Abstract
The study records seven families, 11 genera and 14 species of hemipteran insect community in different seasons in a temple pond near Silchar, Cachar District, Assam, northeastern India. The pond is very rich in macrophytes like Nelumbo nucifera (Water Lotus), Hygrorhiza aristata (Indian Lotus), Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda Grass), Philotria sp. etc. The hemipteran families recorded in the system were Corixidae, Gerridae, Aphididae, Mesoveliidae, Notonectidae, Nepidae and Belostomatidae. The species were Micronecta haliploides, Micronecta (Basileonecta) scutellaris scutellaris (Stål) (Corixidae); Neogerris parvula (Stål), Limnogonus nitidus (Mayr), Tenagogerris sp., Rhagadotarsus sp. (Gerridae); Enithares ciliata (Fabricius), Anisops lundbladiana Landsbury, (Notonectidae); Diplonychus rusticus (Fabricius) and Diplonychus annulatus (Fabricius) (Belostomatidae), Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae (Linnaeus) (Aphididae), Ranatra elongata (Fabricius), Ranatra varipes varipes (Stål) (Nepidae) and Mesovelia vittigera Horváth (Mesoveliidae). The highest population of Hemiptera was recorded during the post-monsoon followed by the pre-monsoon and the monsoon periods. The lowest was recorded in the winter. Shannon Weiner diversity index (H/) and evenness index (J/) showed the highest diversity and evenness during the post monsoon period. Berger Parker index of dominance (d) was found highest in winter. In winter both diversity and density were the lowest. The study revealed the presence of four dominant species and three sub-dominant species in the pond. Insect diversity did not show any significant relationship with the environmental variables.
Highlights
Aquatic biodiversity is one of the most essential characteristics of an aquatic ecosystem for maintaining stability and a means of coping with any environmental change (Vinson & Hawkins 1998)
This study attempts to understand the temporal variation of the Hemiptera insect community of a temple pond, a 200-year old permanent system situated within a tea estate near Silchar City of Cachar District, Assam along with the physico-chemical properties of the water of the pond (Fig. 1)
During each sampling water sample was collected for estimating physico-chemical properties of water such as water temperature (WT), transparency, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), total alkalinity (TA), free CO2, total dissolved solid (TDS), and total suspended solids (TSS)
Summary
Aquatic biodiversity is one of the most essential characteristics of an aquatic ecosystem for maintaining stability and a means of coping with any environmental change (Vinson & Hawkins 1998). This study attempts to understand the temporal variation of the Hemiptera insect community of a temple pond, a 200-year old permanent system situated within a tea estate near Silchar City of Cachar District, Assam along with the physico-chemical properties of the water of the pond (Fig. 1). The present study recorded seven families, 11 genera and 14 species of the order Hemiptera in the pond.
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