A COMPARISON OF THE EFFICIENCY OF JARRING METHOD VERSUS PITFALL TRAPS AND ACTIVE HUNTING METHODS IN INSECT COLLECTION IN TWO CONTRASTING HABITATS (SITE 1 AND SITE 2) WITHIN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OYE= EKITI
This study aimed at comparing the efficiency of jarring method versus pitfall traps and active hunting methods in insect collection in two contrasting habitats (site 1 and site 2) within Federal University Oye –Ekiti was carried out from December 2024 to February 2025 using a combination of jarring, pitfall traps and active hunting methods. In this study, a total of 1490 individuals belonging to 12 orders, 37 families and 57 species were recorded from the study sites. In December 2024, Camponotus pennsylvanicus had the highest relative abundance of 39.5% while Pogromyrmex rugosus had the highest relative abundance of 27.7% in January 2025. Conversely, in February 2025, Solenopsis invicta had the highest relative abundance of 38.0% respectively. Results of the Diversity Indices of Insect Orders Obtained from site 1 revealed that Coleoptera had the highest Shannon and Simpson Index values (1.083, 0.6564) respectively while Blattodea had the lowest Shannon and Simpson Index values (0.56, 0.38) respectively. However in site 2, Hymenoptera had the highest Shannon and Simpson and Evenness Index values (1.052, 0.636, 0.9545) respectively while Coleoptera had the lowest Shannon and Simpson and Evenness Index values (0.619, 0.3284, 0.619) respectively. Results of the distribution of Arthropod order based on number caught by each of the three sampling methods (December-February) revealed that Pitfall trap caught the highest number of insects (260) while Jarring caught the lowest number of arthropods (35). The findings indicate that Pitfall Trap method is the most efficient method for insect collection in the study sites as compared to active hunting and jarring methods. Pitfall Trap method captured the highest total number of insects particularly Hymenoptera and Orthoptera. This suggests that Pitfall Trapping is a superior method for capturing these orders, possibly due to their behavior and habitat preferences. Active hunting also recorded a considerable number of individuals notably from Lepidoptera and Hymeoptera suggesting its effectiveness in targeting flying or visually conspicuous insects. Jarring (J), however, was the least effective method in terms of overall insect capture, suggesting that it may be unsuitable for many insect groups or that its selectivity is too narrow for general survey purposes. The study concludes that sampling methods influences the types of insects collected.
Keywords: efficiency, relative abundance, jarring, Shannon, selectivity
