INFLUÊNCIA DA ALTITUDE NA DIVERSIDADE E DISTRIBUIÇÃO DE INSETOS DA CAATINGA NA SERRA DA ENGABELADA, PARAÍBA (NORDESTE DO BRASIL)

Abstract

Brazil has a large land area and a great biodiversity of flora and fauna. Insects are the most abundant group of living beings on earth, they are found in the most diverse habitats and are involved in several key processes to maintain the equilibrium of the ecosystems, their diversity and abundance is influenced by several factors. This study aimed to carry out an entomological survey in different levels of altitudes, evaluating the influence of this diversity and spatial distribution of insect population that inhabit the Serra da Engabelada in the municipality of Congo, Cariri, Northeast of Brazil. The insects were collected in 7 levels of altitude using traps of the type pitfall, were used three repetitions and then screened and identified at a family level in the laboratory of Entomologia Agrícola CCHSA / UFPB. Were used the completely randomized design (CRD) and data was converted to root of y + 0.5. The averages related to the months were submitted to the Tukey test at 5% probability and the average related to altitude were subjected to a regression analysis. We conducted multivariate analyzes (ACP and PCO) to correlate the variable time, altitude and families. A total of 3,248 insects distributed in 12 orders and 23 families were collected. Families showed different distribution patterns over the months and the altitude gradient. Regarding the distribution of families during the months of collection besides Gryllidae family, the means of all of the other families were not significant by Tukey test at 5% probability. For the variable altitude, none of the families average adjusted to the regression model. Multivariate analysis showed that families average are close to zero and that only three (ACP) or two (PCO) of these have mean distant from zero. Nonetheless, the Serra da Engabelada presents a wide variety of insects, where only the Gryllidae family is influenced by the time of collection and the altitude does not interfere on the diversity and distribution of the collected families.