Spatial Distribution Pattern of Some Plant Species in the Vandalore Reserve Forest:Food Preferences of Diabolocatantops pinguis (Orthoptera:Acrididae)-A Paradigm Study

The plant community structure of the Vandalore Reserve Forest (Tamil Nadu) which represents a natural scrub-jungle ecosystem, is described in terms of the dispersal and distribution patterns of some of the plant species that are relatively common in the habitat. The generalization that the tropical species are relatively uniformly dispersed did not hold. The six plant species that were selected either randomly distributed or clumped in dispersion. Atalantia tnonophylla which was clumped in dispersion had more abundance value, importance index, and density in the forest, when compared to the other five plant species. The food preference of Diabotocaiantops pingiiis (Walker) to the selected six plant species through a 'no-choice' experiment showed that it rejected Pavetta indica and Flacoiirtia indica. The population analysis of D. pinguis by selecting 25 quadrats, suggested that the insect was found to be present in 21 quadrats.