Individual specialization in the hunting wasp Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albonigrum (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae)

Araújo, Márcio S.; Gonzaga, Marcelo O.

doi:10.1007/s00265-007-0425-z

Cited by 64 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…We found the contrary: TNW was lowest in winter and highest in summer when the diversity in resource availability was at its maximum. This pattern is in agreement with the concept of ecological opportunity stating that the degree of inter-individual variation increases with higher resource diversity (Roughgarden 1974;Araújo and Gonzaga 2007;Gerardo Herrera et al 2008). For all three species, high quality resources are much less abundant in winter, and animals must feed on the same available plants, leading to diet homogenization.…”

Section: Response Of Inter-individual Variation To Seasonal Variationsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Our analyses of diet niche characteristics at the intra-and interspecific levels led to three main conclusions: (1) interindividual variation in resource use is found for ungulates with differing feeding regimes, in line with results found in other groups Araújo and Gonzaga 2007;Martins et al 2008;Tinker et al 2008;Bolnick et al 2010); (2) there was no support for the Sociality Hypothesis, and (3) the niche variation hypothesis proposed by Van Valen (1965) held at both the inter-and intra-specific levels. Furthermore, from a methodological perspective, we proposed a new null model of inter-individual variation, complementary to the model of Bolnick et al (2003).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

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Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level

et al. 2015

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The "niche variation hypothesis" (NVH) predicts that populations with wider niches should display higher among-individual variability. This prediction originally stated at the intra-specific level may be extended to the inter-specific level: individuals of generalist species may differ to a greater extent than individuals of a specialist species. We tested the NVH at intra- and inter-specific levels based on a large diet database of three large herbivore feces collected in the field and analyzed using DNA metabarcoding. The three herbivores (roe deer Capreolus capreolus, chamois Rupicapra rupicapra and mouflon Ovis musimon) are highly contrasted in terms of sociality (solitary to highly gregarious) and diet. The NVH at the intraspecific level was tested by relating, for the same population, diet breadth and inter-individual variation across the four seasons. Compared to null models, our data supported the NVH both at the intra- and inter-specific levels. Inter-individual variation of the diet of solitary species was not larger than in social species, although social individuals feed together and could therefore have more similar diets. Hence, the NVH better explained diet breadth than other factors such as sociality. The expansion of the population niche of the three species was driven by resource availability, and achieved by an increase in inter-individual variation, and the level of inter-individual variability was larger in the generalist species (mouflon) than in the specialist one (roe deer). This mechanism at the base of the NVH appears at play at different levels of biological organization, from populations to communities.

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Section: Response Of Inter-individual Variation To Seasonal Variationsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level

et al. 2015

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“…Variations in the availability of prey from the diff erent families could account for these changes, which are also indicative of the great plasticity of this species in its use of resources. Similar variations have also been reported for other groups of solitary wasps (Gwynne 1981;O´Neill & Evans 1982;Brockmann 1985;Landes et al 1987;Araújo & Gonzaga 2007;Evans & O'Neill 2007;Polidori et al 2007), such that the higher or lower frequency of capture of diff erent dipterans could be to a certain extent opportunistic (Evans & O'Neill 2007) and/ or could be due to the temporary fi delity of females to particular sites (Stubblefi eld et al 1993;Evans 2002;Polidori et al 2005).…”

Section: Prey Specificitysupporting

confidence: 73%

Notes on the prey, nesting behaviour and natural enemies of threeBembixsand wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in the Iberian Peninsula

Ballesteros

Tormos

Gayubo

et al. 2012

Annales de la Société entomologique de France (N.S.)

