Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 - Suchdol, 165 21, Czech Republic.
J Insect Sci. 2013;13:6. doi: 10.1673/031.013.0601.
Because of its direct consequences on reproductive success, body condition is an often-studied individual trait in insects. Various studies on insects use disparate methods to assess "body condition." However, it is doubtful that the results obtained by disparate methods are comparable. In this study, the body conditions of Poecilus cupreus (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from eight sites were compared based on the following commonly used variables: (i) fresh weight, (ii) dry weight, and (iii) fat content. All of these variables were corrected for structural body size. Moreover, the effects of using the following ways of assessing structural body size were examined: (a) one size measurement (length of elytron, which is commonly used in beetles), and (b) three size measurements (length of elytron, width of pronotum and length of hind femur). The results obtained using the various estimations of body condition (i, ii, iii) varied significantly. Therefore, studies employing distinct body measurements to assess body condition are not comparable to each other. Using multiple structural size measurements in body condition analyses is better than the common practice of using only one size measurement. However, in the present study, results provided by both methods differ only slightly. A recommendation on the use of terminology in studies on body condition is introduced.
由于其对繁殖成功的直接影响，身体状况是昆虫中经常研究的个体特征。各种昆虫研究使用不同的方法来评估“身体状况”。然而，不同方法获得的结果是否具有可比性是值得怀疑的。在这项研究中，根据以下常用变量比较了来自八个地点的 Poecilus cupreus (Linnaeus)（鞘翅目：Carabidae）的身体状况：(i) 鲜重、(ii) 干重和 (iii) 脂肪含量。所有这些变量都针对身体结构大小进行了校正。此外，还研究了以下评估身体结构大小的方法的影响：(a) 一种尺寸测量（鞘翅的长度，这在甲虫中很常用）和 (b) 三种尺寸测量（鞘翅的长度、前胸的宽度和后足股骨的长度）。使用各种身体状况估计值（i、ii、iii）获得的结果差异显著。因此，使用不同身体测量值评估身体状况的研究彼此之间不可比。在身体状况分析中使用多个结构尺寸比仅使用一个尺寸的常见做法更好。然而，在本研究中，两种方法提供的结果仅略有差异。本文还介绍了在身体状况研究中使用术语的建议。
