Diversity of some insect fauna in industrial and non-industrial areas of West Bengal, India

Abstract

The present work is designed to study diversity of five insect orders (viz., Hemiptera, Orthoptera, aculeate Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera) in the industrial region of Haldia (India) and in non-industrial area of the same district and to evaluate the impact of industrialization on the biodiversity of those insect orders. The objective also extended to find out the possibility of existence of bioindicator, if any. Eight study sites were selected from the East part of Midnapur district covering 40 km aerial distance. Out of eight different study sites, five were distributed in and around Haldia industrial complex and three in industry-free area. During this study, a total of 120 species under 98 genera in 37 families of insects were collected. Binary data of 5 orders revealed that the species richness of Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera is higher in non-industrial zone in comparison to that of industrial zone. Aculeate Hymenoptera shows no particular trend whereas Coleoptera shows higher species richness in industrial areas. Results of multivariate analyses are compared with the species richness data for all the eight study sites. It is concluded that even in an apparently homogeneous ecological condition species richness may drastically change with the influence of industries. Total insect fauna decline by at least 23.33% is noticed in industrial areas. It is found that some species of lepidopteran, hemipteran and orthopteran insects are susceptible to industrial pollution and some of the members of these orders may be considered as a bioindicator group.