| The study of tropical spiders was taken up in the last part of the nineteenth century by Thorell, Simon and others, but since then passed through a long dormant stage. Only during the last few decades there was some revival. In particular numerous spider species from leaf-litter, ground debris, etc. have been described after collecting by special methods such as sieving, Berlese funnels and pitfall trapping. Spiders from another common habitat in South East Asian rainforests, the underside of leaves, seem to have been inadequately treated in older publications. Certain spiders, e.g. pholcids and clubionids, do not readily drop when disturbed, but stick firmly to their leaf substrate or escape sideways through twigs and branches. At present there is no... |
