Seasonal Variation and Diversity of Hoverflies Fauna (Dipter: Syrphidae) in Central Sindh, Pakistan
Seasonal Variation and Diversity of Hoverflies Fauna (Dipter: Syrphidae) in Central Sindh, Pakistan
Attaullah Ansari* and Nasreen Memon
ABSTRACT
Diversity and seasonal variation in abundance of Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) fauna were studied in five different habitats of various localities of central Sindh during March to December 2015. Adult specimens were captured/trapped through Malaise trap, Yellow pan water trap and insect hand net. As a result, a total of 783 specimens belonging to 8 species, 6 genera of two subfamilies were collected, among which Episurphusbaltatus, De Geer, Eritalinus aeneus, Scopoli, and Ischiodon scutellaris, Fabricius were found to be most prevalent whereas; Eristalis arbustorum was found least in number during study period. The abundance of hoverflies fauna varied seasonally, the highest abundance was recorded in spring while lowest in autumn. Pearson’s correlation coefficient results revealed that there was a strong positive and significant correlation of number of host plant species with the profusion of hoverflies whereas; temperature had a strong negative and significant correlation with the abundance of hoverflies. Moreover relative humidity, rainfall and cloudiness were also negatively correlated with hoverfly population but their correlation was not significant. Habitat wise variation in average population size, species richness, evenness and diversity index were also calculated. The highest and lowest degrees of population size, richness and evenness and diversity were recorded in agriculture crops and fodder crops, respectively.
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