INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH DECOMPOSING AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED (Pentaclethra macrophylla BENTH.) IN TWO ENVIRONMENTS IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA by Ekejiuba Emeka Emmanuel, Ewuim Sylvanus Chima, Scientific Research Journal (Scirj), Volume VII, Issue IV, April 2019 Edition

Scirj Volume VII, Issue IV, April 2019 Edition
ISSN: 2201-2796

INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH DECOMPOSING AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED (Pentaclethra macrophylla BENTH.) IN TWO ENVIRONMENTS IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Ekejiuba Emeka Emmanuel, Ewuim Sylvanus Chima

Abstract: Insect fauna populations during the decomposition of sliced fermented African oil bean seeds ugba in two environments were studied in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. The study was carried out for eight weeks in the months of April to June, 2018. During the study period, the insects associated with the decomposing oil bean seeds were collected with sweep net and hand-picking methods. T-test was used to analyse the relative abundance of the insects collected between the two environments at 5% significance level. Species diversity was also calculated using Shannon Wiener Index of Diversity. The individual insects collected were identified into five (5) orders, eighteen (18) genera and twenty-one (21) species. A total of 392 insects were collected from the study and the total number of insects attracted to asynanthropic environment (218) was higher than those of synanthropic environment (174). The results further showed that out of the five insect orders captured, Coleoptera recorded the highest number of insects in both environments (241), while Blattodea and Hemiptera had the least number of insects (6) each. There was no significant difference between the insect orders attracted to asynanthropic and synanthropic environments (P=0.16) but there was significant difference between the total number of insects caught from the different orders in both environments (P=0.00). The relative occurrence of these insects suggests that decaying ugba is a convenient feeding and oviposition medium for many insects.

Reference this Paper: INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH DECOMPOSING AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED (Pentaclethra macrophylla BENTH.) IN TWO ENVIRONMENTS IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA by Ekejiuba Emeka Emmanuel, Ewuim Sylvanus Chima published at: "Scientific Research Journal (Scirj), Volume VII, Issue IV, April 2019 Edition, page 78-88 ".

Search Terms: ugba, insects, decomposition, synanthropic, asynanthropic, relative abundance

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