Differential diet breadths and species coexistence in leafroller-hunting eumenid wasps |
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Authors: | Takao Itino |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki-tyo, Kita-gun, 761-07 Kagawa, Japan |
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Abstract: | Summary There are, at least, three possible ways in which similar species coexist; resource partitioning, interference competition,
and exploitation competition. Here, I investigated which way contributed to the coexistence of leafroller-hunting eumenid
wasp species. Resource partitioning and, in addition, differential diet breadths proved to promote species coexistence in
this case.
First, I analyze the prey records and diet overlap of four eumenid species in a local area. The larger two eumenids hunted
similar-sized prey items and had similar potential taxonomic prey uses. But the diet breadth of the subsocial eumenid was
much wider than that of the solitary one. As a result, the diet overlap between the two large eumenids decreased. This was
because the solitary eumenid attend repeatedly to the same hunting site inhabited by one abundant prey species, while the
subsocial one made random hunting. On the other hand, the two medium-sized eumenids partitioned resources according to prey
size.
Secondly, I related these results to prey choice by several other species of eumenid obtained from literature sources. Ten
Japanese common eumenids were divided into four groups according to their prey size. In each of the four groups, 2 to 3 wasp
species differentiated the habitat (1 group) or coexisted by means of differential diet breadths (parallel with differential
sociality, 2 groups).
Contribution to the ecological studies of the eumenid wasps. III. |
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Keywords: | coexistence diet breadth resource partitioning Eumenidae prey records sociality |
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