Taxonomic studies on scarabaeidae coleoptera of nadia district west bengal india

Abstract

Scarabaeidae is a megadiverse family within the insect order Coleoptera with 35,601 species described until now under 25 subfamilies, 104 tribes, and 2576 genera. In India, the family is known by 2602 species, of which 231 were reported from the West Bengal state. newlineBoth adults and larvae of scarab beetles cause serious damage to agriculture and forestry while many are beneficial for their role as pollinators, nutrient recyclers, and parasite suppressors. newlineUnfortunately, the composition of scarab beetles of the Nadia district of West Bengal state of India was completely unknown until initiation of the present study and there was no data available on the occurrence of these beetles from the district. newlineWith this background, the present work has been taken up to explore the taxonomic diversity of family Scarabaeidae of the Nadia district of West Bengal state of India. Regular faunistic surveys were conducted in each block of the study area during April 2017 and March 2020. The surveys resulted in the recognition of 75 species, of which maximum species representation is from the subfamily Scarabaeinae Latreille, 1802 with 42 species, followed by Rutelinae MacLeay, 1819 with 19 species. Subfamilies Dynastinae MacLeay, 1819 and Cetoniinae Leach, 1815 were recorded with nine and five species respectively newline