Morphology and ecology of the parasitic Hymenoptera: analysis of three morphological parameters and their relationship to environmental factors

Pages 117-133 : illustrations ; 27 cm

Bibliographical references (pages 132-133)

Strony 117-133 : ilustracje ; 27 cm

In the parasitic Hymenoptera of a dry meadow on limestone and a beech forest on limestone (both near Göttingen, FRG) three morphological parameters were analyzed and related to environmental factors: the relative wing surface, the ovipositor length and the relative length of the hind leg (as a measure of body-compactness). Two coefficients of wing surface and one of body-compactness are developed. Wing surface and length of legs turned out to be allometrically related to the thorax volume of the species. Soil living parasitoids had the relatively largest wings and longest hind legs; parasitoids of the canopy level showed the opposite trend. On the dry meadow many more wingless or short winged species occurred than in the beech wood; these species also reached higher densities. In the fully winged species there were more species with smaller wing surfaces on the dry meadow than in the beech wood. Idiobiontic parasitoids appeared to have much higher proportions of wing reduced species than koinobiontic species. The impact of these differences in morphology on community structure is discussed.

Bibliografia na stronach 132-133