Preliminary Study of the Spiders Inhabiting Ornamental Plants in Orman Garden, Egypt (Arachnida: Araneae)

Ghallab, Mona M.

doi:10.21608/ajesa.2013.163790

Preliminary Study of the Spiders Inhabiting Ornamental Plants in Orman Garden, Egypt (Arachnida: Araneae)

Document Type : Original research articles

Author

Mona M. Ghallab

Plant Protection Research. Institute , ARC., Giza, Egypt

10.21608/ajesa.2013.163790

Abstract

A survey on spiders associated with foliage of two ornamental plants (Lantana shrubs and Croton trees) was carried out in the Orman garden, Giza. Numbers of collected spiders were pooled and analyzed for species diversity using Shannon-Wiener Index, evenness, Simpson Index and Sørensen Quotient of Similarity. A total of 567 spiders were grouped in 13 families belonging to 34 genera Lantana shrubs received 263 individuals representing 27 species, 25 genera, of l3 families, while 304 individuals were collected from Croton trees belonge d ta 22 species and 21 genera, of 10 families. Five families represented 85.2Yo of the total collected. Spiders, these are Miturgidae, Philodromidae, Salticidae, Theridiidae and Araneidae. The other remaining families represented 14.6% of the total catch. Guild structure analysis revealed seven feeding groups namely, stalker, ground runner, foliage runner, ambusher, orb web spiders, space weaver and wandering sheet spiders. This grouping varied in relation to the structural quality of vegetation; the foliage runner, stalker and ambusher spiders were the dominant feeding guilds on Lantana, while the orb web spiders, the space weavers and the ambushers were the dominant feeding guilds on Croton.

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