CHECKLIST, ABUDNANCE AND DIVERSITY OF BEETLES IN BENIN MOAT

The world and human ecosystem has increasingly evolved with time; despite anthropogenic activities in tropical regions of the world leading to loss of plant and animal species. The impact of such activity poses a level of threat on the ecosystem. In the midst of these activities, fauna and flora are also kept intact through the structure of the Benin moat. Despite the encroachment of urban activities in Benin City into the moat, it is still a home for wide distribution of plants and animals. To preserve and keep proper record of ant species in that environment: sampling exercise was carried out within the moat using vials charged with ethyl acetate before taken to the laboratory for identification to provide a checklist. Diversity and abundance was computed using PAST software which revealed Componotus perrisinigeriensis (Formicinae) as the most abundant individual ant species and Tetramorium sericeiventre (Myrmicinae) as the least abundant ant species. This study revealed thirteen species of ants distributed among thirteen genera and four subfamilies (Formicinae, Myrmicinae, Dolichoderinae, and Ponerinae). According to the non-parametric estimates, Chao2 and Jackknife2 were between 98.9% and 100% of the ants species foraging within the moat were captured in this survey. This suggest that beating stick and tray method is an efficient technique to sample and monitor ant species occurrence within plants. In sum, the complete inventory observed here would allow subsequent studies to monitor the absence previous or presence of new ones within the moat for conservation purposes.