A study on insect biodiversity of Zhenhai industrial estate in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province

Key Words：insect biodiversity, Zhenhai industrial estate, Ningbo, Zhejiang, different habitats

Abstract：        The diversity of insect communities in Zhenhai industrial estate, Zhejiang Province was investigated from July to November 2008 Five representative habitats; woodland, farmland, an artificial nursery, ecological park and an industrial area were selected. The numbers of species and individuals in each habitat type were sampled and analyzed monthly. A total of 284 species belonging to 108 families and 13 orders were recorded. The dominant groups were the Homoptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Among different guilds, phytophagous insects comprised 8843% of the total number of individual insects recorded and were much more abundant than either predatory or parasitic insects. However, the latter two groups were more diverse at the family level. The ShannonWiener index of species diversity in the five different habitats was, from highest to lowest: artificial nursery＞ecological park＞woodland＞industrial area＞farmlands. The temporal pattern of monthly species diversity was, from highest to lowest: July＞August＞October＞November. The similarity index (Cs) was highest (0.3486) between farmland and the ecological park, and lowest (0.1842) between woodland and the artificial nursery. The tight correlation between the distribution of insects and habitat suggests that habitat type is an important factor in insect diversity.