On the Araneid Fauna (Araneae: Araneidae) of the Tea Estates of Dooars, West Bengal, India

The present study is devoted to 32 araneid species under 14 genera recorded from the tea estates of Dooars, West Bengal, India. Of these, Cyrtophora bituberculata is considered new to science; while Acusilas coccineus Simon, 1895 is the first record from the country. Hither to unknown male morphs of Cyclosa moonduensis Tikader, 1963 and C. simoni Tikader, 1982 are also reported. Cyclosa krusa Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 though reported from India by Saha et al., 2016, lacks detail description of the Indian representatives. All the species considered new in some way or other are described and suitably illustrated. The recorded genera and species are suitably keyed together with relevant illustrations.