A study of researchers from the Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE) affiliated to the Department of Zoology, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, Kerala, has discovered four new species of spiders from the Western Ghats region of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A new species of spider named Indopadilla kanniyakumari was found during the studies conducted in the grasslands of Upper Victory Estate, Kanyakumari. This scorpion mimicking spider belongs to the group of jumping spiders, according to Sudhikumar A.V., Associate Professor and Head, Department of Zoology, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, who led the team of researchers.
“Male spiders of this new species are about 7 mm long and the body is black with yellow patches. There are scanty white hairs on the top of the head region and brown hairs around the eyes. Black coloured first pair of legs are longer than the remaining three pairs of legs, which are light brown in colour. About 6-mm-long female individuals possess light brown abdomen and light yellow head region. Body is covered with white fine hairs and black intermittent dots. There are black patches around the eyes and legs are light yellow in colour. This jumping spider feeds on small insects present in the grasslands,” he said.
Very long jaws
Three species of long-jawed spiders, found during the studies conducted in the Western Ghats region of Wayanad and Kasaragod, were identified as their first report from the country, according to the researchers. These three species of web-building spiders, Tetragnatha jaculator, Tetragnatha lauta and Tetragnatha serra, possess very long jaws which are used for handling the prey, so the name Tetragnatha (long-jaw).
Apart from Dr. Sudhikumar, research students of CATE including Rishikesh Tripathi, Anju K. Baby, Gautam Kadam and Sudhin P.P. were involved in the exploration. The study was funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) of Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, and the University Grants Commission (UGC). These findings have been published in the latest volume of the international scientific journal Arachnology, the official publication of British Arachnological Society.
