Spider Assemblages Along the Rio Grande at Laredo, Texas‪.‬

Abstract. -- Three sites were surveyed along the Rio Grande at the Laredo Community College campus. Spiders were collected from each community utilizing pitfall traps, sweep-netting and beating woody vegetation. The spiders were identified to familial level and community coefficients were calculated to compare the three habitats. The percentages of each family collected by the three methods were calculated and compared. Spider populations differed in familial representation and proportion. Some spider families contained members that were specific for microhabitats in each community. Spider families such as the Dictynidae, Filistatidae, Philodromidae and Thomisidae were deemed useful in assessing habitat disturbances. **********