Insect Community of Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary (Shopian), Jammu and Kashmir, India

Insects are known to be the most successful and diverse form of organisms on earth. Insects play an important role in running an ecosystem and help to perform various activities which are necessary for an ecological balance. The study which was carried in 2013 reports the insect diversity of Hirpora wildlife sanctuary (Shopian) and a total of 338 insect individuals of twenty six (26) species were recorded belonging to twenty (20) families and seven (07) orders during the time period of June-Nov. 2013. Lepidoptera order comprise of greater number of insects followed by Hymenoptera, Diptera and coleoptera while lesser number of insects were found in Odonata, Hemiptera and Orthoptera. The maximum number of insects were recorded in the month of July and August due to the favorable environmental conditions and least number of insects were recorded during the month of October and November at this stage their life cycle changes and their number starts to decline because of non availability of food and drastic change in the environment of which they are a part.