Two species of spiders Gravelyia boro and Dexippus kleini have been found in the Jharbari range of western Assam’s Chirang Reserve Forest in India.
Both the species of spiders were sharing the same space in the Bodoland Territorial Region. One spider burrows, and the other jumps.
The species of spiders have been described in the Acta Arachnological published by the Arachnological Society of Japan. Both, Assistant Professor Dulur Brahma and Research Scholar Paris Basumatary, from Bodoland University’s Department of Zoology, are the authors of the study.
John T.D. Caleb from the Zoological Survey of India has worked on the paper on the jumping spider that was found inside a long and cylindrical cocoon-shaped silken in a cogon grass flower.
Two species of spiders found in Assam
• Gravelyia boro is the burrow spider. It has been discovered for the first time.
• Dexippus kleini is the jumping spider that has been recorded to have resurfaced since its original discovery 129 years ago in Sumatra by Swedish arachnologist Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell.
Gravelyia boro, the burrow spider: Key points
• Gravelyia boro is the burrow spider that lives under the ground, approximately 10-15 cm below the loamy-sandy surface. Its burrows with an opening up to 1 cm wide were found covered under shrubs and herbs.
• Gravelyia boro, the burrow spider belongs to the Nemesiidae family that consists of 184 species worldwide.
• The name of the burrow spider has been inspired by the Bodo community that is inhabiting the area where the spiders were discovered. They are one of the largest ethnolinguistic groups in Assam.
Dexippus kleini, the jumping spider: Key points
• Dexippus kleini, the jumping spider is a slow-moving spider but can jump up to 25mm in length to hunt down.
• Dexippus kleini, the jumping spider belongs to the Salticidae family which is the largest family of all spiders on the planet.