HIROJ KUMAR SAHA* AND VIDYA KARISHMA HEMBROM
Department of Zoology, Bethune College, 181 Bidhan Sarani, Kolkata-700 006 (West Bengal), India
*(e-mail : hiroj1979@gmail.com; Mobile : 7872679760)
(Received : March 28, 2020; Accepted : May 20, 2020)
ABSTRACT
Insects, most successful and diverse form of organisms, play an important role in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystem as a major food source for other species that inhabit ecosystem and help to perform various activities which are necessary for an ecological balance. A short term monitoring was carried out from 8 to 10 a. m. during the period September 2017 to April 2018 with the aim of documenting the insect diversity and ecology at Kathikund in the district of Dumka, Jharkhand. During this study, six insect orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Odonata and Mantodea) were recorded from five habitats i. e. Village Area (VA), Grassland Area (GA), Agricultural Land Area (ALA), River Side (RS) and Hilly Area (HA). A total of 221 individuals of 52 insect species belonging to 27 families of six orders were recorded during the entire study period. Different ecological indices i. e. Shannon-Weaner Index, Margalef Index, Equitability Index and Menhinick’s Index were used for species diversity analysis.
Key words : Kathikund, species richness, diversity, habitats