Abstract
Abstract
As a new crop is being introduced, wheat will affect the diversity of insects in the highlands, which is usually a vegetable planting area in West Sumatra. This study focuses on collecting, identifying, and comparing insect species richness and evenness on introduced wheat plants for one growing season. The result found 48 species from 45 families within seven orders of insects. The insect’s function was role of herbivores (12 families), predators (11 families), parasitoids (7 families), pollinators (6 families), and decomposers (9 families). The dominant insects found in wheat plantations are Aphididae as herbivores, Formicidae as predators, Onychiuridae as detritivores, Syrphidae as pollinators, and Ichneumonidae as parasitoids. Based on its function, the diversity index in herbivores is higher (H’=2.1) than in natural enemies (H’= 2) and detritivores (H’= 0.47). The highest evenness index was found for herbivores (E=0.85) from natural enemies (E=0.63) and detritivores (E=0.21). This paper will discuss wheat’s growth stages against species richness and evenness.