Seasonal Abundance and Diversity of Arthropod Communities in Bt Cotton Agro-ecosystem of Kalaburagi, Karnataka, India | Chapter 8 | Research Perspective on Biological Science Vol. 7

 

Cotton is one of the important and leading prime cash crops in the Indian economy. Cultivation of genetically modified Bt cotton resulted in an increase in yield, and the adoption of Bt cotton has decreased the use of chemical pesticides, which are much hazardous for the environment and human health. The cotton ecosystem is a shelter for many pests and predatory arthropod communities. The aim of the study is to investigate the diversity and seasonal patterns of arthropod populations in Bt cotton fields in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, to understand their occurrence, abundance, and impact on the Bt cotton ecosystem. The Present study was conducted at the Bt-cotton fields of the opted study area of Kalaburagi. Various sampling techniques were used to collect arthropod samples, namely, the sweep net technique, pit-fall technique and the light-trap technique. The results clearly suggest that a total of 21 arthropod species were recorded, among them 13 insects were categorised as pests and 8 were natural enemies. Apart from that, 3 species of predatory spiders were recorded. In the Bt cotton agro-ecosystem, leafhoppers, whiteflies, aphids, thrips, mites, and red cotton bugs were abundant during the 35th, 36th, 40th, 38th, 39th and 46th SMW. On the other hand, natural enemies, viz, spiders, ladybird beetles, lace wings, hover flies and ants, were found predominantly for the duration of 34th to 36th SMW. A correlation study shows that rainfall had a negative correlation with semilooper, whitefly, leafhopper, hoverfly fly and green lacewings. Significantly positive correlation was observed between maximum temperature and mealy bug, green stink bug, pink bollworm and green lacewing, hoverfly, white flies, and chafer beetle and spider population. Diversity of arthropod fauna was moderate to rich in the Bt cotton agro-ecosystem of the selected study area (H'=2.09) with higher abundance of aphids followed by whiteflies, leaf hoppers, mites, thrips and red cotton bugs. The findings highlight the dynamic interaction between pest and natural enemy populations under varying climatic conditions, providing useful insights for integrated pest management strategies in Bt-cotton cultivation.

 

 

Author(s) Details

AMBRISHA VENKATESHWAR
Department of P.G. Studies and Research in Zoology, Gulbarga University, Kalaburagi, 585106, India.

 

K. VIJAYKUMAR
Department of P.G. Studies and Research in Zoology, Gulbarga University, Kalaburagi, 585106, India.

 

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rpbs/v7/6225

 

An Overview of the Diversity of Aquatic Insects in Assam, North-East India | Chapter 6 | Emerging Issues in Environment, Geography and Earth Science Vol. 7

India is one of the world's mega-biodiversity hotspot nations. The country is one of the world's 17 Mega biodiverse countries, accounting for 7-8% of all documented species. A class of arthropods known as aquatic insects can be found on or on the surface of lacustrine or riverine ecosystems where they complete their life cycle in water bodies. Eight main insect orders live their whole lives in the freshwater habitat. Aquatic insects are a taxonomically varied, ecologically significant, and fascinating collection of creatures found in Lentic freshwater systems. They are recognised to play an important role in nutrient processing and cycling since they are classified as shredders, filter feeders, deposit collectors, and predators. The functioning of aquatic ecosystems is greatly influenced by aquatic insects. The current study aims to examine the relative abundance of insects in various microhabitats of the study site Assam and the North Eastern States of India. A significant diversity of aquatic insects, which is indicative of the strength and abundance of the aquatic ecosystem, may be found in the northeastern section of India and various parts of Assam. In most of the research sites, it was discovered from the entire study that insects from the orders Odonata, Hemiptera, and Coleoptera were most prevalent, followed by those from the orders Diptera and Ephemeroptera. The order Coleoptera accounted for 59% of all known aquatic insect species. The studied locations are discovered to have the least number of insects from the Orders Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Hymenoptera, and Collembola. In Northeast India and several parts of Assam, there were no records of aquatic insects from the Orders Neuroptera/Megaloptera and Lepidoptera.

Author(s) Details:

Danswrang Basumatary,
Department of Zoology, Kokrajhar Govt. College, Kokrajhar, Assam, India.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/EIEGES-V7/article/view/13338