Density, Abundance and Diversity of Insect Pollinators at Agro-Ecosystems of Kodagu District, Karnataka, India

Aim: Inventorying the insect pollinators and their diversity at different agro-ecosystems of Kodagu district. Background: Many insect species play a crucial role in the process of pollination of various flowering plant species amidst diversified agro-ecosystems. Published reports on insect pollinators are diffused and it is necessitated in Kodagu district. Hence, the study of insect pollinators was carried out at different agro-ecosystems of Kodagu district of Karnataka during 2020-2023. Materials and Methods: Twelve study sites were selected randomly at different habitats such as plantations, uncultivable lands, paddy fields, horticulture gardens, meadows, scrubby jungle and agriculture farms by following standard methods. Results: Total 79 insect species were observed on different flora which belongs to six orders, 22 families and 69 genera. Hymenopterans were predominant (86.3%) and it was followed by Lepidopteron (8.1%) found commonly at different agro-ecosystems of Kodagu district. However, Coleopterans (1.7%), Dipterans (1.7%), Hemipterans (1.0%) and Odonates (1.1%) were less in number and their per cent occurrence was less than 2. Interestingly, Apidae family members of the order Hymenoptera were very high and it was followed by Nymphalidae and Pieridae of the order Lepidoptera and Syrphidae of the order Diptera compared to other families. The diversity indices revealed considerable variations and surprisingly, 2.8% insect pollinators decline was observed at different agro-ecosystems of Kodagu district. Conclusion: Thus, present investigation provided an insight on commonly occurring pollinating insect species, their distribution, diversity and declining trend at agro-ecosystems of Kodagu district, Karnataka.