A checklist of spiders from Singapore (Arachnida: Araneae)

Abstract

The spider fauna of Singapore has never been studied in its entirety despite of contributions by many arachnologists since Koch in 1843. In the present paper, we provide a preliminary checklist of spiders from Singapore based on published records, on the collections of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR), National University of Singapore, and on specimens collected by the authors and by D. H. Murphy. A total of 310 species and one subspecies (Uloborus undulatus indicus Kulczy ski, 1908) of spiders are now recorded for Singapore. They belong to one suborder (Opisthothelae), two infraorders (Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae), 39 families and 186 genera. Among them 29 new records and 14 unidentified species are listed; one species of zodariid, Storena cinctipes Simon, 1893, is transferred to the genus Mallinella. A very small group of species (c. 2%) exhibits cosmopolitan distributions but the majority of species are widely distributed in South-east Asia. A small group of species (c. 3%) shows pantropical distributions. Another small group of species (c. 25%) is recorded, so far, only in Singapore and nowhere else in South-east Asia. The latter figure appears linked to collecting and study efforts rather than a reflection of the real situation in the region.