THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Arachnology Research Division of Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi was recently awarded a new research grant worth Rs 60 lakh by the Science and Engineering Research Board of the Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
The grant was awarded in recognition of the commendable contribution made by the team in the field of spider research in India. The new research being funded focuses on bridging gaps in the taxonomic knowledge of Indian spiders.
An integrated approach using morphological studies, DNA analaysis and behavioural studies is being implemented,” said Dr. P.A. Sebastian, who heads the research team.
Such an integrated approach is being done for the first time on Indian spiders,” said Dr. M.J. Mathew, Assistant Professor of Zoology, who is also the co-investigator of the new research project.
New Discoveries
The latest achievements of the team include the discovery of six rare spiders from the forests of Western Ghats of Kerala. Among these, the ‘ant spiders’ of the family Corinnidae live along with ants and are perfect ant-mimics. Three such ant-mimcking spiders have been introduced to the world by the SH team by the names of Castianeira furva, Cambalida deorsa and Cambalida tuma.
Another group of ant-mimicking spiders of the family Zodariidae are ant-eaters who display peculiar behavioural patterns for hunting ants. These spiders live near ant nests and upon seeing the ants they display a ‘play dead’ behaviour known as thanatosis. The ants approach the spider thinking that one among them is dead and suddenly the spider pounces over the approaching ants and eats them.
Two such spiders were discovered from the Western Ghats. One among them, named as Tropizodium kalami, is a tribute to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, while the other one has been named as Tropizodium viridurbium
Yet another significant finding is the discovery of a rare spider commonly known as “armoured spider” of the family Tetrablemmidae - so called because of the presence of a complex pattern of plates covering their abdomen that look like body armour for protection from predators.
Most of these spiders are cave dwellers and this particular arrangement of body armour provides them protection from wounds that might be caused from sharp stones within the caves. The new spider has been named as Shearella alii in honour of the world-famous ornithologist, Dr. Salim Ali.
Plebs mitratus - a rare orb-web weaving spider discovered from the high-altitude shola forests of Eravikulam National Park is the outcome of many years of sustained investigation and search by the team along the high altitude regions of Western Ghats of Kerala.
The presence of this spider group in India, which had its origin in Australia, is of great interest to geographers and biogeographers, and provides a supplementary evidence for the Continental Drift Theory.
Another peculiarity of this spider is the existence of a rare phenomenon in the animal kingdom - paternity protection - a strategy of the male to prevent or impede female remating by the production of a mating plug that covers the female genital opening or remains inside of the female genital tract after mating.
Other than Dr. Sebastian and Dr. Mathew, the research team consists of Fr. Jobi Malamel, Pradeep M.S., Dhruv Parajapathi, Prasanth Kumar and Jimmy Paul.
The detailed descriptions of the new species have been published in the internationally reputed taxonomic journal - ‘Zootaxa’.