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Relationship Between Body Mass and Forewing Length in Neotropical Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera)

  • Systematics, Morphology and Physiology
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Abstract

Biomass is an important indicator of various ecological factors in insect populations and communities. Although the utility of this variable is proven, it is usually dismissed in ecological studies, generally, because of the difficulty of measuring it. Considering that insect biomass is apparently declining worldwide, here, we aimed to test the accuracy of forewing length as an estimator of body mass in Neotropical Ichneumonidae to help in monitoring insect biomass. Forewing length and dry body mass were measured in 728 individuals from distinct localities in Venezuela and Ecuador. A clear log-linear relationship existed between the two variables, and a log-linear regression had significant and strong predictive power of mass based on wing length. To derive the final values of mass from predictions made using our equation, we used an exponential transformation. We present an R function for predicting mass from wing length. We consider our findings applicable to many Neotropical species of Ichneumonidae, and helpful especially when specimens are measured in dry collections.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ingrit Correa and Antonia García, who gave us access to the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian labs, respectively, and to Juan Dario Quinde and Jose Reátegui for helping with the measurements. We also would like to thank Jorge Soberón and A. Townsend Peterson for help in reviewing the statistical methods used and in proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Servicios Ecosistémicos, Univ Nacional de Loja, Ciudadela Universitaria, sector La Argelia, EC 110101, Loja, Ecuador

    M Mazón, C Nuñez-Penichet & M E Cobos

  2. Depto de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, Univ de Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    M Mazón

  3. Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity Institute, Univ of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    C Nuñez-Penichet & M E Cobos

Authors
  1. M Mazón
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  2. C Nuñez-Penichet
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  3. M E Cobos
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Contributions

All the authors designed the study. MM collected the data, and CNP and MEC performed the data analyses. All the authors wrote and reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M Mazón.

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Mazón, M., Nuñez-Penichet, C. & Cobos, M.E. Relationship Between Body Mass and Forewing Length in Neotropical Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Neotrop Entomol 49, 713–721 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-020-00784-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-020-00784-9

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