A checklist of spiders from Sovenga Hill, an inselberg in the Savanna Biome, Limpopo Province, South Africa (Arachnida: Araneae)

Abstract

The South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) was initiated to make an inventory of the arachnid fauna of South Africa. Various projects are underway to prepare inventories of the spider fauna of the different floral biomes and provinces of South Africa. During April and May 2004 five different collecting methods were sed to sample spiders from four slopes on Sovenga Hill, an inselberg situated in the Savanna Biome, near Polokwane, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A total of 793 specimens represented by 29 families, 62 genera and 76 species were recorded over the twomonth period. The Thomisidae was the most abundant (n = 167) representing 21.1 % of all spiders sampled, followed by the Gnaphosidae (n = 101) with 12.7 % and the Lycosidae (n = 77) with 9.7 %. The most abundant species was a thomisid Tmarus comellini Garcia-Neto (n = 82), representing 10.3 % of the total, followed by a clubionid Clubiona godfreyi Lessert (n = 66) with 8.3 %. The Thomisidae was the most species-rich family with 12 species, followed by the Gnaphosidae with 11 species and the Araneidae with 10 species. Of the species collected 83.9 % were wandering spiders and 16.1 % web builders. This is the first quantitative survey of the Savanna Biome in the Polokwane area.