Biodiversity of minute pirate bugs (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) in agricultural and natural habitats of Lorestan province, west Iran

The minute pirate bugs (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) are an important group of natural enemies for biological control of many pests such as aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and spider mites. In this study, biodiversity of anthocorid bugs was studied in three geographical localities of Lorestan province (Khoramabad, Veisian, and Borujerd) during March 2014 to June 2016. A total of seven species, including Anthocoris pilosus (Jakolev‚ 1877), Orius albidipennis (Reuter, 1884), Orius laevigatus (Fieber, 1860), Orius minutus (Linnaeus, 1758), Orius niger (Wolff, 1811), Orius pallidicornis (Reuter, 1884) and Orius vicinus (Ribaut, 1923) were identified. We calculated the Shannon-Wiener index as 1.197, 0.939, and 0.898, the Simpson's index as 2.96, 1.75, and 1.75, and the Margalef's index as 0.66, 0.85, and 0.88 for anthocorid communities in Khoramabad, Veisian, and Borujerd, respectively. The biodiversity indices varied significantly in different seasons. The highest and the lowest diversity and abundance were recorded in summer and winter, respectively. The diversity indices were not statistically different between intensified (crop fields and orchards) and natural (rangelands and forests) habitats, though bugs in intensified habitats tended to have higher frequency and diversity than natural habitats. This study may provide useful information about species frequency and biodiversity of anthocorid bugs in Lorestan province. .