor spined ----------------------------------------- 2 2. Tarsus and metatarsus together longer than patella plus tibia; posterior row of eyes strongly procurved, anterolaterals smaller than posterolaterals ----------------------------------------- 3 - Tarsus and metatarsus together shorter than patella plus tibia; posterior row of eyes nearly straight or recurved, laterals sub equal ----------------------------------------- 4 3. Anterior row of eyes evenly spaced or medians closer to laterals; tibia I of male curved and strongly spined; females smaller than 6 mm ----------------------- Gea C. L. Koch - Anterior row of eyes not evenly spaced, medians closer to each other; tibia I of male straight and not spined; females larger --------------------- Argiope Audouin 4. Abdomen transverse, wider than long ----------------------------------------- 5 - Abdomen not transverse, usually longer than wide ----------------------------------------- 6 5. Epigyne with short, blunt scape; integument of abdomen leathery, dorsum strongly convex ----------------- Cyrtarachne Thorell - Epigyne without scape; integument of abdomen not leathery but with numerous tubercles, dorsum at least medially concave ---------------------- Pasilobus Simon 6. Cephalothorax convex, cephalic region strongly elevated ----------------------------------------- 7 - Cephalothorax may or may not be convex, cephalic region not elevated ----------------------------------------- 9 7. Abdomen with a distinct posterior tubercle or tail like projection -4- World Scientific News 67(1) (2017) 1-67 --------------------- Eriovixia Archer - Abdomen without posterior tubercle or tail like projection ----------------------------------------- 8 8. Cephalothorax anteriorly roundish; abdomen provided with a few tubercles ------- Chorizopes O. P.-Cambridge - Cephalothorax anteriorly narrowing; abdomen without any tubercles but with pairs of moderately small, spherical sigillae in 2 longitudinal rows ----------------------- Acusilas Simon 9. Cephalothorax flat with distinct thoracic furrow; abdomen anteriorly very high with at least 1 pair of shoulder humps ------------------- Cyrtophora Simon - Cephalothorax not flat, thoracic furrow may or may not be distinct; abdomen anteriorly not high, with or without shoulder humps --------------------------------------- 10 10. Posteromedian eyes closely apposed, carapace provided with a ‘U’ shaped mark between cephalic and thoracic regions ----------------------- Cyclosa Menge - Posteromedian eyes separate, carapace without any such mark --------------------------------------- 11 11. Cephalic region behind the ocular area bulging, warty; anterior row of eyes procurved; epigyne with short, beak like scape ------ Parawixia F. O. P Cambridge - Cephalic region neither bulged nor warty; anterior row of eyes recurved; epigynal scape absent, when present not beak like ---------------------------------------- 12 12. Thoracic groove longitudinal in female; epigynal lateral lobes 1 or 2 pairs, scape smooth --------------------- Neoscona Simon - Thoracic groove in female transverse; epigynal lateral lobes absent, scape distinctly wrinkled --------------------------------------- 13 13. Abdominal shoulders elevated, with a pair of tubercles at extremities; posteromedian eyes largest ------------------- Gibbaranea Archer - Abdominal shoulders neither elevated nor tuberculate; posteromedian eyes never so ----------------------- Araneus Clerck Genus: Gasteracantha Sundevall Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833, Conspectus Arachnidum: 14. Type species: Aranea cancriformis Linnaeus, 1758. Distribution: Cosmopolitan (World Spider Catalogue, 2017). Key to species: 1. Abdomen much wider than long, nearly 3 x length, with 3 transverse yellowish bands; median spines larger than remaining; sigillae arranged in transverse row --------------------- diadesmia