Spectral measure of color variation of black-orange-black (BOB) pattern in small parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), a statistical approach.

ABSTRACT: Small parasitoid wasps are abundant and extremely diverse, yet their colors have not been analyzed. One of the more common color patterns observed in these wasps is a black-orange-black pattern, which is especially common among neotropical species of Scelionidae ranging in size from 2 to 10 mm. Due to the methodological challenges involved in extracting and analyzing pigments from small-sized insects, other methods for examining colors need to be explored. In this work, we propose the use of microspectrophotometry in combination with statistical analysis methods in order to 8 study the spectral properties in such cases. We examined 8 scelionid genera and 1 genus from a distantly related family (Evaniidae), all showing the black-orange-black pattern. Functional Data Analysis and statistical

SUBMITTER: Mora-Castro R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6812806 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature