Diversity of Aquatic Insects in Lake Pichhola of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

The present study conducted on Lake Pichhola with regard to its insect diversity revealed a total of 24 species during the period from October 2019 to March 2020 and these 24 species of insects belonged to 6 orders and 12 families. Maximum insect species were recorded from the littoral zone (vegetation rich site) and minimum insect species from limnetic zone and disturbed sites of the lake. A number of insect species and their immature stages from orders Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Trichoptera were observed. The insect fauna from the order Odonata dominated over Ephemeroptera and the second most dominant order was Hemiptera. Aquatic insects are best known for their ability to indicate the water quality and monitoring of aquatic insect diversity and abundance can expedite the conservation of these lake ecosystems.