Trophic niche, age structure and seasonality in Dolichopoda cave crickets

摘要: Shifts in feeding habits are expected to occur during adaptation cave life. Dolichopoda crickets inhabit both natural and artificial caves showing differences population size, fecundity, phenology age structure. Compared caves, typically holding a seasonal structure, populations from maintain constantly heterogeneous Faecal content analysis of 605 individuals 24 populations, enabled us characterize their trophic niche investigate its variation. The results multivariate analyses measures breadth overlap outlined resource exploitation between populations. Seasonal variation diet occurred types it was greater However, within any season, were much resulting wider heterogeneity resources exploitation. Such appears be mainly due different developmental stages. In fact, sample 15 we found positive, statistical significant correlation These data discussed broader evolutionary context order understand the role limited availability shaping maintaining structure