Above Ground Arthropod Diversity in a Tropical Deciduous Forest in Ayodhya Hill, Purulia, India

Arthropods exploiting terrestrial habitats constitute a single major group that represents extreme diversity of forms and functions. The present commentary provides a description of the above ground arthropod species diversity of the tropical deciduous forest in Ayodhya hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India. Species diversity was only considered for this study through random quadrat sampling method. Shannon-Wiener diversity index, equitability among species, relative dominance, species richness and community similarity for the two different habitats were calculated. A total of 289 individuals were recorded which included the insect orders Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Isoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera, Thysanoptera, Homoptera, Mantodea, and few individuals of class Isopoda, Araneae and Chilopoda. In majority of the quadrats the dominant insect order was Hymenoptera.