Ambalaparambil V. Sudhikumar

• M.Sc., Ph.D.
• Professor (Associate) at Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology

The current paper provides checklist of termites (Blattodea: Isoptera) of India. A total of 317 species belonging to 53 genera and 6 families have been reported, Termitidae Latreille,1802 being the largest family. The genus Rinacapritermes (Amina and Rajmohana, 2022) has been introduced for the first time from India with the species Rinacapritermes...

Two new species of Indothele Coyle, 1995 are described from the Western Ghats of India: I. amboli Kadam, Tripathi & Sherwood sp. nov. (♂♀) from Amboli in Maharashtra, and I. silentvalley Tripathi, Kadam & Sherwood sp. nov. (♂♀) from Silent Valley National Park in Kerala. Images of the type material of I. dumicola (Pocock, 1900), the type species, a...

A new species of trapdoor spider, Conothele mussoorie sp. nov., is described from the foothills of the Himalayas, marking the first record of this genus from the northernmost part of India. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the female are provided.

The new wolf spider species Wadicosa intermediata sp. n. belongs to W. quadrifera species-group is described based on both sexes collected from Idukki district of Kerala, southern India.

New species of Lynx spider, Hamataliwa sagitta sp. nov. is described from Vazhani dam area, a part of Western Ghats of Kerala, India. Detailed morphological description, diagnostic features and illustration of the female of this species is given.

The orb-weaving spider Tetragnatha squamata Karsch, 1879, is recorded for the first time from India. A detailed description, diagnosis, and photographs of both sexes are provided. The genital and cheliceral morphology are illustrated. The distribution is also mapped.

Notes on four species of the jumping spider genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886 from India are presented. Stenaelurillus jagannathae Das, Malik & Vidhel, 2015 syn. nov. is recognized as a junior synonym of S. arambagensis (B. Biswas & K. Biswas, 1992). The mismatched sexes of S. tettu Logunov, 2020 and S. indicus Logunov, 2020 are corrected. The femal...

A new jumping spider species belonging to the genus Okinawicius Prószyński, 2016 is described from India: O. tekdi Tripathi & Kulkarni sp. n. (♂♀), collected from the Deccan Plateau in Maharashtra, India. Detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations of the male palp and female genitalia are presented.

The present work attempts to study the spider diversity in two entirely different ecosystems. The study was conducted from October 2021 to March 2022 at Kodassery hills and Pullu kole wetlands, Thrissur, Kerala. Sampling methods such as ground hand collection, litter sampling, sweep net collection, beating and shaking methods were used to collect s...

Anomalies in the right-hand eyes and left-hand legs of a subadult female of the genus Thomisus Walckenaer, 1805 collected from the Thar Desert, India are detailed, along with photomicrographs

Background The knowledge about the species of a habitat (both resident and transient/dominant and rare) is a vital step to plan the conservation measures. Being generalist predators, spiders help controlling the population of their prey and maintain ecosystem stability. This makes spiders excellent bio-indicators for assessing the impact of anthrop...

Mosquitoes, particularly Aedes aegypti, are of paramount importance in scientific research due to their critical epidemiological significance in transmitting dangerous diseases. Their ability to thrive amidst complex environmental conditions is largely attributed to their symbiotic relationships with microorganisms. In this comprehensive study, we...

The jumping spider genus Iranattus Prószyński, 1992, distributed from Africa to southwestern Asia, has been placed within the Harmochirina because of their male palp structures and elongated third legs. Here, we present phylogenomic evidence that it belongs instead to the subtribe Plexippina, further supported by the presence of two coupling pocket...

Two new species of the ground-dwelling jumping spider genus Habrocestum Simon, 1876 from the wet evergreen forests of the southern Western Ghats, India are described: H. benjamin sp. nov. (♂♀) and H. swaminathan sp. nov. (♂♀). Furthermore, H. emanasakgrensis Kadam & Tripathi, 2023 is synonymized with Chinattus validus (Xie, Peng & Kim, 1993) syn. n...

