The Adequacy of Body Size as a Niche Difference

David Sloan Wilson
1975 American Naturalist  
Contributions of Philip J. Darlington, Jr., to our understanding of hindwing atrophy in carabid beetlesincluding his descriptions of form and structure, analyses of brachyptery in relation to habitat and geographical distribution, discussions of evolutionary mechanisms and selective advantage of brachyptery, and his model for the evolution of montane faunasare reviewed. Use of brachyptery, especially wing dimorphism, by C.H. Lindroth and others as a tool in biogeographic analysis is discussed.
more » ... he incidence of brachyptery among Nearctic Nebria taxa is described in relation to habitat and geographical distributions and Darlington's views on faunal evolution. WILLIAM L. BROWN. Jr. Abstract. An endomychid (Eumorphus austerrrs) and two species of carabid beetles (Physodera dejeani, and a panagaeine) found together in Thailand bear four similar-appearing, bright yellow spots near the lateral body margins. In the quiescent endomychids, the spots appeared to extend symmetrically paired yellow beads of fluid that proved to be secretions, probably noxious, held against the elytra at the apices of the drawn-up femora. The circumstances of the aggregation, plus observations collected from the coleopterological literature, suggest that the genera represented include many members of an extensive Muellerian mimicry ring or rings, also involving Erotylidae and species of other beetle families, with similar markings. The same considerations suggest the possibility that the lebiine carabid Physodera dejeani may be a predator of endomychids.
doi:10.1086/283042 fatcat:uqispzemdzdorasfmntyivmn4q