User:Moinulepido

Spiders are an important group of generalised predators in the world. They are the largest order of Arachnids and rank seventh in the total species diversity among all the other groups of organisms (Sebastian & Peter, 2009). As many as 43678 spider species are known in the world (Platnick, 2012) and in India, 1685 spider species from 438 genera have been reported till date (Keswani et al.,  2012). The present  knowledge  on  the  spiders  of  Western  Ghats  remains  confined to the works of  Pocock (1900), Hirst (1909),  Gravely (1935), Sherriffs  (1927), and Sinha (1951). Recently Smith (2004), Sugumaran et al., (2005), and  Wankhade et al. (2012) tried to document the diversity of spider fauna in and around Western Ghats. Due to the high species endemism, Western Ghats are listed in the 34 ‘Biodiversity Hotspots’ of the world (Mittermeier et al., 2005). This present note discusses the poorly known Nilgiri Large Burrowing Spider Haploclastus nilgirinus  Pocock, 1899 from Nilgiris,  Western Ghats. It was  identified  as  belonging  to  the  genus  Haploclastus  of the  family  Theraphosidae based on the presence of a distinct  maxillary  heel,  the apical  segments of the PLS being digit form,  the  presence  of claw  tufts  and  absence  of a  rastellum  (Dippenaar-Schoeman,  2002). Family Theraposidae is characterized  as medium sized to very large mygalomorph spiders. Sub-family: Thrigmopoeinae has inner surface of maxilla  furnished with simple  scattered  needle  like  bristles, and live in burrows  in the tree grounds. Genus Haploclastus  Simon, 1892 is endemic to India and  is represented  by six species,  namely  Haploclastus cervinus  Simon,  1892,  H. kayi  Gravely, 1915, H.  nilgirinus  Pocock, 1899, H.  satyanus  Barman, 1978, H.  tenebrosus  Gravely, 1935 and  H. validus  (Pocock,  1899)  and recently  Prasanth & Jose (2014) described  a new species Species Distribution India: Nilgiri hills (Pocock, 1899, Pocock 1900); Savarimullai in Vandiperiyar,  Travancore Mygalomorph spiders are popularly regarded as poisonous, authentic  records of their bites  seem  to  be  rare. The Madras Museum  contains  a  single,  somewhat  damaged  specimen of this  immense  species  Haploclastus nilgirinus, collected  by Mr. S.  Ananda Rao from Savarimullay,  Vandiperiyar,  Travancore, where it had bitten a coolie. Regarding the  H. nilgirinus  bites  Mr. Ananda Rao writes:  “The  bite  on the  coolie  was quite  a  severe  one  and  was  inflicted  on  the  fore-finger. When he  was  brought  to  me,  which  was almost  immediately  after  the  bite,  I  noticed  that  the  bitten  spot  was  bleeding  and  the  finger,  as also the palm, had swollen. He was also complaining of severe twitching  pain extending  up to the  shoulder. The wound was treated  in the  usual way,  i.e.  washing with a lotion  of potassium permanganate,  an application of tincture  of iodine and dressing. His pain and swelling persisted for three days, after  which  it  subsided. But, curiously  enough,  even  now after  a  lapse  of nearly six  months  since  the  occurrence,  he  states  that  he  has  no  proper  sensation  in  that  finger  and  that it  gets very easily benumbed  when the  hand is wet. Venom probably strong. Depending location of the bite and the amount of venom released this might be a painful experience.