Four new species of the jumping spider genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886 are described from India: Stenaelurillus feral Tripathi, Kuni & Kadam sp. nov. (♂, from the Eastern Coastline), S. naldurg Kuni, Kadam & Tripathi sp. nov. (♂♀, from the Deccan Plateau), S. judithbleisterae Kadam, Tripathi & Kuni sp. nov. (♂♀, from the Western Ghats) and S. sola...

Three species of the cosmopolitan orb-weaving spider genus Tetragnatha Latreille, 1804 from India are redescribed, diagnosed, and illustrated. We provide detailed redescriptions, diagnoses, and illustrations of both sexes of Tetragnatha geniculata Karsch, 1892 and Tetragnatha lauta Yaginuma, 1959, and of the female of Tetragnatha serra Doleschall,...

A new species of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae), Afraflacilla goaensis Gawas & Tripathi sp. nov., is described, diagnosed and illustrated based on a single male specimen collected from a mangrove in Goa, India. Considering this finding, the genus Afraflacilla previously known from the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, and Rajasth...

A new species of the jumping spider genus Indopadilla Caleb & Sankaran, 2019 is described from the Kanniyakumari district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Detailed diagnosis, description, and illustration are provided. In addition, a new locality record of Indopadilla darjeeling Caleb & Sankaran, 2019 is presented.

We describe a new species of Oecobius Lucas, 1846 from the Thar Desert ecoregion in India, based on both sexes: Oecobius thar sp. nov.. We also provide photographs of the new species in vivo and the general habitat of its type locality.

Two new species of Afraflacilla Berland et Millot, 1941 are described from the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India: A. adavathurensis sp. n. and A. kerala sp. n. Detailed descriptions, diagnostic features, and illustrations are given. A map showing the distribution of all the known Indian Afraflacilla species is also provided.

Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886 is a genus from family Salticidae. So far, the species Epeus daiqini (Patoleta, Gardzińska & Żabka, 2020) only reported from Thailand. This paper reports and describe both sexes of E. daiqini for the first time from India.

The Indian millipede fauna is diverse with many families and genera but remains seriously underexplored. Among the families of the order polyzoniida, Siphonotidae is the only family to have reports from the southern hemisphere. The tropical tramp species of this family, Rhinotus purpureus (Pocock, 1894) shows a cosmopolitan distribution. It has bee...

Sparbambus was erected by Zhang, Woon & Li in 2006, and its generic name ‘Spar-bambus’ reflects that it belongs to the subfamily Spartaeinae and the specimens were collected from a bamboo habitat. The monotypic genus originally reported from Malaysia was recently described from China (Wang et al. 2022). In this paper, we record Sparbambus for the...

Two new species of Palpimanus Dufour, 1820 are described from India: P. godawan Tripathi & Sankaran sp. nov. (♂♀), collected from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, and P. maldhok Kuni, Tripathi & Sankaran sp. nov. (♂♀), collected from Maharashtra. Images of the endogyne and male palp of the holotype and paratype of P. narsinhmehtai Parajapati, Hun & Ra...

The Thar desert constitutes a unique ecosystem in India which supports distinct fauna adapted to it. But there is only limited information about the diversity of spiders in this area. A survey on spider fauna of the Thar desert of Rajasthan was conducted using collection methods like ground collection, aerial sampling, beating and litter sampling....

A new species of Hasarius Simon, 1871 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Mumbai, India. A new species of the jumping spider genus Hasarius Simon, 1871 — H. mumbai Joshi et Tripathi, 2023 sp.nov. (male, female) — is described from few remaining green plots in Mumbai, India. A detailed morphological description, diagnosis and illustrations of the copulatory...

A new species of the jumping spider genus Hasarius Simon, 1871 — H. mumbai Joshi et Tripathi, 2023 sp. n. is described from a few remaining green plots in Mumbai, India. A detailed morphological description, diagnosis and illustrations of the copulatory organs of both sexes are provided.

The long-jawed orb-weavers of the family Tetragnathidae are a cosmopolitan spider clade, particularly diverse in humid tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The subfamily Leucauginae comprises six genera and the genus Tylorida Simon, 1894 includes eight species. Four of them are reported from India and a comprehensive revision of Indian spec...

