RETRACTED: Population densities and species richness of Hymenoptera, Araneae, and Coleoptera communities associated with Cucurbit in different altitudes of Morogoro, Tanzania

Abstract

This article has been retracted by the authors due to inconsistencies in the authors listed and some formatting errors. 

The influence of altitudes on the community structure of insects was investigated in 10 localities from two agroecological zones in Morogoro, Tanzania. The nonparametric estimator, coupled with the species accumulation curve based on Chao estimator, was used to estimate species richness. Three orders with 33 families were collected from 360 pitfall traps with 2133 individuals recorded. The average abundance of anthropods was significantly higher in the Plateau zone (47.78±3.02) compared to the mountainous (14.84±6.0). Kruskal-Wallis test (χ² _18.11 df 9 p = 0.03) revealed a significant difference among the sites studied, with a higher abundance and species richness recorded at Sugeco (545) followed by Mafiga (310), the other sites ranged between 67 to 278 individuals. The common anthropods families found in both zones are Formicidae, Lycosidae, Scarabidae, Agelenidae, Chrysomelidae, and Carabidae. All localities reached an asymptote with more than 95% sampling efforts. The insect groups studied were species-rich, except at Ruvuma and crop museum. The relative abundance decreased with increasing elevation, which could be attributed to weather conditions.