Araneofauna (Arachnida: Araneae) do parque urbano do Instituto Butantan

Abstract

The urban park of Instituto Butantan, located on the west side of the municipality of São Paulo, is a huge green area in the midst of the chaos of the great metropolis. With 80 hectares of secondary Atlantic Forest, the park is characterized by having a significant fauna of native, migrant and introduced species. Spiders are an excellent study group involving ecological dynamics in environments, they are predatory arthropods that occupy different niches and habitats. Brazil is the country with the greatest diversity of spiders among the other Neotropical countries, in the state of São Paulo, about 50 families have already been registered. Currently, urban parks lack research involving araneofauna. Therefore, the present study did an inventory of the araneofauna from the Instituto Butantan at family level, with collects made in winter and spring seasons. For that, collects were made using beating tray, manual nocturnal search and pitfall traps. Three points of the park were sampled, each one with different characteristics and phytophysiognomy. As results, 886 individuals were collected, distributed in 20 families. The most abundant was Araneida, with 186 records, followed by Theridiidae with 157 and Thomisidae with 105. The most efficient method was the beating tray, with 413 animals collected, almost half of the total value. In conclusion, the results showed a rich and diverse araneofauna, however, it is believed that this richness and diversity should be even greater.