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International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences Research Article
A preliminary investigation on the jumping spider Plexippus paykulli (Araneae: Salticidae) from Akola district, Maharashtra, India
Malini.M. Shegokar and Prakash.P. Ade
Year : 2026 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 47-53
Received on: 24/12/2025
Revised on: 12/01/2026
Accepted on: 15/02/2026
Published on: 01/03/2026
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Malini.M. Shegokar and Prakash.P. Ade( 2026).
A preliminary investigation on the jumping spider Plexippus paykulli (Araneae: Salticidae) from Akola district, Maharashtra, India
. International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences, 11( 2), 47-53.
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Abstract
Jumping spiders belonging to the family Salticidae constitute the largest family within the order Araneae and play a significant role in natural pest regulation. The present study investigates the occurrence, habitat preference, and ecological importance of Plexippus paykulli in the Akola District of Maharashtra, India. Field surveys were conducted from June 2021 to August 2024 using hand picking, sweep netting, inverted umbrella technique, vegetation beating, litter sampling, and visual search methods. Specimens were identified using standard taxonomic keys and observed under stereo-zoom binocular microscopy. Both male and female specimens of P. paykulli were recorded, predominantly from human habitations, agro-ecosystems, and garden habitats. The species exhibited wide adaptability and significant abundance compared to other Salticidae members. Plexippus paykulli is commonly found in and around man-made structures, particularly on buildings; however, it has also been recorded from citrus groves and cotton fields. Globally, 49,159 species of spiders belonging to 4,207 genera and 128 families have been documented. Among these, the family Salticidae is the largest, comprising 6,334 species distributed across 659 genera. Spiders play a crucial role in natural insect pest control and contribute significantly to agro-ecosystem sustainability without causing ecological harm. The study highlights the importance of jumping spiders as efficient biological control agents and emphasizes the need for detailed regional spider diversity assessments.
Keywords
Jumping spider, Salticidae, Plexippus paykulli, Agro-ecosystem, Biological control, Akola District.
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© The Author(s) 2025. This article is published by International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (creativecommons.org), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
