Habitat segregation in four species of adult tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

Authors

K. N. GANESHAIAH,
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1. Departments of Agricultural Botany and Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India
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V. V. BELAVADI
1. Departments of Agricultural Botany and Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India
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  Central Agricultural Research Institute for Andaman and Nicobar Group of Islands, Port Blair, 744 101, India.

Dr K. N. Ganeshaiah, Department of Agricultural Botany, University of Agricultural Sciences, Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, India.

ABSTRACT.

1Habitat segregation in four species of tiger beetles, Cicindela cancellata Dejean, C.cardoni Fleutians, C.minuta Olivier and C.sumatrensis Herbst in a river bank ecosystem was studied in dry and wet seasons.
2The four species segregated distinctly along the river beds into separate habitats, with occasional overlapping in both the seasons.
3Among the habitat characteristics considered, vegetation, soil moisture and available prey-size were found to be important in species segregation.
4D²-analysis showed that the habitat preferences of C.cardoni and C.cancellata were closer to that of C.sumatrensis. The habitat of C.minuta was distinctly separated.
5There was a positive correlation between the mandible length of each tiger beetle species and the length of prey captured.
6Variance in mandible length within species was related to prey-length distribution pattern and to variance in habitats.