USING THE HETEROCENTRIC MODEL IN POPULATION-CONSORTIUM ANALYSIS OF THE NEST-DWELLING ARTHROPODS OF THE SAND MARTIN (RIPARIA RIPARIA (LINNAEUS, 1758)) IN SARATOV REGION

Abstract

Background. The composition of the nest-dwelling fauna is highly diverse. When examining the population of arthropods (Arthropoda) in the nests of the sand martin Riparia riparia (Linnaeus, 1758) as a heterogeneous consortium, a heterocentric model was constructed for the first time, allowing for the assessment of the qualitative structure of the consortium taking into account various groups of connections between its members. Materials and methods. The materials were collected in 7 districts of Saratov Region during 2019–2021 by excavating nests of Riparia riparia. The Tullgren funnel was used for collecting arthropods, and the nesting material was additionally manually sifted. After laboratory processing and identifying the arthropods, their number was counted to construct the model. Results. Constructing a heterocentric model enabled demonstrating different types of consortial connections between the determinant (sand martin and its nest) and consorts (arthropods) to assess the qualitative structure of this model. Conclusions. During population and consortium analysis of invertebrates inhabiting the nests of Riparia riparia, three groups of consortial connections (topical, trophic, fensive) and nine variants (substrate-stational, hematophages, zoophages, phytophages, polyphages, saprophages, keratophages, aphages, fensive) of connections were identified. Insects participate in all nine variants of connections, mites have five variants of connections, while pseudoscorpions, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and woodlice have two variants of connections.

Keywords

• heteroconcentric model
• riparia riparia
• sand martin
• nest-dwelling fauna
• fauna
• saratov region
• russia