Abundance and Diversity of Aerial Insects in the Jos Museum Zoological Garden, Plateau State, Nigeria
NJILA, H.L, MWANSAT, G. S., BARNABAS, F., OMBUGADU, A., PUKUMA, S. M., DIBAL, M. and MAFUYAI, M. J
Nig . .J. Entomol. 33: 93-102(2017)
| DOI: 10.36108/NJE/7102/33(0111) |
ABSTRACT: The species composition and diversity of aerial insects inhabiting different ecosystems are not well known particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, a study on species diversity and abundance of aerial insects in the Jos Museum Zoological (JMZ) Garden, Plateau State, Nigeria was carried out between June and July, 2013. Aerial insects were collected from edge, mid and interior points of rocky outcrop and savannah woodland using a sweep net. Each transect point was 50 metres long, 20 sweeps were made in each transect point. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to test for
significant difference in the mean abundance of aerial insects between habitats. One-way ANOVA was used to test for significant difference in the mean abundance of aerial insects between points and insects’ orders. The Shannon diversity index was used to compare species diversity in the two habitats. The Sorensen’s similarity index was used to compare species compositional similarity or variation between habitats. A total of 103 individuals aerial insects distributed in 11 Orders, 36 Families, 35 genera and 27 species were collected. Fifty eight(58) insects representing 55.77% were collected from rocky outcrop while 45 insects representing 44.23% were collected from savanna woodland. The species diversity index did not vary significantly (P<0.05), but showed a complete dissimilarity in
species composition in the two habitats. These findings clearly suggest that the JMZ Garden is rich in insect species of different orders and is a healthy ecosystem. It is, therefore, recommended that unsustainable anthropogenic activities such as refuse dumping, defeacating, logging and bush burning should be discouraged in the garden.
Keywords: Jos, Museum, Zoological Garden, aerial insects.