Anarrhotus Simon, 1902 (A. fossulatus Simon, 1902) and Gelotia Thorell, 1890 (G. lanka Wijesinghe, 1991), two fairly uncommon jumping spider genera and species, are reported for the first time from India. For both species, general appearance of male copulatory organs and a genus distribution map are provided.

Draposa is a relatively newly described wolf spider genus numbering 11 species, out of which eight have been reported from India. A new Draposa species from Kerala, Western Ghats, India, is described, photographed and illustrated. The male palp of the new species is similar to that of D. lyrivulva distributed in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, but i...

First record of cobweb spider (Steatoda erigoniformis) from India

The thomisid genus Bassaniodes Pocock, 1903 is recorded for the first time from India. The species Bassaniodes tristrami (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) is redescribed based on specimens collected from the Thar desert, India and information on the species' natural history is presented.

Revisions and detailed studies on the cosmopolitan genus Araneus Clerck, 1757 are carrying out in different parts of the world. Light green garden spider, Araneus viridiventris Yaginuma, 1969 are known from China, Japan, and Taiwan. It is recorded from India for the first time. Redescription of female genitalia with detailed photographs are present...

Three new species of jumping spider from northeastern India are described, all in the genus Habrocestum Simon 1876: H. emanasakgrensis Kadam & Tripathi 2023 (♂ only), H. imilchang Kadam & Tripathi 2023 (♂ only), and H. togansangmai Kadam & Tripathi 2023 (♂ only). Current distribution records for all three species are mapped.

The salticid species Myrmarachne spissa (G. W. Peckham & E. G. Peckham, 1892) is reported for the first time from India, and the unknown female of Myrmarachne uniseriata Narayan, 1915 is described and illustrated. Both species are redescribed using fresh specimens.

Taxonomic findings from biodiversity hotspots are always fascinating because of their vulnerability. In this paper we are reporting Pardosa parathompsoni Wang & Zhang, 2014 for the first time from Western Ghats region of India along with additional information on cheliceral morphology.

Genus Pardosa incorporates species morphologically resembling each other. As a result, a lot of discrepancies can be observed in the group. This paper reports and redescribes Pardosa species Pardosa oriens (Chamberlin 1924) for the first time from India.

The genus Steatoda Sundevall, 1833 exhibits cosmopolitan distribution (WSC 2021). Globally, it comprises 121 species, of which Steatoda alboclathrata (Simon 1897), S. cingulata (Thorell 1890), and S. rufoannulata (Simon 1899) have been reported from India (WSC 2021). During an arachnofaunal assessment in Desert National Park Wildlife Sanctuary, Raj...

The genus Argyrodes Simon, 1864 includes kleptoparasitic spiders. The synanthropic spider Argyrodes miniaceus is specialised in the invasion and exploitation of the webs created by members of family Araneidae. In the present study, Argyrodes miniaceus (Doleschall, 1857) is reported for the first time from the Western Ghats of India.

The male of Chrysso urbasae (Tikader, 1970) is first described from Kerala, India with redescription of female. This species was originally described from Sikkim, India only with female specimen. Morphological description of male and redescription of female with detailed photographs are provided.

The genus Kelawakaju Maddison & Ruiz, gen. nov. , is described for a lineage of bark-dwelling Asian marpissine jumping spiders that represent a dispersal to Eurasia separate from that of the Marpissa - Mendoza lineage, according to the phylogeny recovered from analysis of four gene regions. All species of Kelawakaju are new to science except Kelawa...

Oxyopes thumboormuzhiensis sp. nov. is described from the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. A detailed morphological description, diagnostic features, and illustrations of the copulatory organs of both sexes of this new species are presented.

Three species of the spider family Sparassidae are reported from India. Olios kiranae Sethi & Tikader, 1988 is first recorded from Rajasthan and removed from the status of nomen dubium. The male is described for the first time; the female is redescribed. Gnathopalystes flavidus Simon, 1897 comb. nov. is transferred from the genus Palystes L. Koch,...

