New Spider Species Discovered at Aranmula Airport Site

In what could be a shot in the arm for the ‘greens’ who are against the proposed ‘green field airport’ at Aranmula, arachnologists of the Biodiversity Research Institute of Irinjalakkuda Christ College have discovered three new species of spiders and eight rare species of spiders on the proposed airport site in Pathanamthitta district, throwing light on the environmental diversity of the ecologically-sensitive area.

A research team led by Dr Sudhikumar A V, an arachnologist in the Zoology department of Christ College, Irinjalakkuda, has also found about 45 different species of spiders during a month-long study at the proposed site.

According to Sudhikumar, among the spiders spotted at the site, four spiders – Genus Cybaeus of Cybaeidae family, Genus Micromata of Sparassidae family, Genus Orthobula of Corinnidae family and Genus Neoscona of Araneidae family- have been spotted for the first time in India. The details of the discovery and characteristics of the newly-found spiders will be presented at an international conference on spider research scheduled to be held in Italy in July, he said.

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http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/New-Spider-Species-Discovered-at-Aranmula-Airport-Site/2014/02/18/article2063079.ece#.UwPgMIVkgUh

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