Abstract
The mangals of South Andaman Island were surveyed for the insect fauna of mangrove associates. The herbivorous insects collected were reared to adulthood on the hosts on which they were collected. The parasitoids that emerged during the rearings were also collected. Ninety‐six species of insect herbivores and nine species of hymenopteran parasitoids were collected during this study. Comparison with insects known to be phytophagous on true mangroves indicated that species overlap between insects on true mangroves and those on mangrove associates was minimal. Each of these plant communities apparently has its own distinct entomofaunal complex.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the following entomologists of the International Institute of Entomology and the Natural History Museum, London for the identification of the insects that we collected from the associates of mangroves from these islands: R.G. Booth, B. Bolton, S.J. Brooks, J.E. Chainey, M.L. Cox, J.C. Deeming, G.J. du Heaume, D. Hollis, J.D. Holloway, T. Huddleston, G.G. Kibby, J. LaSalle, R. Madge, J.S. Noyes, A. Polaszek, K.S.O. Sattler, M. Shaffer, G.M. Stonedahl, K.R. Tuck, A.K. Walker, G.W. Watson, D.J. Williams, M.R. Wilson and N.P. Wyatt. Our thanks to Bikas Mondal for assistance with the fieldwork, to O.K. Ramadevi for reprints of her papers and to the Forest Department, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, for permission (order no. CWLW/WL/47/1294, dated 4.2.1993) to visit and study these insects within the boundaries of the National Parks and Wildlife sanctuaries. This study was in part supported by funds from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, sanction no. J‐22014/23/91‐CSC(M).