Orb-weavers (Araneae: Araneidae, Nephilidae) from the Margalla Hills National Park, Pakistan with comments on morphological variation in Neosconamukerjei Tikader, 1980and emasculation in Nephilapilipes (Fabricius, 1793)

Authors

  • Kumayl Hassan Jaffry Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.
  • Kanwal Zahra Department of Zoology, Government Islamia Graduate College for Women, Cooper road, Lahore, Pakistan.
  • Abida Butt Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.

Keywords:

Taxonomy, Spiders, Morphology, Behavior, new locality

Abstract

Orb-weaving spiders belonging to the family Araneidae and Nephilidae were reported from the Margalla Hills National Park, Islamabad, Pakistan. The data included five genera: Cyrtophora Simon, Eriovixia Archer, Gea C. L. Koch, Neoscona Simon and Nephila Leach represented by a total of seven species: Cyrtophoracitricola (Forsskål), Eriovixiaexcelsa (Simon), Geaspinipes C. L. Koch, NeosconamukerjeiTikader, Neosconatheisi (Walckenaer), Neosconavigilans (Blackwall) and Nephilapilipes (Fabricius). Morphological
variation in the female of N. mukerjei was reported accompanied first time with color photographs. Also included were ecological notes on N. pilipes adding observations on reproductive behavior, morphology and phenology of this important species.
Keyword: Taxonomy, Spiders, Morphology, Behavior, new locality

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Published

2023-12-15

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 04 (2023): LGU Journal of Life Sciences

Section

Articles