The Relationship Between Vegetation Type and Population Density-Diversity of Spiders in Certain Vegetable Crops

Abstract

: The experiment was carried out on three different vegetable crops, Cucumber Cucumis sativus L. (Cucurbitaceae), eggplant Solanum melongena L. (Solanaceae) and okra Abelmoschus esculentus L. (Malva-ceae), during summer 2021, to investigate the effect of vegetation type on spider density and diversity. For this study, the pitfall trap method was used to collect spiders from the soil surface to ensure a comprehensive representation of all spider guilds. During this study, 20 species belonging to 6 families were collected. The results showed that a total of 374, 285 and 194 individuals belonging to 18, 17 and 15 species were recorded in okra, cucumber and eggplant fields respectively. Species diversity was greater in okra cultivation. Results also indicated that the Lycosidae family was the most abundant and dominant, representing 71.75%, followed by the Linyphiidae family of 90 individuals representing 10.55% of the whole obtained population. The most dominant species were Wadicosa fidelis 152, 98 and 67 individuals and Pardosa injucunda 111, 69 and 52 individuals in okra, cucumber and eggplant respectively. It is inferred from this study that the type of plant can have an impact on spider communities.