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Habitat use and diet as biogeographic indicators for subantarctic Ectemnorhinini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2004

S.L. Chown
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

Abstract

Most of the species in the Ectemnorhinin are cryptogam feeders, angiosperm feeders representing a minority. It is hypothesized that this dearth of angiosperm feeders is due to previous climatic conditions, which precluded angiosperm herbivory, but allowed for the exploitation of a diverse cryptogamic flora, and that only with the post-glacial warm-up of the Subantarctic has angiosperm herbivory become possible. When examined in the light of the Quaternary history of the South Indian Ocean Province islands, evidence obtained from a study of the habitat use, diet and morphology of species within the tribe supports this hypothesis.

Type
Papers—Life Sciences and Oceanography
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 1989

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