Rarity of blister beetles in Southern Africa correlates with their phylogeny and trophic habits, but not body size.

Ecologists have identified several correlates of biological rarity in animals. Among the various correlates identified so far, three are explored in this paper: (a) abundance is correlated with absolute body size in animals; (b) phylogenetically primitive taxa are overrepresented in samples of rare species; (c) more specialized species are rarer than less specialized species. Here we use Namibian blister beetles (Coleoptera: Meloidae) as a model system for exploring these issues. We used data from five field expeditions, which resulted in the identification of 891 beetles belonging to 76 species collected from 191 sites. 13% of the species accounted for over 50% of the individuals; 22% of all species were represented by singletons. Abundance patterns differed significantly among the different trophic categories, with non-pollinophagous (non-specialized) species being more abundant than weed-eaters and pollinophagous (specialized) species. Species of phylogenetically basal tribes were less abundant than those of more derived groups. Trophic category and phylogenesis did not have a synergic effect in determining the relative abundance of the species, and body size had no influence on their abundance.