Abstract
The contents of inorganic phosphorus in 59 species of insects and their foods were analyzed and the phosphorus contents were compared with respect to the food habit and food chain relation. The phosphorus contents were 5.42ppm in coprophagous, 3.56ppm in zoosarcophagous, 3.17ppm in zoosaprophagous, 2.93ppm in melliphagous, 2.79ppm in menorhycha, 2.14ppm in phytosuccivorous, and 2.04ppm in phytophagous insects, respectively. The values in carabid beetles, Apotomopterus dehaani CHAUDOIR (prey; Pieris rapae crucivora BOISDUVAL and Mamestra brassicae LINNÉ) and Damaster blaptoides KOLLAR (prey; Spodoptera litura FABRICIUS) were higher than those in preys. Phosphorus was more concentrated in predator animals than preys. This tendency was observed in 94% of the cases examined.
