Distribution and Abundance of Spider Fauna in Zaria Local Government Area, North West, Nigeria

Spiders are among the most diverse arthropod groups of organisms. This study investigated the distribution and abundance of spiders in five locations in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study was conducted for five months, from April to August, 2018. Samples were collected twice each month using vegetation beating, trapping using bottle and handpicking methods. The abundance of each species of spider identified was expressed in percentages while diversity was revealed using Shannon-Wiener diversity index. A total of 217 spiders were collected from all the study locations which belong to 14 families, 24 genera and 28 species. The study locations differ in terms of vegetation, topography and habitat structures. Family Lycosidae was found to be the dominant family which include four genera and five species, followed, by Agelenidae, Amaurobidae and Gnaphosidae which have a species proportion of 10.7% each and 3 species abundance. Area II (Tudun Serika) the most diverse, with 60 spiders collected in this area, belonging to 11 families, 18 genera and 19 species. Area IV (_________) was the least in terms of spider species diversity and abundance with only 12 spiders, belonging to four genera and four families. Cesonia bilineata had high dominance index of 1.315. There is need for proper documentation of spider species available in Nigeria.