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Competition and Selection in a Patchy and Ephemeral Habitat: The Implications for Insect Life-Cycles

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Insect Life Cycles

Abstract

Many insects exploit resources which are patchy, consisting of small, separate units, and are ephemeral in the sense that they support only one or two generations and are spatially unpredictable. Such sites, or “centres of action” (Elton 1949) include dung (Mohr 1943; Valiela 1974; Hanski and Koskela 1977, 1979; Koskela and Hanski 1977; Nealis 1977; Holter 1982; Peck and Forsyth 1982; Doube 1987), carrion (Kamal 1958; Denno and Cothran 1975; Hanski 1976; Beaver 1977; Hanski and Kuusela 1977; Kuusela and Hanski 1982; Kneidel 1983, 1984; Doube 1987), fruit (Atkinson and Shorrocks 1977, 1984; Atkinson 1981, 1985; Shorrocks 1982; Lachaise and Tsacas 1983), fungi (Burla and Bachli 1968; Dely-Draskovits 1973; Hackman and Meinander 1979; Shorrocks and Charlesworth 1980, 1982; Shorrocks 1982; Janssen et al. 1988), sap-flows (Shorrocks 1982; Janssen et al. 1988) decaying leaves (Heed 1968; Montgomery 1975; Begon and Shorrocks 1978; Beaver 1979a), flowers (Brncic 1983), dead wood (Montgomery 1975; Beaver 1979a, c) and small bodies of water held in parts of terrestrial plants (phytotelmata) (Service 1965; Beaver 1979b, 1980, 1983; Lounibos 1979, 1981; Lounibos and Machado-Allison 1983).

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  1. Bryan Shorrocks
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  1. Department of Zoology, Nottingham University, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, UK

    Francis Gilbert PhD

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Shorrocks, B. (1990). Competition and Selection in a Patchy and Ephemeral Habitat: The Implications for Insect Life-Cycles. In: Gilbert, F. (eds) Insect Life Cycles. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3464-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3464-0_15

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