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J. Env. Bio-Sci., 2018: Vol. 32 (1):35-43 ISSN 0973-6913 (Print), ISSN 0976-3384 (On Line)

BIO-SPECTRUM OF TROPHIC POSITION AND SECONDARY PRODUCTIVITY OF

INSECTS OF BINSAR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY IN THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS
Manoj Kumar Arya1*, Prachi Tamta1, Kishor Kumar2 and Prakash C. Joshi3
1
Insect Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Zoology
D.S.B. Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital- 263002, Uttarakhand, India
2
G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Himachal Unit, Mohal-Kullu-175126, H.P., India
3
Insect Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences
Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar- 249404, Uttarakhand, India
Corresponding authorEmail*: dr.manojkumar19@rediffmail.com

Received: 29-05-2018 Accepted: 01-06-2018

The present study deals with the trophic structure, population density, biomass and secondary productivity of insect fauna in
Binsar wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand. A total of 115 species of insects belonging to eight orders was sorted into four categories
based on their major feeding habits viz., herbivores, omnivores and predators and saprophagous. During the entire study period,
herbivorous insects showed maximum species richness i.e. 84 species (73.04%), followed by predators (17.39%), omnivores
(7.83%) and saprophagous (1.74%), respectively. Similarly, on the basis of total number of individuals of insect population recorded,
herbivores constituted the maximum of all the insects i.e. 72.88%, followed by predators 19.06%, omnivores 6.85% and saprophagous
1.21%, respectively. Across the different seasons, maximum numbers of individuals of herbivorous insects were recorded during
the rainy season (54.16%), followed by summer season (33.23%) and winter season (12.61%). Mean net secondary production of
herbivorous insects was 13.23 KJ ha-1 y-1 and 15.54 KJ ha-1 y-1during the first and second year of study, respectively.

