Diversity and Abundance of Insect Visitors to Flower of Irvingia gabonensis at Forestry and Environment Arboretum

Field experiment was conducted at the Department of Forestry/Environment Aboretum, Rivers State University of Science and Technology Port Harcourt between March-May 2015 to investigate the diversity and abundance of insect visitors to flower of Irvingia gabonesensis. Simple sampling method was used in collecting the insects twice weekly using hand netting technique at interval between March 16th – May 27th, 2015. Results showed that Ricanidae (Ricania spp) of the Oder Lepidoptera was found to be the most abundant (30%) followed by the insect Oder; Odanata (Anisoptera spp) 15% and Coleoptera (Carabidae spp) 9%. This variation in abundance was observed within 10 weeks. This work is pioneering and identifies the roles of insects in plants pollinations/foraging pattern. There was no significant difference (P< 0.05) between the insect visitors to the flowers of Irvingia gabonesensis in the morning and afternoon.

Keywords: Aboretum, insect, pollinations and Irvingia gabonesensis

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