Vol. 51 No. 3, 2012

Elliptic Fourier Analysis of the Wing Outline Shape of Five Species of Antlion (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Myrmeleontini)

Qing-Bin Zhan and Xin-Li Wang*

Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

Qing-Bin Zhan and Xin-Li Wang (2012) We analyzed interspecific wing outline shape variations of 5 species of antlion: Myrmeleon bore (Tjeder, 1941), M. immanis Walker, 1853, M. fuscus Yang, 1999, Euroleon coreanus Okamoto, 1926, and E. flavicorpus Wang, 2009. In total, 98 forewings and 98 hindwings from the 5 species were sampled and subjected to an elliptic Fourier analysis. Twenty 1st Fourier harmonics were summarized via a principal component analysis and the 1st 8 principal components of shape variation were considered for statistical tests (multivariate analysis of variance, canonical variate analysis, and cluster analysis). Euroleon coreanus and E. flavicorpus were recognized as a group, while M. bore, M. immanis, and M. fuscus comprised a separate group. Results of the analysis of wing outline shapes of the 5 species agree with the current taxonomic system.

Key words: Elliptic Fourier analysis, Canonical variate analysis, Comparison, Contour.

*Correspondence: E-mail:wangxl@cau.edu.cn