Community Structure of Coccinellids in New Valley Governorate, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Zoology Department &Entomology, Faculty of Science, New Valley University, Egypt

Abstract

A study for tribe Coccinellini (Coleopteran: Coccinellidae) was conducted in the New Valley Governorate of Egypt. Members of this tripe are important for biological control because they are primary predators of aphids. The identification of this tribe in the New Valley constitutes the basis for future biological studies to determine the extent to which it can be used in preparing biological control programs.This study aimed to study the community structure of Coccinellids in New Valley Governorate. The adult Coccinellids were collected from Agriculture and thenatural ecosystem from three sites; El-Kharga, El-DaKhla and Paris during the period from January   2018 till the end December 2019. The results revealed the presence of 4 species (Coccinella septempunctata,Coccinella undecimpunctata,Cheilomenespropinquanilotica, and Cheilomenes propinqua vicina), the investigation included their abundance and distribution in the New Valley Governorate. The species Ch. propinquanilotica was recorded in the New Valley for the first time. The ladybirds, C. Sempunctata and    C. undsempunctata were the commonest species and the most abundant ones. The maximal numbers and percentage of coccinellids were recorded during spring months. The species richness and diversity of thecoccinellids community reach the maximum level in spring and summer seasons. El-Dakhla recorded the highest value (0.629) of Margalef’s index for species richness, while El-Kharga and Paris recorded the lowest values (0.479 and 0.524, respectively). The coccinellids composition ismostly related to air temperature followed by wind velocity

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