Keywords: Biospectrum, Trophic position, Secondary productivity

Trophic level is a division of food chain which is characterized
by the method of obtaining food by the living organisms. The
members of class Insecta with diverse array of feeding behavior
form an important and major part of characteristic food chains
in the several ecosystems of the world. It is well known that
herbivorous insect population, whether in terms of numbers of
individuals or in terms of species, dominate almost all the
terrestrial habitats of the earth such as grasslands, forests
and agricultural lands (Kaushal, and Vats, 1981; Vats and
Mittal, 1983;Joshi and Sharma, 1998; Carson and Root, 2000;
Joshi and Arya, 2005;Tewari and Kaushal, 2007; Dev et al.,
2009;Joshi and Joshi, 2010; Arya, 2015 and Kumar et al.,
2015). Secondary productivity can be defined as the rate of
energy storage in the form of organic substances at the
consumer level,which becomes useful as a source of energy
for other organisms in the ecosystem (Odum, 1971). Detailed
studies on secondary production of herbivorous insects have
been done in temperate forests and tropical grasslands
ecosystem of the world (Vats and Singh, 1978; Vats and
Kaushal, 1980; Kaushal and Vats, 1984a &1984b; Kohler et
al., 1987; Kaushal and Joshi, 1988 &1991; Vats and Mittal,
1991;Singh and Yadav, 1993; Joshi and Sharma, 1998;Tewari
NAAS Rating (2017)-4.43
and Kaushal, 2007; Dev et al., 2009; Joshi and Joshi, 2010 ;
Arya and Dayakrishna, 2013), but a few published data regarding
such studies is available on forests of protected areas located
in the Himalayan region (Joshi and Arya, 2005 ; Arya, 2015).
Therefore, the present study describes the trophic structure,
population density, biomass and secondary productivity of
insects in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kumaun Himalayas,
Uttarakhand, India.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Study area: Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary (BWLS) with a
geographical area of 47.67 sq. km is located between two
districts of Uttarakhand state namely Almora and Bageshwar.
It is one of the oldest protected landscapes of the Kumaun
Himalayan region. Binsar is a fascinating spot that offers a
majestic glimpse of the snow capped Indian Himalayan peaks
namely Nanda Devi, Trishul and Panchachuli, presenting a
unique experience to its visitors. The geographical location of
Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is 29o39' - 29o44'N and 79o41'-79o49'E
and the altitude varies between 1200 to 2500 meters above
sea level. The sanctuary has core zone (4 sq. km) and buffer
zone (43.67 sq. km). No human activity is allowed in Core
 ARYA, TAMTA, KUMAR AND JOSHI
Zone (Restricted Zone). Prior to India's independence in 1947,
the study area was notified as "Protected Forest'' in 1893 and
later upgraded as "Reserve Forest" in 1897. After
independence, its status was revived to "Wildlife Sanctuary"
by the Government of India in the year 1988.The climatic
conditions prevailing in the BWLS range from temperate to
sub-temperate type.Binsar represents the characteristic floral
element of moist temperate type of vegetation.A total of 25
species of trees, 34 species of shrubs and 55 species of herbs
were recorded from the BWLS.For the present study, three
study sites were selected in the BWLS. The study sites were
selected in a manner that they represented different
characteristic features, which are as follows:-
Site-1 (Ayarpani): This site is located adjacent to the main
highway of Almora-Bageshwar. It is the entry gate for the
sanctuary and because of its proximity to highway, it receives
high level of disturbances due to tourism, transportation
activities and other associated anthropogenic pressures. During
the study period, temperature of this study site varied from
9ºC (January) to 29ºC (June), while the relative humidity ranged
between 56% (November) to 88% (August).
Site-2 (Binneshwar Mahadev): This site is located near the
Binneshwar temple within Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary and
approximately 13 km away from main highway (Almora-
Bageshwar). This site receives moderate level of disturbance
due to animal grazing, collection of minor and major forest
products by neighboring villagers and tourism. March and April
are the m onths when flowers, especially ruby red
Rhododendron, are in full bloom. The oak habitat is moderately
dense and diverse in comparison to the pine habitat (site-1).
During the study period, temperature of this study site varied
between 8.3ºC to 27ºC, while the relative humidity ranged
between 57% (November) to 89% (August).
Site-3 (Jhandi Dhar): This study site is perched at an elevation
of 2450 meters above mean sea level on the Jhandi Dhar hills,
and is one of highest hill tops in the Kumaun region. This part
of study area is also known as 'Zero Point' in BWLS. This site
receives very low level of disturbances. This is highly snow
prone area of the sanctuary receiving snow from mid of
December till the mid of March. The habitat is denser but less
diverse in comparison to the site-2. During the study period,
temperature of this study site varied between 6ºC (January) to
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26ºC (June), while the relative humidity ranged between 57.8%
(November) to 90% (August).
Sampling of insect fauna:The insects were collected from
July, 2013 to June, 2015 in BWLS by hand picking method,
net sweeping method, tree beating method and sweep sampling
method (Jonathan, 1990; Arora, 1990; Ghosh, 1990 and
Gadagkar et al., 1990).
Estimation of trophic structure and population density:
Insects, once identified, were placed in four different trophic
positions viz. herbivorous, predators, saprophagous and
omnivorous based on their feeding habits. The feeding habits
of insects were determined by direct observations in the field
and with the help of published literature. Population density of
an organism is defined as the total number of individuals per
