Spider (Araneae) fauna in paddy ecosystem of Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India

Spiders are considered biological indicators of ecosystem health. The present study documents the diversity and abundance of predatory spiders in the paddy ecosystem of Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, India, during the cropping period from July 2023 to October 2023. A total of 543 specimens were collected, representing 15 species across six families and nine genera. Oxyopidae was the most abundant family accounting for 44% of specimens, followed by Tetragnathidae (24%), Salticidae (10%), and Araneidae (10%); Lycosidae and Pisauridae were sparsely represented. The most abundant species was Oxyopes javanus, while Peucetia viridana was the least recorded. The abundance of spider populations exhibited temporal fluctuations throughout the study period, with the highest numbers recorded during the second fortnight of August. Among the three study localities, Shahpur exhibited the highest diversity, with a Shannon-Wiener Index (H) of 1.95 and a Simpson Index (D) of 0.84, indicating a well-balanced spider community, while Nagrota Bagwan had the highest evenness (J’ = 0.93), suggesting a more uniform species distribution.