Spiders are one of the most important arthropod groups in agro-ecosystems. They play an important role in regulating insect pests in agricultural ecosystems. The present study attempts to improve the understanding of resident spider population in the four selected agro-ecosystems viz., Paddy, Banana, Lady’s finger and Groundnut in Kozhinjampara Panchayat, Palakkad District, Kerala. Spider population in the four selected agro-ecosystems exhibited different species abundance and composition. A total of 302 individuals belonging to 17 species, 16 genera and 10 families were collected during the study. Among the total spider species, 11 species of 5 families were recorded in the paddy field. In the banana ecosystem, it was 11 species of 8 families, 4 species of 4 families in lady’s finger and 3 species of 3 families in the groundnut ecosystem. Tetragnatha maxillosa (Tetragnathidae) was most abundant species in the paddy field. In the banana ecosystem, Plexippus paykulli and Chalcotropis pennata under the family Salticidae was the abundant species. Pardosa pseudoannulata (Lycosidae) was the dominant species in both lady’s finger and groundnut ecosystem. Oxyopes birmanicus (Oxyopidae) was found in four agro-ecosystems. Overall results indicate that the species diversity and richness was greater in banana ecosystem when compared to other three agro-ecosystems. This might be due to the plant architecture and availability of prey species.