The selenopid genus Siamspinops Dankittipakul & Corronca, 2009 is recorded for the first time from India. Siamspinops garoensis Kadam, Tripathi & Sankaran, 2022 sp. nov., based on male and female specimens, is described and illustrated in detail. The unknown female of Makdiops shevaroyensis (Gravely, 1931) is described and illustrated for the first...

Two new species of jumping spiders, Afraflacilla miajlarensis sp. n. and Afraflacilla kurichiadensis sp. n. are described from India. Detailed morphological description, diagnostic features and illustration of the species are given. The current distribution records of the genus in India are mapped as well.

A new species from the spider genus Philoponella Mello-Leitão 1917 – Philoponella rostralis n. sp. (♂♀) is diagnosed and described from the Kottapara Hills, Western Ghats, Kerala, India. A detailed description of its morphology, diagnostic features, photographs and the depictions of the copulatory organs of both sexes are given.

The jumping spider Dexippus pengi Wang & Li, 2020, previously only known from its type locality in Yunnan, China, is reported for the first time from India. A detailed description and updated distribution map for this species is provided.

India always amazes with its ecological diversity and biological wealth. Western Ghats has a pivotal role in this. The southern Indian state of Kerala's major land area comes under Western Ghats. So the taxonomic findings from the state have high significance. Lycosidae Sundevall, 1833 or wolf spiders are amazing organisms which are important to ma...

Prosoponoides is one of the smallest genera from the second largest family Linyphiidae, first described by Millidge & Russell-Smith in 1992. All known species are described from Asia but the genus has not previously been reported from India. A morphological description of the new species, digital photographs, and drawings are provided.

The endemic Indian genus Propyrgodesmus is reviewed, rediagnosed and shown to presently comprise three species, all illustrated, keyed and mapped, including P. bulbogonopus sp. nov., from a sacred grove supporting a semi-evergreen vegetation in Kerala, southern India. The new species differs from their congeners, P. lobulatus Silvestri, 1920 (the t...

Prosoponoides is one of the smallest genera from the second largest family Linyphiidae, first described by Millidge & Rus-sell-Smith in 1992. All known species are described from Asia but the genus has not previously been reported from India. A morphological description of the new species, digital photographs , and drawings are provided.

The jumping spider species Plexippus minor Wesołowska & van Harten, 2010, known from the United Arab Emirates is here reported from India, from the Desert National Park Wildlife Sanctuary in the state of Rajasthan. Detailed redescriptions with high quality illustrations of both Indian and type specimens of P. minor, including 3D models of the type,...

A new species of the jumping spider genus Toxeus C. L. Koch, 1846, T. alboclavus sp. nov. (,) ♂ ♀ , is diagnosed and described from the Wayanad region of the Western Ghats, Kerala, India. A detailed morphological description, diagnostic features, illustrations of the copulatory organs of both sexes, and species locality are presented, along with re...

The study was conducted to explore the spider diversity in different plantations of Western Ghats Wayanad, Kerala State, India. The investigation was carried out for a one year period from February 2019 to February 2020. A total of 93 species belonging to 71 genera under 19 families were recorded from the selected habitats. This represents 49% fami...

Genus Pardosa incorporates species morphologically resembling each other. As a result, a lot of discrepancies can be observed in the group. This paper reports and redescribes Pardosa species Pardosa oriens (Chamberlin 1924) for the first time from India.

A new species of the jumping spider genus Carrhotus Thorell, 1891, C. tholpettyensis sp.n. is diagnosed and described from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Detailed morphological descriptions, diagnoses and illustrations of the copulatory organs of both sexes are provided. A map depicting the current distribution of the...

The tribe Polydrepanini is rediagnosed through an elongate, mostly slender, sometimes twisted/helicoid gonofemorite and a more or less thin, mostly flagelliform, suberect, apical or subapical solenomere often forming a conspicuous loop/curve near the base. The tribe presently encompasses seven genera, all redefined, illustrated and keyed: Dasyphark...