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Abstract. Bembix is a cosmopolitan genus with more than 300 species distributed all over the world. The females of these wasps dig burrows in the ground and hunt for fl ies to feed their larvae. Current knowledge of the nesting behaviour of most Palaearctic species (around 50) is limited. In this study, we provide data on the nest structure, nesting activity, natural enemies and prey captured by three Bembix sand wasps present on the Iberian Peninsula: B. zonata, B. fl avescens bolivari and B. merceti. We also analyze the prey spectrum of the three species, comparing our data with those available from previous studies. B. zonata exhibits the greatest selectivity index (and the narrowest niche width), capturing mainly Syrphidae to provision its nests. B. merceti shows the greatest niche width in comparison with the other two species. The inter-annual differences in the diet of B. merceti are important and are probably due to the ability of this wasp to change from one prey resource to another, depending on its availability.Résumé. Notes sur les proies, la nidifi cation et les ennemis naturels de trois espèces de Bembix (Hymenoptera : Crabronidae) de la péninsule Ibérique. Le genre Bembix est cosmopolite avec plus de 300 espèces à travers le monde. Les femelles creusent des terriers dans le sol et capturent des diptères qui servent de provision à leurs larves. Les connaissance actuelles sur le comportement de nidifi cation de la plupart des espèces européennes (ca 50) sont assez limitées. Dans le présent travail, les auteurs abordent la structure du nid, l'activité de nidifi cation, les ennemis naturels et les proies capturées par 3 espèces de Bembix présentes dans la péninsule ibérique: B. zonata, B. fl avescens bolivari et B. merceti. Ils analysent également le spectre des proies des trois espèces et le comparent aux études antérieures. B. zonata, qui présente le plus grand indice de sélectivité et la niche la plus étroite, utilise surtout des Syrphidae comme proies. B. merceti présente la niche la plus large par rapport aux deux autres espèces. Les différences inter-annuelles dans le régime alimentaire de B. merceti sont importantes et sont probablement dues à la faculté qu'a l'espèce de passer d'un type de proie à l'autre selon les ressources disponibles.

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“…Contrasting this view, some recent studies have reported strong degrees of individual‐level diet variation in several tropical species, including frogs (Araújo et al. 2007b), a hunting‐wasp (Araújo & Gonzaga 2007) and a marsupial (Martins et al. 2008), all belonging to highly diverse communities in which no ecological release is expected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Individual‐level diet variation in four species of Brazilian frogs

Araújo

Bolnick

Martinelli

et al. 2009

Journal of Animal Ecology

102

119

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Summary 1.Many natural populations exploiting a wide range of resources are actually composed of relatively specialized individuals. 2. This interindividual variation is thought to be a consequence of the invasion of 'empty' niches in depauperate communities, generally in temperate regions. If individual niches are constrained by functional trade-offs, the expansion of the population niche is only achieved by an increase in interindividual variation, consistent with the 'niche variation hypothesis'. 3. According to this hypothesis, we should not expect interindividual variation in species belonging to highly diverse, packed communities. 4. In the present study, we measured the degree of interindividual diet variation in four species of frogs of the highly diverse Brazilian Cerrado, using both gut contents and δ 13 C stable isotopes. 5. We found evidence of significant diet variation in the four species, indicating that this phenomenon is not restricted to depauperate communities in temperate regions. 6. The lack of correlations between the frogs' morphology and diet indicate that trade-offs do not depend on the morphological characters measured here and are probably not biomechanical. The nature of the trade-offs remains unknown, but are likely to be cognitive or physiological. 7. Finally, we found a positive correlation between the population niche width and the degree of diet variation, but a null model showed that this correlation can be generated by individuals sampling randomly from a common set of resources. Therefore, albeit consistent with, our results cannot be taken as evidence in favour of the niche variation hypothesis.

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Individual specialization in the hunting wasp Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albonigrum (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae)

Cited by 64 publications

References 37 publications

Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level

Upscaling the niche variation hypothesis from the intra- to the inter-specific level

Notes on the prey, nesting behaviour and natural enemies of threeBembixsand wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in the Iberian Peninsula

Individual‐level diet variation in four species of Brazilian frogs

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