Original Research

Spiders and Scorpions (Arachnida: Araneae, Scorpiones) of the Nylsvley Nature Reserve, South Africa

Ansie S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, Annette van den Berg, Lorenzo Prendini
Koedoe | Vol 51, No 1 | a161 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v51i1.161 | © 2009 Ansie S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, Annette van den Berg, Lorenzo Prendini | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 25 June 2008 | Published: 11 February 2009

About the author(s)

Ansie S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, ARC - Plant Protection Research Institute, South Africa
Annette van den Berg, ARC - Plant Protection Research Institute, South Africa
Lorenzo Prendini, American Museum of Natural History, South Africa

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Abstract

Among other activities, the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) aims to survey the biodiversity of arachnids in protected areas of South Africa. The study presented here documents the diversity of spiders and scorpions collected from the Nylsvley Nature Reserve (NNR), South Africa over a 30-year period. The spider fauna of NNR contains 175 species (7.5% of the total recorded in South Africa), in 131 genera and 37 families. Thomisidae is the most diverse spider family in the reserve, with 33 species (18.9% of the total), followed by Salticidae, with 20 species (11.4%), and Araneidae, with 18 species (10.3%). The majority of species (125) are wandering spiders (71.4%), whereas 50 species (28.6%) build webs. Wandering grounddwelling spiders comprise 52 species, whereas 73 wandering species have been collected from the vegetation. A total of 158 species are new records for the reserve and Oxyopes tuberculatus Lessert, 1915 is newly recorded for South Africa. Six spider species may be new to science. The scorpion fauna of NNR comprises five species (5% of the total recorded in South Africa) in three genera and two families. Buthidae are more diverse in the reserve, with four species and two genera represented. The scorpion fauna of the reserve includes two fossorial and three epigeic species, representing five ecomorphotypes: semi-zpsammophilous, pelophilous, lithophilous, corticolous and lapidicolous. Five additional scorpion species may be recorded if the reserve is sampled more intensively using appropriate techniques.

Keywords

Biodiversity; faunistics; Savanna Biome; South African National Survey of Arachnida

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Crossref Citations

1. The faunistic diversity of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Savanna Biome in South Africa
S.F. Foord, A.S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, C.R. Haddad, L.N. Lotz, R. Lyle
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa  vol: 66  issue: 3  first page: 170  year: 2011  
doi: 10.1080/0035919X.2011.639406