Species Composition and Relative Abundance of Insects in Niger Delta University and Environs Community inBayelsa State, Nigeria
Abstract
The composition and relative abundance of insects inhabiting the ecosystems of Niger Delta University and the surroundings of Amassoma community were studied from May 15 to October 15, 2020, to provide baseline data for research and environmental impact assessment. Five methods used to collect samples from four sites included sweep nets, aerial nets, pitfall traps, light traps, and direct collection by hand. A total of 7,225 individual insects were collected and identified into 8 orders, 24 families, and 32 species. The most abundant insects were the Anopheles species (Diptera: Culicidae), constituting 58.74%, and Dorylus species (Diptera: Formicidae), constituting 26.12%. There were low numbers of six insect species which included Libellula pulchella (Odonata: Libellulidae); Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae); Spodoptera exempta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae); and Colgmia sp. (Diptera: Psychodidae), ranging between 1.24% and 1.68% in abundance. Among the remaining twenty-six families with fewer species, the least abundant were Hypena cabra (Erebidae), Labidomera clivicollis (Chrysomelidae), and Coccinella sp. (Coccinellidae), which had negligible populations ranging between 0.05% and 0.043%. Five insect specimens with an abundance of 0.076% were not identified. This preliminary study confirmed the rich composition of insect species in the environs of Niger Delta University; however, threats driving these insects towards extinction need to be investigated.
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