Diversity of insects associated with grain amaranth, Amaranthus spp (F: Amaranthaceae)

Abstract

The study on diversity of insects associated with grain amaranth, Amaranthus spp was conducted from August to November 2019 at College of Agriculture, Vijayapura. A total of thirty one insects belonging to twenty one families and eight orders; comprising of twenty six insect pests, four predators and one parasitoid were recorded. Each genus recorded during the study was represented by a single species totaling thirty one genus and species. Order Hemiptera was the most diverse with a relative abundance of 29.03 per cent followed by Coleoptera (22.58 per cent), Lepidoptera and Thysanoptera (12.90 per cent), Homoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera (6.45 per cent) while Neuroptera was the least (3.23 per cent) abundant.