Biodiversity assessment and species identification of the Batangas spider fauna (Arthropoda: Araneae)

• Main Author: Lualhati-Caurez, Carmina P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Spiders > Philippines > Batangas; Biodiversity; Species—Identification; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/1400; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2423&context=etd_doctoral
• Institution: De La Salle University

A total of 4, 667 adult individuals were collected from Isla Verde, Tingloy and Mt. Maculot (Cuenca), province of Batangas, in a 6-month collection period from January-June 2018. A total of 148 species and 72 genera from 22 families were documented and added to the Batangas biodiversity checklist of spiders. This study also recorded 63 new species from 15 families namely: Araneus cuenca, A. makulot, Cyclosa cuencanensis, C. parangtuka, C. taaleñaea, C. dospilak, Deliochus batangasinensis, Eriovixia batanguena, Guizygiella pinagkaisahan, Parawixia tagalog, P. pilipina, P. cuenca, P. barrioni, P. tingloy, P. pabalandra, Poltys beatriceae, P. batangas, and P. islaverde (Araneidae); Cheiracanthium alaeh (Clubionidae); Utivarachna cuenca (Coriniidae); Asianopsis batangas (Deinopidae); Linyphia calabarzon and L. kuwagoa (Linyphiidae); Pardosa bilog (Lycosidae); Pholcus cuencaensis, P. tagalog, P. batangan, P. pongok (Pholcidae); Psechrus makulot (Psechridae); Pristobaeus batangas and P. islaverde (Salticidae); Heteropoda maculot, H. buka, Olios batangan, and O. bilog (Sparassidae); Leucauge lucilae and Mesida dospilaklinya (Tetragnathidae); Argyrodes kurbalinta, A. luzonensis, A. tulisngusu, A. pulpul, A. tingloyensis, Chrysso guang, Dipoena tresmarka, Janula islaverde, Parasteatoda cuenca, P. mariaclarae, P. nigraya, Rhomphaea hawiglabiata, R. gabrielasilangae, R. miguelmalvari, R. panutsa, and Stemmops mangyan (Theridiidae); Tmarus batangasinensis and Tmarus luzon (Thomisidae); Uloborus bilog, Miagrammopes balikongkong (Uloboridae); and Mallinella luzonensis, M. sanantonioi, M. marikaban, M. tingloy, M. alonalon, and M. parangahasdila (Zodariidae). Twenty-one new locality records from six families were also documented namely Acusilas dahoneus Barrion and Litsinger, 1995; Anepsion depressum (Thorell, 1877); Araneus tatsulokeus Barrion and Litsinger, 1995; Arachnura higginsi Koch, 1872; Gea spinipes C. L. Koch, 1843; Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982 Singa perpolita (Thorell, 1892); Corinnomma cf. rapax Deeleman-Reinhold, 1993; Wadicosa venatrix (Lucas, 1846); Bavia sexpunctata (Doleschall, 1859); Epeus flavobilineatus (Doleschall, 1859); Myrmaplata plataleoides (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869); Portia labiata (Thorell, 1887); Ariamnes cylindrogaster Simon, 1889; Argyrodes flavescens O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1880; Parasteatoda galeiforma (Zhu, Zhang, and Xu, 1991); Parasteatoda celsabdomina (Zhu, 1998); Theridion zonulatum Thorell, 1878; Misumena vatia (Clerck, 1757); and Thomisus callidus (Thorell, 1890). Araneidae have the highest recorded number of new species from the three sampling sites, followed by family Theridiidae and Pholcidae. Seventy percent of the spider families collected from the province were classifed as ground dwellers. The dominant family in the ground were the hunters led by the family Zodariidae while Araneidae dominated the canopy dwellers. The feeding guild of the spiders recorded in the province were composed of 45% sit and wait ambushers, 30% active hunters and 25% web- spinner. Araneidae, Theridiidae, Pholcidae, Tetragnathidae Deinopidae and Uloboridae are all web-spinners. Clubionidae, Linyphiidae, Oxyopidae, Psechridae, Salticidae, Sparassidae, Thomisidae and Scytodidae belong to the sit and wait ambushers while Corinnidae, Ctenidae, Gnaphosidae, Liocranidae, Lycosidae and Zodariidae are all active hunters. Among the 22 families recorded, Araneidae consistently exhibited the highest species richness and abundance in all three sampling areas. Province of Batangas exhibited a high biodiversity index (H1) of 3.695 supported by a high value of Simpson Index of Diversity (SID= 0.9544) and a low dominance value (D= 0.0456). Among the three sampling sites, Cuenca recorded the highest Shannon Index of Diversity (H1) of 3.804 and a moderate Buzas and Gibsons evenness index (E=0.4579) and a low dominance value (D= 0.429) compared to Isla Verde (H1= 3.355; E=0.3146; D=0.0664) and Tingloy (H1=2.842; E=0.3811; D=0.0901). Diversity of spiders according to the time of sampling, feeding guild and sampling methods were also determined. Nocturnal samples from the three sampling sites have a higher diversity (H1 = 3.356 (Cuenca), 2.967 (Isla Verde), and 2.609 (Tingloy)) compared to the diurnal samples (H1 = 3.055 (Cuenca), 2. 389 (Isla Verde), and 1.632 (Tingloy)). Web-builders across the three sampling sites exhibited the highest diversity (H1 = 3.356 (Cuenca), 2.967 (Isla Verde), and 2.609 (Tingloy)) while the hunters exhibited the lowest diversity for all sites (H1 = 1.829 (Cuenca), 1.489 (Isla Verde), and 0.8137 (Tingloy)). Spiders collected through the sweep net has the highest diversity (H1 = 3.132 (Cuenca); 2.942 (Isla Verde); and 2.484 (Tingloy) values and supported by the SID index (Cuenca = 0.9085; Isla Verde= 0.9027; and Tingloy= 0.8848) compared to the spiders collected through opportunistic sampling (H1 = 2.793 (Cuenca); 1.889 (Isla Verde); and 1.353 (Tingloy)) and pitfall traps (H1 = 1.829 (Cuenca); 1.489 (Isla Verde); and 0.8137 (Tingloy)).