Researcher, 2010;2(11) http://www.sciencepub.net/researcher Diversity And Abundance Of Spider Fauna Of Narmada River At Rajghat (Barwani) (Madhya Pradesh) India *Shailendra Sharma, **Amrita Vyas, **Rekha Sharma *Department of Zoology, Shri Umiya Girls College, Mandleshwar -451221 (M.P.) INDIA. **Department of Zoology, Holkar Science College, Indore-452003 (M.P.) INDIA. shailendra.b.sharma@gmail.com ; amritavyas2008@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The Biodiversity of Narmada valley having rich biodiversity of spiders. The spiders of Narmada valley were collected from Barwani from last week of August to Jan. 2010, using insect nets, tapping sticks, umbrella. Pit fall trap etc. During this study 117 specimens were collected from the Rajghat (Barwani). 44 species were identify belonging to 12 Families. Among the specimens most of the individuals were adult and few females were observed the Family Araneidae represented 13 species, Salticidae represented 9 species, Oxyopidae 3,and Eracidae 4 species, Theriddidae 3, and Thomosidae represented 2 species , Lycosidae 3 and Pholcidae represented 2 species. Families Clubionidae 1, Philodromide 1, Tetragnathidae 2, Uloboridae, represent 1 species. The population of Spiders was abundant species richness and diversity was high during the month of October to December. [Shailendra Sharma, Amrita Vyas, Rekha Sharma. Diversity And Abundance Of Spider Fauna Of Narmada River At Rajghat (Barwani) (Madhya Pradesh) India. Researcher. 2010;2(11):1-5]. (ISSN: 1553-9865). http://www.sciencepub.net Keywords: Spiders, Biodiversity, Insect, Raighat, Narmada Valley 1. Introduction Biodiversity short for biological diversity refers to all the population species and communities in a defined area present study was designed to asses the biodiversity valley is having very rich biodiversity of spiders Narmada river hemmed between Vindhya and Satpuda ranges extends over area of 98, 796 km2, and lies between east longitudes 70o 32’ to 81o 45’ and north latitudes 21o 20’ to 23o 45’ lying in the northern extremity of the Deccan plateau, the basin covers larges areas in the state of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and a comparatively smaller are in Maharashtra. There are 41 tributaries out of which 22 are in the Vindhya ranges. Spiders are arthropods called arachnids. They belong to order Araneae is a large group of animals which is commonly called as spiders. Spiders occupy an important part of the overall predatory arthropod fauna in different terrestrial ecosystem. All spider are predators and because the man item in most spider diets is insects human benefit enormously from spiders are important in controlling insect pests in most agricultural crops Bioindicators, spiders are the largest groups of arachnids comprising more than 30,000 species distributed over 60 families world wide. Spiders are carnivorous creatures feeding on insects and small arachnids which is most abundant and ecologically important in almost every terrestrial and semi terrestrial habitat. On earth from cold tundra and alpine ecosystem to tropical rain forests and deserts. Some species live on the shorts of the ocean and some live into ponds and streams in search of prey members of one Eurasian spider family spiders also eat many Insects that bothers humans, such as mosquitoes and cockroaches. Since a single spider may eat many mosquitoes in one day over the course of its lifetime a spider may prevent hundreds of mosquitoes from surviving to produce even more mosquitoes offspring. Similarly a spider in your house “pays rent” by ridding the premises of many cockroaches or other insects. Spiders are an important food source for birds, lizards, wasps and other animals. Ground dwelling spiders may be important in transferring energy directly from the below-ground detritus food wells to the above-grounds terrestrial food web of familiar birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals (Johnston 2000) spiders are an important source of food for many birds especially in the aeinter many types of spiders construct specific types of silken web to trap prey these come in a variety of forms, from the familiar orb web and cobweb to sheets, funnels, tabs, ladders and even a single thread. A single spider may produce more than a half dozen difference kinds of silk for difference purposes. Spiders are clearly an integral part of global biodiversity since the play many important role in ecosystem as predators important role in food chain of the ecosystem. They are one of the most common predator group of ecosystem, they are hunters of insects and other small invertebrates and reduced pest animals inside and outside our houses they are prey for many hunting animals like insectivorous birds and reptiles most spider spend their entire life in one particular habitat because of their ability to produce silk. Venom and their use of defense macaronis. resarcher@gmail.com 1