Season and stage specificity of insect communities on paddy in Goa

Abstract

Paddy cultivation under rain fed conditions is widely practiced in Goa, one of the smaller states in India. The continuous growing of paddy for several centuries has provided an undisturbed platform for insects, which in some cases have become important pests. The objective of this paper is to contribute to fill the gap of published information on the season and developmental stage specific insect species communities harboring on paddy in Goa. The results indicate that even in a relatively small, irrigated, paddy growing area like Goa, there are as many as 74 insect species harboring on paddy; 62 species were recorded during Kharif season (June-September), and 42 during Rabi season (October-January). Twenty-nine species were found during both the seasons. Eleven species were found during all the stages of developmental of paddy and 2, 15 and 3 species were recorded exclusively during seed setting, fully-grown and post harvest stage respectively. The possible reasons for the observed patterns are discussed in the light of available literature.