Diversity and distribution of Coccinellid beetles in irrigated and rainfed fields of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

In order to assess the biodiversity and distribution of coccinellid beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), sampleswere collected from rainfed and irrigated filds of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan during 2015-2016. Adult specimens were collected fortnightly from crops, weeds and shrubs from randomly selected locations i.e. Dolat Nagar, Lala Musa, Jalalpur Jatan, Guliyana, Fateh Pur and Kunjah. Analysis of specimens indicated a representation of 14 species, 6 genera and 3 sub families across all sites. Maximum abundance was noticed for Coccinella septempunctata (19.63 %) followed by Coccinella undecimpunctata (14.70 %), Coccinella transversalis (11.14 %) and Coccinella sexmaculata (10.29 %). Greater diversity (H: 2.481), dominance (1-D: 0.8964) and evenness ( J: 0.7474) of coccinellid beetles were recorded from under-study sites. However, variations in the abundance of species were observed i.e. Cocinella was the most abundant genus with four species (C. septempunctata, C. transversalis, C. undecimpunctata and C. trifasciata). Th specimens collected from diffrent sites showed variations in the diversity (H) and dominance (D) of species i.e. maximum in Kunjah (H: 2.535 and D: 0.1016) followed by Lala Musa (H: 2.511 and D: 0.09681) and Guliyana (H: 2.463 and D: 0.1048). Taken together, these results depict that coccinellid species showed fair distribution in irrigated and rainfed fields of Gujrat. While these results define the foundation, further studies are warranted to investigate species diversity, abundance and distribution under diffrent agro-climatic conditions particularly with reference to diffrent pests and their host plants.