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Medientyp:
E-Artikel
Titel:
A Test of the Mechanical Isolation Hypothesis in Two Similar Spider Species
Beteiligte:
Ware, Amy D.;
Opell, Brent D.
Erschienen:
American Arachnological Society, 1989
Erschienen in:
The Journal of Arachnology, 17 (1989) 2, Seite 149-162
Sprache:
Englisch
ISSN:
0161-8202;
1937-2396
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
External reproductive organs of spiders are often species-specific and are important taxonomic characters in species identification. One explanation of this is the mechanical isolation or lock-and-key hypothesis. It predicts that in closely related species with overlapping ranges, morphological character displacement should occur in regions of sympatry to prevent costly interspecific copulation attempts. To test this hypothesis, we measured homologous external genital sclerites of male Larinioides (Nuctenea) sclopetaria and L. patagiata (Araneidae) and statistically compared their means and variances for sympatric and allopatric regions of their distribution. Differences in both mean and variance were observed, but the number of sclerites that differed between regions of sympatry and allopatry was not greater than the number that differed between adjacent regions of sympatry. Thus, these species failed to demonstrate the character displacement predicted by the mechanical isolation hypothesis.