A Study on Diversity of Insect Pests and Natural Enemies Inhabiting the Chickpea (Cicer arietinum Linnaeus) Agro-ecosystem in the Kanpur Region of Uttar Pradesh, India, Using Simpson’s Index

Abstract

In 2023–2024 and 2024–2025, an experiment was carried out at Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology’s Students’ Instructional Farm (SIF) in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. We identified seven insect pest and natural enemy species from the chickpea agroecosystem in the Kanpur area of Uttar Pradesh, India. These include two Lepidopteran species, two Hymenopteran species, and one each of Hemipteran, Odonata, and Dictyopteran species. According to their economic significance, three species were classified as insect pests, three as predators, and one as a parasitoid. Of the seven species, Helicoverpa armigera and Agrotis ipsilon were found often, and the gram pod borer was identified as a major pest. Gram cutworm, on the other hand, was found to be a minor insect pest of chickpea crop and had a very low population density. Despite its occasional occurrence, we classified Aphis craccivora, the cowpea aphid, as a minor pest. The four natural enemy species—the praying mantis, common yellow wasp, dragonfly, and ichneumonid wasp—occurred occasionally and had a minor status. Aphis craccivora had the highest relative abundance in both the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 years, followed by H. armigera, Crocothemis servilia, Vespa orientalis, Agrotis ipsilon, Mantis religiosa, and Campoletis chloridae. For 2023–2024 and 2024–2025, the Simpson’s Index was 0.47 and 0.51, respectively. The Simpson's Index of Diversity was 0.53 in 2023–2024 and 0.49 in 2024–2025.