THE TINGIFAUNA OF INDIAN REGION, THEIR HOST PLANTS, FEEDING STRATEGIES AND NUTRITIONAL ECOLOGY

In 1910 Distant in the Fauna of British India documented 57 species, mostly new descriptions, of the Tingifauna belonging to 30 genera. In 1965 Drake & Ruhoff in their world catalogue. list 100 spp. belonging to 51 genera and the subfamilies from Indian region. At present this list, has risen to 128 spp. Belonging to 50 genera and two subfamilies from Indian region, affecting 138 spp. of plants, belonging to 42 genera and 20 families, as against a world record of 1820 spp. belonging to 236 genera and 3 subfamilies affecting 1040 spp. of host plants, belonging to 105 families. Most species are host specific. Polyphagous species are confined to annuals. More than 20 Soecies are endemic to Tropical Rainforests of Western Ghats and all of them are monophagous. The natural enemies are both ectoparasites such as mites and a burgeoning list of predators and parasitoids.