Arthropod biodiversity in tropical forest litter around Nagpur (Maharashtra)

Abstract

A study on litter arthropod population was carried out in four tropical dry region distributed in forest areas of Indian state of Maharashtra India. The study was conducted in an around Nagpur, lakeside region and tropical dry region vegetation types. The leaf litter present inside a 1 m2 quadrat was collected, shifted in polythene bags. Total 195 litter arthropods representing 13 insect orders were recorded from the forty unit (15cm x 15cm) samples collected from four tropical region sites viz. (Site 1:- Gorewada lake, Site 2:- Ambazari lake, Site 3:- Futala lake, and Site 4:- Civil line forest). The insect orders, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Thysanura, and Orthoptera dominated the litter arthropod abundance, and the top five orders contributed 73% of the total litter arthropods collected from all the four tropical dry region of Nagpur, India. The results of this study will initiate future research on litter arthropod population and their diversity and abundance in Nagpur forest.