Tetragnatha cochinensis was first described by Gravely from India in 1921. T. cochinensis is distinguished from other tetragnathids by the unique arrangement of cheliceral teeth. The structure of chelicerae were briefly described and illustrated, but the genitalic descriptions of both sexes were inadequate. This paper provides detailed description...

The genus Leucauge was established by White in 1841. Leucauge fastigata (Simon, 1877) was first reported by Simon from Philippines. Females are much larger than males, recorded from southeast Asia. Males are extremely small, reported from Burma, Sri Lanka, and Philippines so far. In the present study, detailed description and photographs of female...

The jumping spider Irura mandarina Simon 1903 is reported for the first time from India (Maharashtra). The south and southeast Asian distribution of the 16 described species assigned to the genus Irura Peckham & Peckham 1901, is also reviewed.

Vector-borne diseases are increasing exponentially, and the mosquito vectors contribute to the majority of it. Dengue fever is considered one of the foremost causes of causalities around the globe, which is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti. Control sequences of this vector species using chemical insecticides are now come to be insufficient du...

The study was conducted to explore the spider diversity in different plantations of Western Ghats Wayanad, Kerala State, India. The investigation was carried out for a one year period from February 2019 to February 2020. A total of 93 species belonging to 71 genera under 19 families were recorded from the selected habitats. This represents 49% fami...

The diversity of spiders in selected sacred groves of the Kannur District, Kerala, was studied following a systematised collection method in four sampling stations: Madayi, Thekkumbad, Mooriyad and Kaivelikkal. The study was conducted in the period from September 2018 to September 2019. Totally, 102 species belonging to 73 genera and 18 families we...

The study was conducted to explore the spider diversity in different plantations of Western Ghats Wayanad, Kerala state, India. The investigation was carried out for the period from February 2019 to February 2020. A total of 100 species belonging to 74 genera under 20 families were recorded from the selected habitats. This represents 51% families r...

Impact of Parawixia dehaani (Doleschall, 1859) on the population dynamics of the kleptoparasitic spider Argyrodes flavescens O. Pickard Cambridge, 1880 - A case study

Klimakodesmus Carl, 1932 is briefly redescribed, rediagnosed, and shown to be an oligotypic genus endemic to southern India and distinct from the particularly similar genus Pyrgodesmus Pocock, 1892, monobasic and endemic to Sri Lanka, by several important features of peripheral and, especially, gonopodal structure. A new species, Klimakodesmus bilo...

Synonymization of Pardosa mysorensis (Tikader & Mukerji, 1971) with Pardosa sumatrana (Thorell, 1890)

Pardosa is the largest genus in family Lycosidae. Many of the members in this family and genus show morphological similarity and intra-specific variation, which makes their taxonomy difficult. The conclusive method of genitalic analysis was limited in olden days might have resulted in misplacement of various taxa. In this paper, Pardosa mysorensis...

The jumping spider Menemerus marginatus (Kroneberg, 1875) is reported for the first time from India, from the Desert National Park in Rajasthan. The male and female M. marginatus are redescribed from Indian specimens and the known distribution of this species, in southwestern Asia, is mapped.

World of spiders (in Malayalam)

Sacred groves of Northern Kerala operate as an ideal centre for biodiversity conservation. Several threatened animals and plants are still well conserved in the sacred groves. Present study intends to discover the regional diversity of spiders from the selected sacred groves of Kasargod and Kannur districts. Fifteen sacred groves from Kasargod and...

Present study investigated spider richness in the campus of S.V.R N.S.S College Kottayam, Kerala. A checklist of 110 species belonging to 77 genera and 19 families has been prepared. Salticidae dominated the population with 25 genera. Among the feeding guild type 37.27% of the documented spiders belong to Stalkers. Some of the spiders collected are...

A preliminary checklist of araneofauna of Pathiramanal Island is provided. A total of 147 species belonging to 26 families under 92 genera are documented. Tylorida ventralis (Thorell 1877) is considered to be the dominant species, and orb weavers are seen as the dominant guild. Araneidae, Salticidae, Theridiidae, Tetragnathidae and Thomisidae are f...