unit of area. Thus, in order to evaluate the population density
of insects for each sampling month, a total area of three
hectares at each study site was selected for the present study.
Biomass and Secondary productivity of herbivorous
insects: The biomass is defined as the live organic matter per
unit area at a given point of time and is generally expressed in
terms of oven dry weight per unit area (Odum, 1971). Therefore,
each oven-dried specimen of herbivorous insects along with
the entomological pin was weighed in a single pan electric
balance with an accuracy of 0.01 mg. The average weight of
the pin used (n=20), was subtracted to get the true values of
biomass of insect. In the present investigation, the exuvial
production has not been taken into consideration while
calculating the secondary production. Only the tissue
production, which is one of the most important aspects of
secondary production by the consumers, has been considered.
Production of eggs was also not measured separately but
was included to the extent that they performed the part of
body weight of the mature females. In the present study, tissue
production estimates of herbivores are based on calculations
of mean biomass of herbivores on each sampling month during
2013-15. The mean value of biomass was calculated by dividing
the total biomass per hectare by the number of individuals per
hectare of the respective month. Biomass data was analyzed
by using Wiegert's (1965) equation for the estimation of
secondary productivity:
(37) BIO-SPECTRUM OF TROPHIC POSITION AND SECONDARY PRODUCTIVITY OF INSECTS
Where,
Ni= Number of herbivorous insects present at time i
Wi= Mean weight per insect at time i
i = Sample time
S = Standing crop at time when i=1
While using the equation, it was assumed that Ni
Ni -1 and Wi Wi-1. However, when Wi was less then Wi-1,
the production was considered as zero.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Bio-spectrum of trophic position of insects:The present
study revealed 84 species of insects as herbivorous,out of a
total of 115 species of insects belonging to eight orders while
20 species of insects were recorded as predators, nine species
as omnivorous and only two species were saprophagous during
entire study period. Data on percent contribution of total number
of species and individuals of herbivorous, predators, omnivorous
and saprophagous insects have been presented in Figure 1(a-
b). Table 1 shows the trophic structure and percent contribution
of relative number of species and individuals of insects recorded
during 2013-15. During the first year, herbivorous insect species
were most dominant and constituted 73.39% of all the recorded
species of insects followed by predators (17.43%), omnivorous
(7.34%) and saprophagous (1.84%), respectively. During the
second year, herbivorous species constituted 72.38% of the
total number of recorded species followed by predators
(17.14%), omnivorous (8.57%) and saprophagous (1.91%),
respectively. On the basis of total number of individuals
recorded, herbivorous insects constituted maximum of all the
insects i.e., 72.41% and 73.36% for the first year and the
second year of the study, respectively followed by predators
(19.27% and 18.83%), omnivorous (7.29% and 6.41%) and
saprophagous (1.03% and 1.40%), respectively. The trophic
structure of insects belonging to different insect orders recorded
during the study period is given below:
Herbivorous: Variation in total number of species and
individuals of herbivorous insects belonging to different orders
is given in Figure 2. Maximum number of species and individuals
belonged to order Lepidoptera (46 species and 1730 individuals),
followed by Coleoptera (14 species and 395 individuals),
Orthoptera (10 species and 410 individuals), Hymenoptera
(seven species and 218 individuals), Hemiptera (four species
and 88 individuals) and Diptera (three species and 104
individuals), respectively.
Predators: Variation in total number of species and individuals
of predator insects belonging to different orders is given in
Figure 3. A total of 770 individuals belonging to 20 species of
predator insects were recorded during the study period, which
included Odonata (8 species and 279 individuals) followed by
Hymenoptera (five species and 159 individuals), Coleoptera
(two species and 146 individuals), Diptera (2 species and 90
individuals), Hemiptera (2 species and 65 individuals) and
Dictyoptera (single species and 31 individuals) respectively.
Omnivorous: Omnivorous insects were represented by 277
individuals of nine species and constituted small number of
total insects during the study period. Maximum number of
species and individuals belonged to order Coleoptera (05
species and 144 individuals) followed by Hymenoptera (02
species and 76 individuals) and Diptera (02 species and 57
individuals), respectively.
Saprophagous: Saprophagous insects constituted a small
number and represented by two species and 49 individuals of
order Coleoptera during 2013-15.
In comparison, Joshi and Sharma (1998) reported that
herbivorous insects constituted 97.13% of total insects
collected from a cropland ecosystem, Hardwar. Carson and
Root (2000) reported 95% herbivorous insects from an Old
Field Whipple farm, New York. Joshi and Arya (2005) reported
74 species of herbivorous insects belonging to 28 families and
6 orders from Pindari area of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,
India. Maximum number of species belonged to order
Lepidoptera (28 species), followed by Coleoptera (16),
Hymenoptera (14), Orthoptera (10), Diptera and Hemiptera
(three species each). Tewari and Kaushal (2007) have studied
the trophic level composition of insects in a grassland
community, central Himalayan Tarai Region of Uttarakhand
and reported that maximum number of species belonged to
herbivores (72.4%), followed predators (14.0%), omnivores
(6.5%), saprovores (4.6%) and parasites (2.5%). Similarly, Dev
 ARYA, TAMTA, KUMAR AND JOSHI (38)

