Scharf Inon, Filin Ido, Subach Aziz, Ovadia Ofer
Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Naturwissenschaften. 2009 Oct;96(10):1147-56. doi: 10.1007/s00114-009-0576-z. Epub 2009 Jun 27.
Although most antlion species do not construct pits, the vast majority of studies on antlions focused on pit-building species. We report here on a transplant experiment aiming to test for morphological and life history differences between two desert populations of a sit-and-pursue antlion species, Lopezus fedtschenkoi (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), originating from habitats, which mainly differ in plant cover and productivity. We raised the antlion larvae in environmental chambers simulating either hyper-arid or Mediterranean climate. We found significant differences in the morphology and life history of L. fedtschenkoi larvae between the two populations. For example, the larvae originating from the more productive habitat pupated faster and had a higher growth rate. In agreement with the temperature-size rule, antlions reached higher final mass in the colder Mediterranean climate and exhibited a higher growth rate, but there was no difference in their developmental time. Observed differences in morphology between populations as well as those triggered by climate growing conditions could be explained by differences in size allometry. We also provide a quantitative description of the allometric growth axis, based on 12 morphological traits. Comparing the responses of L. fedtschenkoi with those observed in a co-occurring pit-building antlion indicated that there were neither shape differences that are independent of size nor was there a difference in the plasticity level between the two species.
尽管大多数蚁狮物种并不建造陷阱,但绝大多数关于蚁狮的研究都集中在建造陷阱的物种上。我们在此报告一项移植实验,旨在测试一种坐等捕食型蚁狮物种——费氏洛佩蚁狮(脉翅目:蚁蛉科)的两个沙漠种群之间在形态和生活史方面的差异,这两个种群起源于主要在植物覆盖度和生产力方面存在差异的栖息地。我们在模拟超干旱或地中海气候的环境箱中饲养蚁狮幼虫。我们发现这两个种群的费氏洛佩蚁狮幼虫在形态和生活史上存在显著差异。例如,来自生产力较高栖息地的幼虫化蛹更快,生长速度也更高。与温度 - 体型规则一致,蚁狮在较寒冷的地中海气候中达到更高的最终体重,并表现出更高的生长速度,但它们的发育时间没有差异。种群之间以及由气候生长条件引发的形态差异可以通过体型异速生长的差异来解释。我们还基于12个形态特征对异速生长轴进行了定量描述。将费氏洛佩蚁狮的反应与在同时出现的建造陷阱的蚁狮中观察到的反应进行比较表明,这两个物种之间既没有与大小无关的形状差异,可塑性水平也没有差异。