A study on the abundance and the diversity of soil arthropods in turmeric fields of Jagityal, erstwhile Karimnagar District, Telangana

Abstract

Insects are one of the most successful organisms. They represent almost 50% of the world’s biodiversity. The present study was carried out to know the abundance, seasonal variation, evenness and richness of the arthropods in turmeric fields of Dharoor, a village situated at 18.76 N, 78.90 E in the erstwhile Karimnagar by using pitfall traps. A total of 310 insects from 13 orders were recorded during the study period from 5 plots of the study site. The abundant insect orders were Hemiptera, Collumbola, Aranea, Thysanura, Coleopteran, Orthoptera, Carrabidae, Dermaptera, Millipede and Isoptera. The hemiptera was found to occupy the highest proportion of the insect community (24%), followed by collumbola (23.22%), Coleopteran (12.25%) Thysanura (10%), Orthoptera (3.81%), Carrabidae (3.87%), Dermaptera (1.60%), Millipeda (1. 6%), Isoptera (2.90%) Lepidoptera (2.58), Araenia (9.35%) and Mantidae (1.12%). The data obtained was statistically analysed by Simpson’s and Shannon- Weiner’s diversity indices.