MORPHOMETRIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG POPULATIONS OF THE CAVE-DWELLING BEETLE QUAESTUS-NIETOI (SALGADO, 1988) (COLEOPTERA, LEIODIDAE)

In the present study we performed a biometric analysis of populations of Quaestus nietoi (Salgado, 1988) from 20 caves in an area delimited by various geological structures. Principal components analysis and di scriminant analysis allowed identification of groups of caves with sim ilar populations, suggesting the most likely initial site of colonizat ion and indicating possible routes of communication between the differ ent caves along fissures in the karst. The variability of the differen t characters was investigated on the basis of coefficients of variatio n, allowing identification of characters with high adaptive significan ce.