| Beetles were sampled of study over during 2018-2019 in different elevation zones of forest areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, North-West Himalaya. India. A total of 254 individuals of beetles, representing 37 species, 27 genera and 8 families were recorded during the study period. On the basis of total number of species Scarabaeidae was the most dominant family with 17 (45.94%) species followed by Coccinelidae (8 species, 21.62%), Cerambycidae (4 species and 10.81%) were major families, whereas others Carabidae, Chrysomelidae and Curculionidae (02 species and 5.41% each), Meloidae and Lucanidae (01 species and 2.70% each) respectively. On the basis of total number of individuals,Scarabaeidaewere the most abundant individuals and constituted 37.79% of the total beetles followed by Coccinellidae (25.20%), Cerambycidae (10.24%), Carabidae(7.48%), Curculionidae (7.09), Chrysomelidae (6.30%),Meloidae (3.14%) and Lucanidae (2.76%) respectively.
Beetles community showed a significant variation along different elevation zones as abundance and species diversity of beetles declined with increasing elevations across different forest areas of the North-West Himalaya. Climatic variables significantly influenced the beetle community as higher species richness, abundance and diversity were recorded lower elevation and in mixed forest type. The diversity and distribution were also assessed in different forest types.
Keywords: Coleoptera, Beetles, diversity, distribution, North-West Himalaya, forest ecosystem
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