SELECTION OF PLANTS FOR WEB BUILDING BY INDIAN SOCIAL SPIDER STEGODYPHUS SARASINORUM( KARSCH, 1891)

Abstract

Stegodyphus Sarasinorum(karsch, 1891) is also called an Indian cooperative spider or an Indian social spider. Social spiders are known for their home architecture and the skills they have developed to live cooperatively with other spiders in a colony. We investigated which plant was selected by social spiders for web building. What are the reasons behind choosing those plants? In thorny and non-thorny plants, which plants were used highest in number for web building? 216 observations were recorded for this study, and webs on different trees and different locations were observed. Both thorny and non-thorny trees were used by S. sarasinorum for web building, and in this case, thorny trees were given the highest priority for web building.