The geographical range structure of the holly leaf-miner. I. Population density

Abstract

1. The local population density structure of a phytophagous insect, the holly leaf-miner Phytomyza ilicis Curtis, was examined across its natural geographical range in Europe. 2. The frequency distribution of the number of sample sites at which the leaf-miner attained different densities per tree was strongly right-skewed, with the species being absent from a large number of sites at which its host occurred, particularly in southern regions. 3. There was a decline in the spatial autocorrelation of leaf-miner densities with increasing distance between sample sites, with negative autocorrelation at long lags resulting in part from high densities being attained at the north-eastern range limits and low densities at the southern range limits. 4. Partial regression analysis was used to model leaf-miner densities in terms of spatial position within the geographical range and the broad climate experienced at the sample localities. This accounted for between 40 and 65% of the variation in densities, dependent upon how the leaf-miner's geographical range was defined. 5. While overall these results are at odds with common and intuitively appealing assertions about the abundance structure of geographical ranges, they can readily be interpreted in terms of a simple modification of a general model of such structures.