Spider's Of Berembun Reserve Forest

Programme of Ecology and Biodiversity (Zoology) Institute of Biological Science University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur Session 2008/2009

Litter and Ground Dwelling Spiders of Berembun Reserve Forest, Negeri Sembilan Nurul Syuhadah Mohamed Dzarawi A project paper submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Sciences (Ecology and Biodiversity Programme) Submitted 27 April 2009 to supervisors, Associate Professor Dr Rosli Hashim and Professor Dr Norma-Rashid Yusoff

ABSTRACK The aim of this study was to assess spider diversity among microhabitats at Berembun Reserve Forest in Negeri Sembilan, and to provide a checklist on litter and ground dwelling spiders which could be used in future study of Malaysian spiders. The study also compared attractiveness of three different chemicals in capturing method. Ground dwelling spiders were surveyed in Berembun Reserve Forest in two replicates with three sites of microhabitats, forest floor (FF), Trail (T) and River Bank (R). The spiders were sampled using pitfall traps and by manual collection. Three types of chemicals, 70% alcohol, acetic acid and salty water were used as both attractant and preservative resulted in the capture of 60 species from 16 families of litter and ground dwelling spiders. Sixty nine percent of total numbers of species listed were from family Zodariidae. As expected, forest floor (FF) showed highest number of species abundance and species dominance and also resulted in the highest number of individuals captured. One family, Amaurobiidae and one species, Teutamus fertilis (Liocranidae) are possibly new to Peninsular Malaysian. Alcohol in pitfall trap yielded the highest number of individual catched, which is forty three percent.

Keywords: Spiders, Berembun Reserve Forest, microhabitats, diversity, new list, attractants