Fig.1 (a): Percent contribution of relative number of species of insects according

to their feeding habits during study period

Fig.1 (b): Percent contribution of relative number of individuals of insects according

to their feeding habits during study period 2013-15
(39) BIO-SPECTRUM OF TROPHIC POSITION AND SECONDARY PRODUCTIVITY OF INSECTS

Fig.2: Variation in number of herbivorous species and their individuals of different

insect orders during study period 2013-15.

Fig.3: Variation in number of predator species and their individuals of different

insect orders during study period 2013-15.
 ARYA, TAMTA, KUMAR AND JOSHI (40)

Fig.4: Variation in secondary productivity (mg ha-1) of herbivorous insects recorded

from different study sites during the study period 2013-15.
Table 1: Trophic structure and percent contribution of total number of species and individuals of insects recorded
during study period 2013-15.
First year of study (2 013-14) Second year of study (2014-15)
Trophic Levels
Species Individuals Species Individuals
Herbivorous 80 (73.39%) 1480 (72.41%) 76 (72.38%) 1465 (73.36%)
Predators 19 (17.43%) 394 (19.27%) 18 (17.14%) 376 (18.83%)
Omnivorous 8 (7.34%) 149 (7.29%) 9 (8.57%) 128 (6.41%)
Saprophagous 2 (1.84%) 21 (1.03%) 2 (1.91%) 28 (1.40%)
Total 109 2044 105 1997
Table 2: Monthly variationin density (ha-1), biomass (mg ha-1) and secondary productivity (mg ha-1) of herbivorous
insects recorded from different study sites during first year of study (2013-14).
Site-1 Site-2 Site-3
S. Secondary Secondary
Months Density Biomass Secondary Productivity Density Biomass Density Biomass
No. Productivity Productivity
(ha-1) (mg ha- 1) (mg ha -1) (ha -1) -1
(mg ha ) (ha-1) (mg ha-1)
(mg ha-1) (mg ha-1)
1. July 29.67 1575.57 17.703 34.67 1725.18 16.59 17.67 877.15 16.55
2. August 25.33 1267.58 - 31.0 1567.86 42.2 13.0 691.23 70.37
3. September 19.33 1096.85 232.74 29.67 1376.38 - 9.33 509.76 32.63
4. October 13.0 878.51 212.18 21.33 1119.97 171.88 5.67 312.47 20.6
5. November 9.0 609.16 19.02 16.33 1025.79 210.95 3.67 210.39 27.05
6. December 6.33 358.11 - 10.33 716.53 103.79 1.67 121.92 58.55
7. January 2.67 201.54 103.29 2.0 198.93 202.33 1.33 91.25 -
8. February 4.67 315.29 - 5.67 312.72 - 2.33 143.56 -
9. March 7.33 512.37 31.56 14.0 859.64 77.95 4.33 234.83 -
10. April 10.33 725.39 20.35 20.33 1011.38 - 6.67 328.74 -
11. May 15.33 972.16 - 23.67 1219.27 55.53 8.67 476.16 59.56
12. June 22.67 1174.67 - 31.67 1601.38 - 12.67 589.38 -
Total 636.84 881.22 285.31
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Table 3: Monthly variation in density (ha-1), biomass (mg ha-1) and secondary productivity (mg ha-1) of herbivorous
insects recorded from different study sites during second year of study (2014-15).
Site-1 Site-2 Site-3
S. Months Secondary Secondary Secondary
Density Biomass Density Biomass Density Biomass
No. Productivity Productivity Productivity
(ha-1) (mg ha -1) (mg ha- 1) (ha-1 ) (mg ha-1 ) (mg ha-1) (ha- 1) (mg ha-1) (mg ha-1 )
1. July 29.0 1497.25 17.21 41.33 1799.24 14.51 16.33 759.99 15.51
2. August 23.0 1215.34 48.41 36.33 1545.25 - 12.0 617.23 84.78
3. September 18.0 1022.89 99.01 31.33 1403.34 90.63 7.67 411.1 37.05
4. October 13.0 778.21 64.17 24.33 1238.78 179.01 4.33 246.19 34.77
5. November 10.67 700.51 86.08 15.33 1032.93 340.57 3.67 212.35 19.83
6. December 7.0 412.87 - 6.33 493.27 128.26 3.0 200.76 45.61
7. January 1.0 81.25 195.29 1.33 79.87 - 1.0 53.28 -
8. February 4.67 220.95 - 5.33 331.64 22.11 2.33 117.94 -
9. March 8.67 310.52 - 10.33 581.65 - 4.33 201.63 -
10. April 12.33 490.32 58.47 20.33 873.89 - 6.67 312.83 -
11. May 13.0 608.76 106.89 24.33 1147.49 107.64 8.33 481.2 96.73
12. June 18.33 1119.56 239.99 31.67 1485.91 - 11.67 588.26 -
Total 915.52 882.73 334.28

