A Comparative Study of Insect Collection Made by Employing Two Different Methods of Collection in an Agro-Ecosystem near Jhunjhunun, Rajasthan, India

As insects play many different roles in an ecosystem, it is important to know their diversity and density in a particular area and also during specific seasons. Deciding which insect trap to use is an important consideration for ecologists and entomologists. During the present study, the relative performances of cage net trap and light trap have been compared for insect collection. The study was undertaken in an agro-ecosystem situated in the Indian desert in Jhujhunu district situated in western Rajasthan. Insects visiting different crops cultivated round the year were collected employing an indigenously designed cage of size 1mx1mx1m of nylon mesh during day time and light trap comprising of 260 Watt mercury bulb during night. The cage net trap collection comprised of fifteen coleopteran, thirty one lepidopteran, fourteen hemipteran, twenty two hymenopteran, eight dipteran, three dictyopteran, nine orthopteran, five odonates, one neuropteran and one embiopteran, while in light trap collection order Coleoptera was represented by fifteen species, order Lepidoptera by twenty species, order Hemiptera by seven species, order Hymenoptera by three species, order Diptera by three species, order Dictyoptera, Embioptera and Orthoptera by one species each and order Neuroptera by three species. No odonates were observed in light trap collection. Further, the light trap collection comprised of four species which were never documented in cage net collections.