Abstract:

Desert insects, one of the important components of biodiversity in desert regions, play a significant role in maintaining stability of desert ecosystems. In this study,the insect communities and diversity in six different plant communities were studied in the Kumtag Desert. Approximately 1 000 specimen were collected, and belonged to 55 families and 10 orders. The dominant species were from the orders of Lepidoptera and Dipetera. The results showed that there were the most species of insects in the Haloxylon ammodendron community had, and there were the most individuals of insects in the Tamarix taklamakanensis community. The number of both species and individuals was the smallest in Poacynum hendersonii community. The Shannon-Wiener's diversity index was in the following sequence: Phragmites australis>Haloxylon ammodendron>Nitraria tangutorum>Calligonum mongolicum>Tamarix taklamakanensis>Poacynum hendersonii; the Pielou evenness index was in the following sequence: Ph. australis>Po. hendersonii>C. mongolicum>N. tangutorum>H. ammodendron>T. taklamakanensis;and the Berger-Parker dominance index was in the following sequence: T. taklamakanensis>Po. hendersonii>N. tangutorum>H. ammodendron>C. mongolicum>Ph. australis.

Key words: insects, plant communities, diversity, Kumtag Desert