Diversity and abundance of phytophagous scarab beetles in north-western Himalaya (India)

Studies on the biodiversity of phytophagous scarab beetles were conducted by using light traps at six locations with altitude ranging from 807–2044 m a.s.l. in north-western Himalaya. At Sundernagar, Jogindernagar, Chailchowk and Pangna, Holotrichia longipennis and Anomala lineatopennis were recorded as predominant species. The relative abundance of H. longipennis and A. lineatopennis varied from 13.45–23.36 and 14.19–24.41%, respectively. The predominant species at Bagsaid were Anomala dimidiata (14.96%) and Anomala rufiventris (14.60%). Brahmina coriacea and Brahmina flavosericea were found to be other leading species at Bagsaid and Janjehli and their relative abundance was 14.23–14.85 and 12.41–15.39%, respectively. The pooled analysis of data from six locations revealed that H. longipennis was the most predominant species comprising 16.28% of total beetle catch. The Pielou’s evenness index was maximum at Pangna (J' = 0.86) and minimum at Chailchowk (J' = 0.72). The value of Shannon index (H') was maximum at Pangna (H' = 2.54), and minimum at Sundernagar and Jogindernagar (H' = 2.18). The Fisher plots indicated few common and more rare species at most of the locations. The Whittaker rank/ abundance curves showed greater evenness of scarab assemblage at Chailchowk and Pangna. The Beta diversity exhibited maximum similarity between Sundernagar and Chailchowk, whereas maximum dissimilarity among scarab communities was recorded between Jogindernagar and Janjehli.