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§ The application of the characteristics | 149
we used for the poppy-head-living poppy seed weevil larvae. The abundance
of the imagoes was established by examining 35,000 poppy heads, while those
of larvae was based only on 300 of them. We censused the sustinents by
walking along a line, and counted the insects momentarily residing on the
flowers of 500 plants. The hoverfly larvae were counted by a detailed
examination of 200 plants, and their obstant elements based on the pupae
that were collected and kept in the laboratory. All of these figures were then
converted to values for 1811 plants, to demonstrate a way to present the life
forms and relationships of a zoocoenosis in a detectable way. The numbers
appearing on the table, while true for weevil abundance, cannot be claimed
for the other, less intensively studied populations.
Both abundance and dominance data are presented in three columns,
according to the three aspects. The abundance values represent the number
of individuals counted, but dominance was calculated based on the observed,
or reared, numbers of individuals. Thus, a column shows, during the aspectus
in question, what species representations were present, and in what numbers,
on 1811 plants; the relevant dominance column indicates the % share of
individuals during that aspectus (where 100% is the total no. of individuals
found during the whole year). Individual columns, therefore, contain the
number of co-occurring individuals.
The characteristic features of the Apis mellifera aspectus were the sustinent
elements, but, now, the semaphoront group of Neoglocianus maculaalba also
appeared on the scene. This is also the time of the first appearance of the
Aphis fabae gynopedia on the leaves; these were not censused, thus the
question mark instead of a number. Dasyneura papaveris also appears,
although it must have been present, because its adult semaphoront can only
lay eggs in poppy heads opened by the poppy seed-head weevil. This must
happen at the same time as the weevil lays its eggs, because the wound on
the poppy head closes quickly. The presence of the poppy seed fly is proven
by the data from the subsequent aspectus when many fly larvae were found.
This case also shows that adult-based censuses, in many cases, may paint a
false picture of the real composition of a zoocoenosis. The square brackets
around the numbers referring to the three sustinents in the first column,
indicate that these are only temporary elements of the catenarium, as it follows
from their way of life that the three semaphoront groups are associated via
a presocium. Therefore, the presociumclashes with the studied catenarium,
yet it plays a necessary role in its formation. The relevant dominance values
— even though their census was made using different methods than for the
endophytobionts - reflect the role that these populations play in the
quantitative composition of the coenosis.
The main characteristic ofthe N. maculaalba aspectus is that the sustinents
disappear, and most populations living in the oecus occupy the internal parts
of the poppy plant. The presocium, therefore, leaves the catenarium that
continues its development regardless. On the poppy plants, only the A. fabae