Studies on the Lynx Spiders (Araneae: Oxyopidae) across the Different Agro-climatic Regions of West Bengal

Lynx spiders are small to medium-sized cursorial hunters that belong to family Oxyopidae. They play a crucial role by controlling insect population in different ecosystems. West Bengal features areas with varying climatic conditions and thus divided into six agro-climatic regions (ACRs). Understanding the distribution of lynx spiders along those ACRs is important to know their adaptability to a wide variety of habitats and their potential as effective insect pest controlling agents. The present study provides a comprehensive checklist of lynx spiders reported from West Bengal. It also approaches to illustrate the spatial and altitudinal distribution of lynx spiders reported from different ACRs. A total of 33 oxyopid species have been recorded from the state under all four lynx spider genera reported from India. Oxyopes is the most diverse genus followed by Hamataliwa, Peucetia and Hamadruas. They were distributed across all the ACRs, with highest and lowest species diversity in the Teesta-Terai and Red Laterite regions respectively. Their distribution pattern indicates that they tend to avoid extreme environmental conditions but are well adapted to a range of moderate climatic conditions, which makes them potent biological pest controlling agents in those areas.