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46 | II. Biocoenosis and zoocoenosis to various coeti, by being active in various life forms, even within the same zoocoenosis. Expressions like “predatory species” or “herbivorous species” are not precise enough, and cannot be used as coenological categories. Larvae of Lepidoptera are indeed herbivores, but the adults can hardly be classified as herbivores in the same sense, even if in the form of nectar, they also consume plant “material” (while some do not feed at all). A certain larva may be strictly linked to a given coenosis, meaning it isa member ofa certain coetus, while the imago flies from flower to flower, possibly ranging far. Adults of several parasitoids can be sustinents, but the same individuals become obstant semaphoronts as soon as they attack a lepidopteran pupa; not only laying eggs, but also feeding on the haemolymph seeping out of the pierced pupa (Bischoff, 1927). The piercing itself can also be lethal, even in the absence of egg laying, as in Psychophagus omnivorus (Nagy, 1952). Without doubt, populations exist that fit into more than one coetus. The Odynerus wasps live on nectar, but prey on caterpillars that they feed to their progeny. The Aclypea (Blitophaga) poaca is a scavenger, but also feeds on plants. The activity of birds is obviously multi-faceted (Turcek, 1951), and one population can not only be obstant or corrumpent, but also, sometimes simultaneously, sustinent. This phenomenon can be expressed as populations with one, two or three coetus values. One can assume that populations with multiple coetus values are less dependent on any spatially-fixed energy source and, if they exert corrumpent activities, they are not dependent on another corrumpent element, because they can also directly connect to the primary energy source. it is correct to proceed by assigning such multi-coetus value populations to corrumpents, because this is the life form that is directly linked to the producent elements of a biocoenosis and, thus, makes energy available for other organisms. These structural elements, though, are not identical with the basic life forms (syntrophium, Balogh, 1946, 1953), that are autecological groups; while the coeti are synmorphological units, in which populations with different life forms can be grouped together. When establishing these groupings, our aim was to unearth the structure necessary for the survival of the community, starting from a zoocoenosis and identifying the real roles of semaphoront groups, rather than trying to project the structure onto the coenosis, starting from the behaviour of the species. This is the only way to frame our understanding when investigating the structure and conditions that ensure the “stability” of an animal association, to the degree that we can talk about regularly recurring species combinations. Syntrophia (for example, spiders hunting with webs or by running or jumping; Balogh and Loksa, 1948) are groups that are smaller than, and belong within, coeti, as elementary life forms can only be interpreted within such frames. Within the obstant coetus, for example, such elemental life forms can be predation and parasitism, together with special ethological adaptations to this mode of life. Elementary life forms, therefore, cannot be
