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Spiders: Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation

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Arthropod Diversity and Conservation in the Tropics and Sub-tropics

Abstract

Spiders are invertebrate animals with two body segments, four pairs of legs and without wings and mouth parts. They exclusively feed on insect pests and protect the cultivated crops. They are at the top of the lower food web in any ecosystem. Spiders maintain ecosystem balance. Nearly 45,000 spider species are known worldwide. Spider silk is one of the best biomaterial on the earth having antimicrobial properties, high tensile strength and is biocompatible with humans. All spiders produce silk, a solid protein strand expelled from spinnerets most normally found at tip of the abdomen. Silk is used to trap insects in webs, by many species, and they hunt freely. It is also used in climbing, form smooth outer covering walls for burrows, and build egg sacs, wrap prey, and temporarily hold sperm, among other applications. An abnormal fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is one of the most common phobias, and spiders are often looked at as something to be eliminated. Spiders have an awesome scope of variety in way of life, albeit all are savage. Arachnids give a substantial number of free biological system administrations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati, 444602, Maharashtra, India

    Ganesh Vankhede & Priyanka Hadole

  2. Division of Entomology and Nematology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hessarghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru, 560089, Karnataka, India

    Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy

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  1. Ganesh Vankhede
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  2. Priyanka Hadole
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  3. Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy
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Correspondence to Ganesh Vankhede .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Entomology and Nematology, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy

  2. Department of Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra (GKVK), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Shakunthala Sridhara

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Vankhede, G., Hadole, P., Chakravarthy, A.K. (2016). Spiders: Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation. In: Chakravarthy, A., Sridhara, S. (eds) Arthropod Diversity and Conservation in the Tropics and Sub-tropics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1518-2_8

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