Species Composition and Distribution of Araneidae in Mt. Musuan, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines

This study presents the species composition of spiders from the family Araneidae in three habitat types in Mt. Musuan in Bukidnon, Philippines. A total of 29 species (spp.) of Araneids belonging to Nephila, Cyrtophora, Neoscona, Eriovixia, Talthybia, Parawixia, Gasteracantha, Poltys, Arachnura, Cyclosa, Gea, Araneus, Argiope, Nephilengys, Cyrtarachne and Thelacantha were identified from this area. Vegetation complexity was a probable cause for high species composition in the plantation forest with 23 spp., followed by natural forests with 14 spp. and the grasslands as the least with 8 spp. Genus Neoscona was also identified as the most speciose genus with a total of 7 spp. In terms of distribution, Neoscona punctigera and Nephila pilipes were both found to be well distributed in all 3 habitat types.