The Hemiptera order has 23,000 species that are distributed among many families. Two of these are the Pentatomidae and Reduviidae families. The aim of this study was to identify the different species of insects from the Reduviidae and Pentatomidae families as well as each species’ abundance in three ecological niches (forest, forest edge, and farm land). The study was conducted in six communities of Los Yungas, La Paz (Carmen Pampa, San Pablo, San Juan de la Miel, Altuspata, Choro Alto, and Choro). In each community, three Malaise traps were installed in the three ecological niches (forest, forest edge, and farm land). The six communities were evaluated for a period of one year. The work was divided among four groups due to the fact that two families were being studied in two different municipalities. In the Coroico municipality (Carmen Pampa, San Pablo, and San Juan de la Miel), the study took place from May 2006 to May 2007. In the Coripata municipality (Altuspata, Choro Alto, and Choro), the study took place from May 2007 to May 2008. The first group identified 34 morphospecies of the Pentatomidae family with 137 individuals in the Carmen Pampa, San Pablo, and San Juan de la Miel communities. The second group identified 19 species of the Pentatomidae family with 54 individuals in the Altuspata, Choro Alto, and Choro communities. The third group found 31 species of the Reduviidae family along with 77 individuals. The fourth group identified 14 species of the Reduviidae family along with 60 individuals. Carmen Pampa and San Juan de la Miel are similar in terms of plant life and climate. San Pablo, however, is different due to its much drier climate. Morphospecies number three from the Pentatomidae family was the most abundant in the farm land niche in San Juan de la Miel. In all six communities, we found that morphospecies 16 was the most abundant in the forest niche. In addition, we found that there is little similarity between the species that inhabit both the forest and farm land areas. A recurrent pattern in the six communities was the presence of similar species in the forest and forest edge niches. This is due to the transitional character of the forest edge niche. Morphospecies 16 of the Reduviidae family was found most often in the forest and forest edge niches of the Altuspata and Choro Alto communities. It was absent in the Choro community. The area of study has insect species of the Pentatomidae and Reduviidae families that play important ecological roles - in some cases they can be pests and in others they can be predators of pests. There is a notable difference in the presence of insects from the Reduviidae and Pentatomidae families between municipalities. This difference is explained by the increased application of agrochemicals in the municipality of Coripata.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-6395 |
| Date | 01 January 2009 |
| Creators | Manrique Mamani, Fernando Miguel |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Coverage | Coroico (Bolivia), Coripata (Bolivia) |
| Rights | http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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