Diversity and distribution of arthropod community in the Lucerne fields in northern sahara of Algeria

The application of two sampling methods (pitfall traps and sweeping net) on three lucerne fields of different ages (one year,two years and three years) in a saharan area of algeria allowed the enumeration of 9158 arthropods divided into 4 classes,13 orders and 73 families. about 4/5 of them are obtained by the pitfall and 1/5 caught by sweep netting. the comparison between the diversity in families of the three parcels reveals families diminution according to the age of lucerne fields (52 for three years ≤ s: richness ≤ 66 for one year). contrary to the individuals number which present a growth according to the age (1729 per one year ≤ in: individual number ≤ 4947 per three years). on abundance,the class of insecta is the most sampled by the two methods. formicidae and entomobryidae are most caught by the pitfall in the three lots,whereas coccinellidae are most inventoried by sweeping net. copyright © 2015 zoological society of pakistan.