Ground surface spider fauna in Florida sandhill communities

Spiders were collected from the forest floor surface using pitfall traps (cans and buckets) and funnel traps at 12 study sites selected to represent the sandhill community of north and central Florida. A total of 5236 spiders was collected, which included 23 families, 92 genera, and 154 species. The largest number of individuals (528) was collected at Orange City and the largest number of species (48) was collected at the most northern site, Suwannee River State Park. Species richness, abundance, similarity and seasonal variation were compared among the study sites. Lycosidae comprised 75.2% of the total number of spiders collected. Four species were collected at all 12 sites: the lycosids Lycosa ammophila, Schizocosa duplex; and S. segregata, and the salticid Habrocestum xerophilum. Eighty-three (53.9%) of the 154 species were collected at only one site.