Entomofaunal diversity in fruit orchards along the altitudinal gradients of district Nainital, Uttarakhand (India)

Abstract

A study on the insectrndiversity in different eco-climatic altitudes of western Himalayan fruitrnorchards revealed that at an altitude of 1900-2200m, a total of 3,928rnindividuals belonging to 112 species of insect fauna from 31 families and 8rninsect orders were recorded, of which 20 were abundant, 32 common, 41 uncommonrnand 19 were rare to the area. Lepidoptera was the most abundant order with 53rnspecies belonging to 8 families followed by Hymenoptera (20 species),rnColeoptera (14 species), Diptera (9 species), Orthoptera (8 species), Odonatarn(4 species), Hemiptera and Heteroptera (2 species each). Higher values ofrnrichness, abundance and diversity were recorded for the habitats at lowerrnaltitudes. Along with the altitudinal gradient, presence of vegetation andrnwater was also found to be a very important factor for abundance and diversityrnof insects.