According to the literature, spiders (Araneae) are one of the most specious orders of animals, with approximately 46,000 described, extant species in 114 families. This taxon ranks sixth in the animal kingdom in the terms of the number of the described species and places after the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera. As spiders are not studied thoroughly, estimation of their total diversity is very difficult. On the basis of recorded data in the Palaearctic region, spiders have been relatively well-studied in Europe with at least 4,800 species and Japan with at least 1,500 species, while areas such as South America, Africa, the pacific region and the Middle East are very poorly known. It is still difficult to assess the true species diversity of spiders in Iran. Systematic investigations of spider fauna using pitfall and ramp traps have not been conducted in much of the different areas in Iran. The true spider species diversity of Iran should range between 920-1020. This shows that the spider fauna of Iran should be considered as poorly-studied, and it could benefit from further, detailed taxonomic and large-scale faunistic studies in the future.

Keywords