Description
We studied the diversity of beetle families in watermelon fields in the palm grove of Zaatote at Ouargla (34° 54' N., 5° 20' E.). The sampling method used was Barber pots as they allowed the largest number of captures of insects, regarding both individuals and species. Over the three years of the study (2016, 2017 and 2018), we identified 787 individuals from 12 taxonomic families. Throughout the sampling period, the Coccinellidae family was clearly dominant, with an Fc% of 35.02 % in 2016, 36.2 % in 2017 and 34.34% in 2018. The second most dominant family was Tenebrionidae with an Fc% of 26.35% in 2016, 30.04% in 2017, and 33.33% in 2018. Other families were poorly represented. In 2016, regarding their trophism, 18 species of beetles (30.91%) were phytophagous and feed on the watermelon crop, while 26 species were predatory and decomposing auxiliaries.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 51 records.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
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How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Kacha D, Guezoul O, Marniche F, Viñolas A (2024). Diversity of beetles associated with watermelon crops Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mats. in the region of Ouargla (southern Algeria). Version 2.4. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.15470/sfhxty
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: ff273c1a-9abe-4353-af0f-2fed1031e4f0. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Spain.
Keywords
Inventory; Diversity; Watermelon; Beetle; Barber pot; Ouargla; Occurrence; Occurrence
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Merbah, B.P. 511
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Ps Picasso s/n.
- Publisher
- Managing Editor AMZ
- Ps Picasso s/n.
Geographic Coverage
The present experiment was carried out in the palm grove of Zaatote at Ouargla. This palm grove is located on the road between the region of Ouargla and El-Goléa (10 km south-east of Ouargla). The region of Ouargla is located in the Saharan bioclimatic zone. It has clay-sandy soils. The winter is temperate and summers are hot and dry.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [31.874, 5.225], North East [31.874, 5.225] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Order | Coleoptera |
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| Family | Tenebrionidae, Staphylinidae, Scarabaeidae, Nitidulidae, Elateridae, Dermestidae, Curculionidae, Cryptophagidae, Coccinelidae, Chrysomelidae, Carabidae, Anticidae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2016-01-01 / 2018-12-31 |
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Project Data
Watermelon (Citrulus lanatus (Thunb.) Mats is an annual plant belonging to the family of Cucurbitaceae, native to tropical Africa, (Paris, 2015). The ripe fruit has a high nutritional value, being rich in vitamins B1, B2, A, C, and mineral salts, particularly magnesium (van Der Vosssen et al., 2004). In Algeria, especially in the province of Ouargla, watermelon is perceived as a promising sector. According to the Directorate of Agricultural Services (DSA, 2020), the area of watermelon in crops in green houses in the 2019/20 season was estimated to be 1,957.5 ha with a production of 1,082,500 qx/ha. The area of crops in the open field is estimated at 274 ha with a production of 31,792 qx. The harvest generally lasts from April until mid-June. Watermelon in Ouargla are now cultivated in several new agricultural areas, such as Khechem-Errih, Hassi Benandalleh, Hassi Messaoud and Taibet (DSA, 2020). Considering the rapid maturation of this crop, farmers in these regions are interested in growing this product to benefit from the high prices at the start of the marketing campaign, despite lower yields. Market gardening has become one of the main income-generating activities in the area (Toni et al., 2020). However, the crops face several phytosanitary problems, such as pest arthropods that can severely damage the output. (Diatte et al., 2016). Unfortunately, the list of vegetable crop pests in general is not well established in the region of Ouargla. To our knowledge, the diversity or abundance of insects associated with watermelon production in this region has not been studied to date. The first step to protect this crop is therefore to determine which pest and which non-pest arthropods are associated with this plant. The present study was conducted to identify and create an inventory of the different families of beetles living in watermelon fields in order to establish sustainable phytosanitary protection of the crop. We aimed to establish a basic repository in order to draw up an inventory of the main pests and evaluate the natural control agents.
| Title | Diversity of beetles associated with watermelon crops Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsumura and Nakai in the region of Ouargla (southern Algeria) |
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| Study Area Description | he present experiment was carried out in the palm grove of Zaatote at Ouargla. Plots were chosen in cultivated watermelon fields. This palm grove is located on the road between the region of Ouargla and that of El-Goléa (10 km south-east of Ouargla) (fig. 1). The region of Ouargla is located in the Saharan bioclimatic zone. It has clay-sandy soils. The winter is temperate and summers are hot and dry. |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Author
Sampling Methods
Sampling was carried out in three plots, each of 500 m², using Barber pots from December (transplanting) until June (fruiting and ripening of the first fruits). The pots used were cylindrical cans, 15 cm in diameter and 18 cm in height (Benkhelil, 1991). They were buried vertically so that the opening was at ground level to avoid the barrier effect for small species. We installed 10 traps 5 meters apart per row in each field so that there was no interaction between them. The traps were filled with water to one-third and a few drops of detergent were added to prevent insects from climbing up the walls. The pots were placed on the ground and collected after 24 hours. The contents of each pot were filtered separately on to petri dishes, labelled with number, date and place of capture, and stored in alcohol (70%), for subsequent faunal determinations in the laboratory. The watermelon plots where traps were installed watermelon underwent phytosanitary treatment at various stages crop growth.
| Study Extent | The present experiment was carried out in the palm grove of Zaatote at Ouargla. Plots were chosen in cultivated watermelon fields. This palm grove is located on the road between the region of Ouargla and that of El-Goléa (10 km south-east of Ouargla). The region of Ouargla is located in the Saharan bioclimatic zone. It has clay-sandy soils. The winter is temperate and summers are hot and dry. |
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| Quality Control | Insects were identified by Professor Faiza Marniche at the zoology laboratory at the National Veterinary School of El Alia, and confirmed in the Arthropod section of the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona by Mr. Amador Viñolas. The identified species were classified according to the trophism of images and grouped into four functional groups: pests, predators, scavengers and miscellaneous in order to determine the role played by each species. |
Method step description:
- Recorded data based on identified beetle catches were analysed using software PASTsoftware (PA-leontologicalSTatistics) Version 2.17 (Hammer et al., 2001). The following numerical indices were used: the centesimal frequency (Fc), the Shannon Diversity Index (H’)and the Pielou equity index (E).
Bibliographic Citations
- Kacha, D., Guezoul, O., Marniche, F., Viñolas, A., 2021. Diversity of beetles associated with watermelon crops Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mats. in the region of Ouargla (southern Algeria). Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 19: 73–82, Doi: https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2021.19.0073 https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2021.19.0073
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 10.15470/sfhxty |
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| ff273c1a-9abe-4353-af0f-2fed1031e4f0 | |
| https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=beetles_watermelon_crops_algeria |