Habitat segregation in four species of adult tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) |
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Authors: | K. N. GANESHAIAH V. V. BELAVADI |
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Affiliation: | Departments of Agricultural Botany and Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACT. - 1 Habitat segregation in four species of tiger beetles, Cicindela cancellata Dejean, C.cardoni Fleutians, C.minuta Olivier and C.sumatrensis Herbst in a river bank ecosystem was studied in dry and wet seasons.
- 2 The four species segregated distinctly along the river beds into separate habitats, with occasional overlapping in both the seasons.
- 3 Among the habitat characteristics considered, vegetation, soil moisture and available prey-size were found to be important in species segregation.
- 4 D 2-analysis showed that the habitat preferences of C.cardoni and C.cancellata were closer to that of C.sumatrensis. The habitat of C.minuta was distinctly separated.
- 5 There was a positive correlation between the mandible length of each tiger beetle species and the length of prey captured.
- 6 Variance in mandible length within species was related to prey-length distribution pattern and to variance in habitats.
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Keywords: | Tiger beetles habitat segregation interspecific competition prey size body-size ratios river banks |
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