Checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of South Asia including the 2006 update of Indian spider checklist

Abstract

After one year since publication of the Indian Checklist, this is an attempt to provide a comprehensive checklist of spiders of South Asia with eight countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Indian checklist is also updated for 2006. The South Asian spider list is also compiled following The World Spider Catalog by Platnick and other peer-reviewed publications since the last update. In total, 2299 species of spiders in 67 families have been reported from South Asia. There are 39 species included in this region's checklist that are not listed in the World Catalog of Spiders. Taxonomic verification is recommended for 51 species. Changes in the Indian spider checklist have been highlighted in this paper. The paper lists emendations, extralimital distribution, incertae sedis, new combinations, nomina nuda, nomina dubia, transfers, synonyms, etc. The checklist is updated up to 31 December 2006. © ZOO.