et al. (2009) have studied the trophic composition of insects in
a cropland of Central Himalayan Bhabar region of Kumaun,
Uttarakhand and reported that herbivores were most dominant
and constituted 59.9% of the total insects followed by predators
(31.5%), parasites (4.7%) and omnivores (3.9%), respectively.
Joshi and Joshi (2010) reported 112 species of herbivorous
insects from fruit orchards of district Nainital, Uttarakhand,
India. Maximum number of species belonged to order
Lepidoptera (53 species) followed by Hymenoptera (20),
Coleoptera (14 species), Diptera (9 species), Orthoptera (8
species), Odonata (4 species), Hemiptera and Heteroptera (2
species each). Arya (2015) studied the trophic level
composition of different groups of insects population in a
protected forest ecosystem in the Western Himalayas, India
and reported that herbivorous insects constituted 67.26% and
65.76% of the total species of insects during first and second
year of study followed by predators (23.89% and 26.13%),
saprophagous (2.65% and 6.31%) and omnivores (2.65% and
1.80%), respectively. Similarly, Kumar et al. (2015) have
studied the trophic level composition of insects in Nanda Devi
Biosphere Reserve, India and reported that highest number of
species belonged to herbivores (50%) followed by predators
(36%), parasites (10%) and saprovores (4%), respectively.
Secondary productivity of Herbivorous insects:The data
on population density, biomass and secondary productivity in
terms of mg ha-1 calculated for different study sites during
2013-15 are presented in Tables 2 and 3. The population density
of insects varied significantly throughout the study period at
different study sites. Maximum density of insects was reported
at site no. 2, followed by site no. 1 and site no. 3, respectively.
The tissue production estimate of herbivores in the present
study is based on the calculation of the mean biomass of
herbivores on each sampling month during 2013-15. The results
are expressed as mg ha-1. Net secondary production during
2013-14 in site no. 1 was 636.84 mg ha-1 (14.01 KJ ha-1 y-1)
when converted to Joules by multiplying with 22 J mg -1
(Kaushal and Joshi, 1991), 881.22mg ha-1 (19.39 KJ ha-1 y-1)
in site no. 2, and 285.31mg ha-1 (6.28 KJ ha-1 y-1) in site no. 3,
respectively. During second year (2014-15), net secondary
production was 915.52 mg ha-1(20.14 KJ ha-1y -1) in site no. 1,
882.73 mg ha-1 (19.42 KJ ha-1 y-1) in site no. 2, and 334.28 mg
ha-1 (7.35 KJ ha-1 y-1) in site no. 3, respectively. Figure 4 shows
variation in secondary production (mg ha-1)of herbivorous
insects recorded during 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Various workers have reported the secondary production of
insects from different ecosystems of the world. Kaushal and
Joshi (1991) reported that the secondary production of
Orthopteran insects in grassland was 183.9 mg m -2and 506.6
mg m -2 during two respective years of study. Vats and Mittal
(1991) reported that the total secondary production of
 ARYA, TAMTA, KUMAR AND JOSHI
Orthoptera was 89.12 mg m -2 and 448.8 mg m -2 during first
and second year of study in a tropical forest. Singh and Yadav
(1993) reported that the total secondary productivity of the
aboveground insects was 332 mg m -2 in the forest site-I and
393 mg m -2 in the forest site-II from the two sub-tropical forest
ecosystems at Shiroy Hills, Manipur.Joshi and Sharma (1998)
reported a cumulative secondary production of 210.8 mg m -2
from a cropland at Haridwar, India. Joshi and Arya (2005) have
reported that the maximum net secondary production of
herbivorous insects was 678.64 KJ ha-1 y-1 in Pindari area of
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttaranchal, India. Tewari and
Kaushal (2007) have recorded the mean secondary production
of herbivorous insects as 47.9 KJ ha-1 y-1 in grassland of Central
Himalayan Tarai Region of Uttarakhand, India. Dev et al. (2009)
have reported that the mean secondary production of herbivores
was 147.6 KJ ha-1 y-1 in a cropland of Central Himalayan Bhabar
Region of Kumaun, Uttarakhand. Joshi and Joshi (2010) have
studied the secondary productivity of entomofauna in fruit
orchards of district Nainital, Uttarakhand, India and reported
that the secondary productivity of herbivorous insects was
494.73 KJ ha-1 y-1 and 357.96 KJ ha-1 y-1 during two years of
study. Arya and Dayakrishna (2013) have reported that the net
secondary production of grasshoppers was 15.70 KJ ha-1 y-1
in a high altitude forest ecosystem in the Kumaun Himalayas,
India.
Higher species richness and abundance of herbivorous insects
indicate the availability of sufficient host plants and suitable
ecological factors in the study area. During the present study,
the net secondary productivity recorded from different study
sites in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is much less than the
values recorded in previous studies by various workers from
different parts of the world. Therefore, it may be concluded
that the population of herbivorous insects are not limited only
by the presence or absence of food plants but are also regulated
by various ecological factors i.e. mainly temperature, humidity
and rainfall.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors would like to thank Divisional Forest Officer, Almora
Forest Division and Range Officer, Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary
of Uttarakhand Forest Department for providing us necessary
permission required for the present study. We are also grateful
to scientists of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun for their
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cooperation in identification of insect species.
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