Species richness and temporal variation in the dragonfly and damselfly fauna at National Botanical Garden Shah Alam

Abstract

A study on the species richness and temporal variation of insect under order Odonata was conducted at National Botanical Garden Shah Alam (NBGSA), Selangor. Samplings were conducted for three months from January 2012 to March 2012 using sweep net. Two trails were chosen at two different lakes and two different sessions which were morning session and evening session. Trail one was located at the innermost part of the forest that far human activities while trail two was located at middle of the forest with open area and near to human activities. A total of 420 odonates were successfully collected consist of four families and 23 morphospecies. The families identified were Lestidae, Libellulidae, Coenagrionidae and Gomhidae. The most abundant family was the Libellulidae with 341 individuals followed by Lestidae, Coenagrionidae and Gomphidae with 54, 16, and 9 individuals respectively. Trail one recorded the highest number of individuals collected with 250 individuals while trail two with 170 individuals had the lowest number of individual collected. Morning session was identified as the most active time for Odonata with 236 individuals collected rather than evening session with only 184 individuals. From the data analysis, Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index showed that there was no significant different (p > 0.05) between both trails and sessions. Overall study had shown area with high vegetation and located far away from human activities had the highest diversity of Odonata.