Author(s) agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Review Paper FAUNAL DIVERSITY OF OXYOPIDAE (ARANEOMORPHAE: ARANEAE: ARACHNIDA) IN INDIA: AN UPDATED CHECKLIST Rajendra Singh Department of Zoology, Deendayal Upadhyaya University of Gorakhpur, Gorakhpur-273 009, U.P., India. Abstract Faunal biodiversity of the lynx spiders (Oxyopidae: Araneomorphae: Araneae: Arachnida) in different states of India and union territories is presented herewith. A total of 96 species placed under 4 genera of Oxyopidae were recorded in all states and union territories of India except for Nagaland, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Ladakh, out of which 65 species (67.7%) were strictly endemic. However, among them, 4 species seem to be erroneous report or misidentification. The maximum number of species (35 species) were recorded in Maharashtra followed by 34 species from West Bengal, 28 species each from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, 27 species from Kerala, 19 species from Tamil Nadu, 18 species each from Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, 15 species from Rajasthan, 14 species from Assam, 13 species from Karnataka and less than 15 species are recorded from other states. No species of lynx spider is recorded from Nagaland and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Indeed, no survey was conducted in these regions and need extensive researches in these areas. Key words: Oxyopidae, checklist, faunal distribution, lynx spiders, India. INTRODUCTION The spiders are the common name of the arachnids that belong to the order Araneae (Arthropoda: Chelicerata: Arachnida). They are among the most common and abundant entomophagous arthropods in the terrestrial ecosystems throughout the world. Their lifestyles and foraging behaviours highly varied among species. Ecologically their role is very significant as they devour approximately 400-800 million tons of preys, mostly insects, globally per year and also serve as a food source for several carnivore animals such as birds, amphibians, lizards, snakes, shrews, mice, bats, fish, insects etc. [1]. At present, 49,405 species of spiders are globally known which are placed in 4,216 genera grouped in 129 families [2]. Also, there are several species in the wild and museums that still await description and classification. It is estimated that Journal of Global Biosciences Peer Reviewed, Refereed, Open-Access Journal ISSN 2320-1355 Volume 10, Number 4, 2021, pp. 8539-8573 Website: www.mutagens.co.in URL: www.mutagens.co.in/jgb/vol.10/04/100404.pdf