Journal article
Quantifying the unquantifiable: why Hymenoptera, not Coleoptera, is the most speciose animal order
BMC Ecology, Vol.18(1), pp.1-11
07/12/2018
DOI: 10.1186/s12898-018-0176-x
PMCID: PMC6042248
PMID: 30001194
Abstract
Background: We challenge the oft-repeated claim that the beetles (Coleoptera) are the most species-rich order of animals. Instead, we assert that another order of insects, the Hymenoptera, is more speciose, due in large part to the massively diverse but relatively poorly known parasitoid wasps. The idea that the beetles have more species than other orders is primarily based on their respective collection histories and the relative availability of taxonomic resources, which both disfavor parasitoid wasps. Though it is unreasonable to directly compare numbers of described species in each order, the ecology of parasitic wasps—specifically, their intimate interactions with their hosts—allows for estimation of relative richness.
Results: We present a simple logical model that shows how the specialization of many parasitic wasps on their hosts suggests few scenarios in which there would be more beetle species than parasitic wasp species. We couple this model with an accounting of what we call the “genus-specific parasitoid–host ratio” from four well-studied genera of insect hosts, a metric by which to generate extremely conservative estimates of the average number of parasitic wasp species attacking a given beetle or other insect host species.
Conclusions: Synthesis of our model with data from real host systems suggests that the Hymenoptera may have 2.5–3.2× more species than the Coleoptera. While there are more described species of beetles than all other animals, the Hymenoptera are almost certainly the larger order.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Quantifying the unquantifiable: why Hymenoptera, not Coleoptera, is the most speciose animal order
- Creators
- Andrew A Forbes - University of Iowa, BiologyRobin K. Bagley - University of Iowa, BiologyMarc A. Beer - Department of Biology, University of IowaAlaine C. Hippee - Department of Biology, University of IowaHeather A. Widmayer - University of Iowa, Otolaryngology
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- BMC Ecology, Vol.18(1), pp.1-11
- Publisher
- BMC
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12898-018-0176-x
- PMID
- 30001194
- PMCID
- PMC6042248
- ISSN
- 1472-6785
- eISSN
- 1472-6785
- Copyright
- © 2018, Springer Nature
- Grant note
- Funding: Projects funded by the National Science Foundation to AAF (DEB 1145355 and 1542269) led directly to the discussions that motivated this study. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/12/2018
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9983763491402771
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