Entomofauna of Sorghum

Entomofaunal diversity at different growth stages (seedling, vegetative, flowering and maturity stage) of sorghum crop under irrigated condition was studied at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, during October 2017-January 2018. Observations on pests, natural enemies and innocuous insects made at weekly intervals were analysed to bring out the alpha diversity with four standard biodiversity indices, namely, Shannon-Weaver diversity index, Simpson's dominance index, Pielou's uniformity index and Margaleff's richness index. A total of 78 species under 47 families and 11 orders were observed to be associated. The diversity and richness were observed to be more during the vegetative stage followed by maturity and flowering stages whereas the least was observed during the seedling stage.