Incidência da entomofauna no ecossistema de Mopane no distrito de Mabalane

Insects play an important role in terrestrial ecosystems. Studies on the effect of insect diversity in Mopane ecosystem can provide a rich base of information assisting in the conservation of biodiversity and are important in indicating the quality of the environment. A major cause of extinction of insects is the destruction and depletion of natural habitats. Therefore the present study aims to evaluate the incidence of insect fauna in Mopane ecosystem. The work took place in the district of Mabalane which is situated in the central part of the province of Gaza in Mozambique. The collections were performed in 6 installments of fixed size (100 * 100m), marked by chance in three areas (high, medium and low level of degradation. Sampling effort was 1h/pessoa/área as used by Asuncion et al. 2008. Results show that 77 individuals in five families (Anobiidae, Nymphalidae, Tettigoniidae, Scarabaidae, Saturniidae) and three orders, with Lepidoptera (59.7%), then with the Coleoptera (36.4%) were collected by the order Orthoptera with (3.9%). infestation was higher in the high levels of deforestation with 44.4% infested pods, then the middle level was 33.3% and finally 22.2% in the low levels of degradation. The number of individuals collected was higher the high level of deforestation. Anobiidae The Saturniidae and family were the most abundant of the orders Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, respectively Tettigoniidae and family was the rarest ecosystem in Mopane. According faunal parameters of frequency, only one (1) family (Saturniidae) was very often two (Nymphalidae and Anobiidae) were frequent and the remaining two (2) were uncommon. And the Orthoptera order was less expressive offbeat presenting, in almost all levels.The diversity index was higher (0.54), the average levels of degradation and lowest (0.34) at the high level of degradation. According to the Friedman test and Kruskal-Wallis, there is no significant different between the different levels of degradation as the frequency and abundance and diversity of individuals.