Diversity and population fluctuation of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of Calicut University campus, Kerala, India

Kole Wetlands are the major freshwater wetlands of Kerala, which spread over Thrissur and Malappuram districts of Kerala. They are the most productive and threatened wetlands in Kerala. Zooplanktons are heterotrophic animals; floating in the water and act as indicators for water quality. The Rotifers form a major portion of the freshwater zooplankt...

A study of spider diversity of Kerala University Campus, conducted for a period of four months revealed a total of 116 species of spiders belonging to 20 families. Among the families, Salticidae was found as the most common family and among the species Hersilia savignyi and Hippasa agelenoides were found as the most common species. Plexipus petersi...

An exhaustive study was conducted to document spider fauna in cashew orchards of the Cashew Research Station, Madakkathara, Kerala, India from January 2015 to July 2017. A total of 63 species of spiders under 52 genera belonging to 14 families were recorded. The most species-rich families were Salticidae and Araneidae representing 33 and 27 per cen...

Sacred groves are important gene pools and the first major effort of the society to recognize and conserve biodiversity. In addition to preserving the biodiversity, they help in soil and water conservation. At present, the area covered by sacred groves in India is gradually declining owing to various socioeconomic factors. Like other groves of Kera...

Asemonea cristata Thorell, 1895 is redescribed on the basis of newly collected materials from the Western Ghats region, Kerala, India. Asemonea picta Thorell, 1895 and A. santinagarensis (Biswas et Biswas, 1992) are synonymised with A. cristata. Collecting localities of A. cristata are mapped as well.

We give the first description of males of the jumping spider genus Piranthus Thorell, 1895, of the Indian species Piranthus planolancis Malamel, Nafin, Sudhikumar & Sebastian, 2019. Their palp is unusual in two aspects: the long embolus (longer than in most baviines) arises toward the proximal from its base before curling and proceeding distally, a...

We give the first description of males of the jumping spider genus Piranthus Thorell, 1895, of the Indian species Piranthus planolancis Malamel, Nafin, Sudhikumar & Sebastian, 2019. Their palp is unusual in two aspects: the long embolus (longer than in most baviines) arises toward the proximal from its base before curling and proceeding distally, a...

Plant extracts prompting free radical formation causing DNA damage among especially symbiotic microorganisms of Aedes aegypti has not been extensively examined in previous studies. Here, investigated whether: (1) it was possible to reduce the vectorial capacity by eliminating the microbial consortia of Aedes aegypti larvae, (2) the excess formation...

147 species of spiders belonging to 82 genera and 22 families are recorded from Parambikulam. 51 species are new records for Kerala State and 5 species are new records for India. Moist deciduous forests exhibit higher diversity of spiders compared to evergreen forests. Spider fauna of Parambikulam exhibits affinities with Oriental and Palaearctic r...

The excessive accumulation of Reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been linked to myriad of toxic effects in several signaling pathways including growth regulatory pathways and apoptosis in insects. The current upsurge in mosquito research into the underlying mechanism of phytochemicals induced reactive oxygen species accumulation and larvicidal poten...

The Thar Desert constitutes a unique ecosystem in Indian subcontinent characterized by low rainfall, dryness, and extreme temperature. Ecologically, natural habitats in the Thar Desert can be classified as sandy, gravelly, and rocky. These arid rocky regions of the Thar Desert are totally unexplored in arachnological point of view. This study is a...

The Thar Desert constitutes a unique ecosystem in Indian subcontinent characterized by low rainfall, dryness, and extreme temperature. Ecologically, natural habitats in the Thar Desert can be classified as sandy, gravelly, and rocky. These arid rocky regions of the Thar Desert are totally unexplored in arachnological point of view. This study is a...

The Thar Desert constitutes a unique ecosystem in Indian subcontinent characterized by low rainfall, dryness, and extreme temperature. Ecologically, natural habitats in the Thar Desert can be classified as sandy, gravelly, and rocky. These arid rocky regions of the Thar Desert are totally unexplored in arachnological point of view. This study is a...