Seasonal and Altitudinal Changes in Population Density of 20 Species of Drosophila in Chamundi Hill

A year long study was conducted to analyze the altitudinal and seasonal variation in a population of Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) on Chamundi hill of Mysore, Karnataka State, India. A total of 16,671 Drosophila flies belonging to 20 species of 4 subgenera were collected at altitudes of 680 m,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of insect science (Tucson, Ariz.) Ariz.), 2010, Vol.10 (123), p.1-12
Main Authors: Guruprasad, Basavarajpur R., Hegde, Shridhar N., Krishna, Mysore S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Altitude
Animals
Berger-Parker Index
Biodiversity
Biological diversity
cluster analysis
Diptera
Drosophila
Drosophilidae
Environmental aspects
India
occurrence constancy method
Physiological aspects
Population Density
Rainfall
Seasonal variations
Seasons
Simpson Index
Sophophora
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Summary:A year long study was conducted to analyze the altitudinal and seasonal variation in a population of Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) on Chamundi hill of Mysore, Karnataka State, India. A total of 16,671 Drosophila flies belonging to 20 species of 4 subgenera were collected at altitudes of 680 m, 780 m, 880 m and 980 m. The subgenus Sophophora was predominant with 14 species and the subgenus Drosilopha was least represented with only a single species. Cluster analysis and constancy methods were used to analyze the species occurrence qualitatively. Altitudinal changes in the population density, and relative abundance of the different species at different seasons were also studied. The diversity of the Drosophila community was assessed by applying the Simpson and Berger-Parker indices. At 680 m the Simpson Index was low at 0.129 and the Berger- Parker index was high at 1.1 at 980 m. Linear regression showed that the Drosophila community was positively correlated with rainfall but not elevation, Furthermore the density of Drosophila changed significantly in different seasons (F = 11.20, df 2, 9; P
ISSN:1536-2442
1536-2442
DOI:10.1673/031.010.12301