A Survey of Eulophid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) Associated with Rice Ecosystems of Tamil Nadu

Surveys were conducted to explore the eulophid fauna in rice ecosystems of Tamil Nadu during 2015-16 in three different rice-growing zones viz., western zone, Cauvery delta zone and high rainfall zone. In the present study, a total of 161 eulophid individuals were collected from rice ecosystems that represent 3 subfamilies, 8 genera and 14 species. The three subfamilies are Entodoninae, Eulophinae and Tetrastichinae. Alpha and beta diversity were computed for the three zones and the diversity indices (Simpson’s index, Shannon-Wiener index, Pielou’s index) revealed that the high rainfall zone was the most diverse zone, while the western zone being the least. Aprostocetus benazeer Narendran was found to be the most abundant species in the rice ecosystem with a relative density of 12.4 per cent. On comparing the species similarities using the Jaccard’s index in between the three sites taken in pairs, it was found that 66 per cent similarity between western and Cauvery delta zones and 42 per cent similarity between high rainfall and Cauvery delta zones and 35 per cent similarity between high rainfall and western zones.