29-30 NOVEMBER2017 NATIONAL SEMINAR ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND M A N A G E M E N T TIME:9.30 AM TO 4.30 PM VENUE: AUDIO VISUAL HALL Organised by DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY NIRMALA COLLEGE,MUVATTUPUZHA SPONSORED BY KERALA STATE COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT NIRMALA ACADEMIC & RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS MUVATTUPUZHA 1 ENVIRONMENT CONCERN AND MANAGEMENT AN INDIAN SCENARIO ISBN NO. 978-81-929844-9-0 DIVERSITY AND HABITAT PREFERENCE OF COLEOPTERA IN PAMPADUM SHOLA NATIONAL PARK, KERALA, INDIA Angel Ponnu Baby*,Ani Kurian1 and Jisha Jacob2 *St.Joseph,s HSS,Vilakkumadam1Dept.of Zoology,Nirmala College Muvattupuzha 2Dept.of Zoology,Newman College,[email protected] INTRODUCTION Beetles are probably the most successful form of all animal life. This successful group of animals belongs to order Coleoptera, Class Insecta and Phylum Arthropoda. India being situated in tropics is well known for richness of Coleopteran fauna. It includes more than 3, 50000 identified species and represents about 40% of all insects and 30% of all animals (Choate, 2003). About 1,5088 species of coleopteran insects are known from Indian region (Kazmi, 2004).Coleoptera is consisting largest number of families ie, about 150. The order, coleoptera was initially divided into 2 suborders, Adephaga and Polyphaga by Leng (1920). In 1931 the third suborder Archostemata and in 1955 the fourth suborder Myxophaga were added by Boving of Craighead and Crowson respectively.(Temphare, D.B ,1997).\ The principle characters of beetles used in identification are those of the head, antennae, thoracic sclerites, legs, elytra, and abdomen. Occassionally characters such as size, shape, and colour are used (Borror, 1964). Beetles have lots of roles. Dung beetles help get rid of waste and downward transport of minerals nutrients in soil. Beetles that eat wood help break down dead trees, some beetles feed on pollen and help pollinate flowers.In Pampadum Shola National Park no scientific study of Coleopteran diversity has been conducted .The present study has been envisaged to asses the diversity and habitat preference of Coleoptera in Pampadum Shola National Park. STUDY AREA Pampadum Shola National Park is located on the eastern portion of the High Ranges of Southern Western Ghats of Kerala. It is situated between 10o 7' and 10o10' N Latitudes and 77o14' and 77o17' 30" E Longitudes, falls in the Vattavada Panchayat of Devikulam Taluk, Idukki District. This National Park lies in between the Kanan Devan Hills and the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu Originally notified as Pambadum Shola Reserve No. 55 in 1901. It was declared as National Park in December 2003 due to its unique ecological and geographical significance. The vegetation consists mostly of southern subtropical hill forests with shola-grassland system at the higher altitudes. The Shola National Park is 11.753 Km2 in extent. The terrain is undulating with hillocks of varying heights. Vandaravu on the state border at 2531mts. is the highest peak. There are two streams which originate from the forest area and they join together with in the boundary of the Shola and runs through the Vattvada valley, then flows east through Kambakallu inside Kurinjimala Sanctuary and drains into the Amaravathy Reservoir through Thalinjiyar. The local people living in the nearby villages use this water streams for drinking as well as agricultural purposes. These streams are the main water sources for the wildlife also. The average temperature varies with a maximum of 28 0 C and minimum of 9˚ C. 83.