Sexual dimorphism and allometry in the sphecophilous rove beetle Triacrus dilatus.

ABSTRACT: The rove beetle Triacrus dilatus is found in the Atlantic forest of South America and lives in the refuse piles of the paper wasp Agelaia vicina. Adults of T. dilatus are among the largest rove beetles, frequently measuring over 3 cm, and exhibit remarkable variation in body size. To examine sexual dimorphism and allometric relationships we measured the length of the left mandible, ocular distance and elytra. We were interested in determining if there are quantifiable differences between sexes, if there are major and minor forms within each sex and if males exhibit mandibular allometry. For all variables, a t-test was run to determine if there were significant differences between the sexes. Linear regressions were run to examine if there were significant relationships between the different

SUBMITTER: Marlowe MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4525698 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature