Appraisal of eco-diversity of order Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) corn (Zea mays L.) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fields under the ecological conditions of district Jhang

Present study was conducted to record appraisal of eco-diversity of order Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera in wheat, com and cotton fields of Jhang district. Total of 779 specimens were collected from three crop fields up to end of all research trails and identified up to species level according to reference material. Taxa composition pertaining three orders was different regarding three crops i.e. 21 families, 37 genera and 39 species were recorded from wheat fields; 17 families, 29 genera and 29 species from com fields and 30 families, 37 genera and 37 species from cotton fields. Among these fields, pertaining to order Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, maximum population were recorded from wheat fields 46.08% (359 specimens), followed by cotton 32.09% (250 specimens) and com 21.82% (170 specimens). While, order Coleoptera (82.73% from wheat; 66.47% from com and 64.40% from cotton) was recorded dominant order with regard to other two orders, followed by Hymenoptera (7.52% from wheat; 20.59% from com and 27.20% from cotton) and Lepidoptera (9.75% from wheat; 12.94% from com and 8.40% from cotton) among all the fields during the entire study period. Maximum relative abundance was recorded for order Coleoptera (82.73%) in the wheat fields, followed by order Lepidoptera (9.75%) and least for order Hymenoptera (7.52%). Order Coleoptera shown the maximum richness (R) in wheat (6.6973) and order Lepidoptera shown the least value (3.8472). In com fields, maximum richness was recorded for order Hymenoptera (5.6529) and minimum was for order Lepidoptera (3.7280); while in cotton fields, order Hymenoptera presented maximum richness value (8.7363) and order Lepidoptera shown the least value (2.8854). The results of ANOVA among the dependent variables (Wheat, Com and Cotton) and independent variables (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera) were not conclusive regarding the status of significance (F = 0.38; P = 0.6866): it happened because of enormous variations pertaining to population density of each taxa and species.