Assessment of biodiversity indices and abundance of Coccinellid beetles (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) from rural areas of Augustmuni block of Rudraprayag District (Uttarakhand)

A study on the diversity and abundance of coccinellids was conducted in four different agricultural sites representing rural areas of the Augustmuni block of Rudraprayag District (Uttarakhand). A total of 10 species of coccinellids were collected from all four sampling sites. These recorded species belong to 8 genera of 4 tribes. The identified 10 species of Coccinellids are Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, Coccinella transversalis Fabricius, Coelophora bissellata Mulsant, Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), Oenopia kirbyi Mulsant, Oenopia sauzeti Mulsant, Propylea dissecta (Mulsant), Brumoides suturalis (Fabricius), Novius sexnotatus (Mulsant), and Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata (Fabricius). Out of these 10 sampled species, 09 species act as zoophagous predators, while 01 species is phytophagous. The total species diversity index of the coccinellid fauna in the agricultural area of Augustmuni was 2.175, which shows high to moderate diversity of coccinellids in all four study sites. During the study period, it was also observed that among all Coccinellid species, Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus was the most dominant and abundant species (196), while Brumoides suturalis (Fabricius) was the least abundant species (28) in terms of number of individuals. The highest number of individuals of Coccinellids was recorded from Site no. 2 (344), followed by Site no. 3 (330 species), Site no. 4 (198 species) and Site no. 1 (180 species) in terms of no. of individuals.