Premium
Latitudinal gradients in ichneumonid species‐richness in Australia
Author(s) -
GAULD IAN D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1986.tb00290.x
Subject(s) - biology , ichneumonidae , species richness , braconidae , ecology , parasitoid , tropics , pupa , fauna , temperate climate , generalist and specialist species , ovipositor , larva , hymenoptera , habitat
.1 New data from Australia support previous suggestions that the Ichneumonidae as a whole is not more species‐rich in the tropics than the group is in temperate regions. 2 Part of the overall lack of increase in tropical species‐richness results from an absence of large groups whose sawfly hosts are not present. 3 In comparison with temperate faunas, a larger proportion of tropical ichneumonids are generalists, exploit pupae/prepupae, or have long ovipositors, corroborating predictions made by hypotheses advanced to explain the anomalous tropical diversity of ichneumonids. 4 Two large groups of pupal/prepupal parasitoids (Pimplinae and Mesostenini) are more speciose in equatorial areas. 5 Diurnal lepidopterous larval parasitoids, and specialist lepidopterous pupal/prepupal parasitoids are scarcer in the tropics than one might expect, but nocturnal lepidopterous larval parasitoids show an increased species‐richness in the tropics. It is suggested that this may be a result of a larger proportion of the suitable host larvae being nocturnally active.