Arthropod diversity in mango at Karaikal Balaji R.K.*, Kumar K.1 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003 1Department of Agricultural Entomology, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture & Research Institute, Karaikal, 609603 *Email: rkbalaji17@gmail.com
Online published on 5 February, 2019. Abstract The diversity of arthropod fauna of mango ecosystem was studied in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Union Territory of Puducherry and their population dynamics from August 2016 to February 2017 evaluated. The fauna was collected at weekly intervals with net sweeping method, pitfall traps and in situ counts. The biodiversity analysis with Shannon-Wiener index and Margalef richness index revealed that the diversity was more for Coleoptera (3.0220 and 5.0520); Simpson's index was maximum for Orthoptera (0.1846), and equitability index maximum with Neuroptera (1.00). Among the 127 arthropods observed, the population of Idioscopus clypealis Lethierry (Cicadellidae: Hemiptera) was the maximum during December 2016 and the least during February 2017. The incidence of Polyrhachis sp. (Formicidae: Hymenoptera) and Anegleis cardoni Weise (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) revealed a positive correlation with maximum temperature, evening relative humidity, rainfall and a negative correlation with minimum temperature and morning relative humidity. Top Keywords Mango, arthropod diversity, Karaikal, seasonal incidence, correlation, biodiversity indices, species richness. Top |