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OCR
§ Synphysiological characteristics | 121 The initial zoocoenosis contains only a corrumpent, syrmatophagousintercalary, or sustinent coetus, and the connected obstant coetus. Most catenae are of such types. We can consider precedent zoocoenoses as the ones to which a zoophagousintercalary coetus is attached as a third element. Some catenae can be included here (for example, the catenarium of a beehive), and catenaria that can be traced back to a host plant without an intermediary insect species (for example, Oscinellaenarium frit). In a full (plenary) zoocoenosis, all four coeti play a role. The presocia and supersocia belong here, and catenaria that have base host plants that need insect pollinators for their reproduction (for example, Cydiaenarium pomonellae). This three-way classification mirrors the development and growth of the zoocoenosis, but also poses a question. This emerges as we trace the development of the zoocoenosis from its origin; we end up at the first coetus, that includes corrumpents, sustinents or intercalary elements. There can be an oecus with several co-existing corrumpent or intercalary populations without attached obstant elements. The question emerges: can we consider these assemblages as a form of zoocoenosis? There is no doubt that this assemblage displays important criteria of a zoocoenosis: it relies on the same energy source and, thus, its elements can mutually influence each other. Can such a coetus, relying on a plant as energy source, be considered a zoocoenosis? The answer can only be affirmative, given that the concept of the coetus includes a criterion of association. Given that all coeti include populations that share the same energy source, and the three above named coeti are directly attached to the plant cover, they need to be considered as a special category, as they can come to existence and can survive. The initial, precedent (intermediary) and complete (plenary) zoocoenoses are composite ones, the corrumpent and intercalary (syrmatophagous) coeti, and in a few cases even sustinent coeti, can be considered simple zoocoenoses, a kind of communitas incompleta, in which a food chain could possibly have developed but does not, breaking down after the first link that is directly connected to the plantbased energy source. Such is the case when, in a corrumpent or intercalary coetus, we cannot find any parasite or predator (although not disproving their presence) and, consequently, we have to assign the catenarium or presocium category of this assemblage, because the food chain may be continued through the obstant elements of the supersocion. The associative character of these links can be rather intimate, either in reciprocal or non-reciprocal form (see Jermy 1955), via commensalism or symbiosis (for example, the association of the poppy seed head fly and the poppy seed weevil within the poppy head); therefore, we cannot exclude these associations from being a zoocoenosis, even if they were simple coeti utilising the same plant base. The other classification can be designated using the coetus rank of the constituent populations. We can only include catenae into this grouping,
