HANINDER MAINI*, SANJAY KUMAR AND RAHUL JAIN
M. H. College of Home Science, Rani Durgawati University, Jabalpur-482 002 (M. P.), India
*(e-mail : hanindermaini@gmail.com); Mobile : 8708975996
(Received : September 9, 2018; Accepted : November 20, 2018)
ABSTRACT
Many visits were conducted to study the composition, abundance and assemblage’s structure of dung beetle community in various areas of Haryana. The surveys were conducted during their active season from April to October, at 11 sites viz, Uchana, Narwana, Narnaul, Julana, Rohtak, Hisar, Barwala, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Pehowa and Panchkula. These sites comprised all types of habitats i. e. forest area, grassland, road sides and domestic areas. Dung beetles were collected randomly by manual collection by visiting to all these places. A total of 900 dung beetles were collected under 18 species, eight genera and three sub-families by performing 14 visits. Some of the dominant species of dung beetle were Onthophagous mopsus, O. catta, O. bonasus, Oniticellus spinipes and Aphodius lividus. The surveys were conducted only to check the dung beetle fauna present in the regions of Haryana. The fauna recorded was found on declining rate during the survey in comparison to earlier records of dung beetle fauna from the area.
Key words : Dung beetles, abundance, species composition