Conclusion

To confirm the trends observed in this paper, and to develop a detailed theory to explain them, it is necessary to obtain detailed multicolor photometry of larger samples of dwarf galaxies in nearby clusters, as well as in the nearby field. The size and completeness of the group&field sample is steadily increasing, owing to the continued important effort devoted to the 10Mpc project. A high quality low-density group&field dwarf galaxy reference sample will be available when the project is eventually completed. On the other hand, there is still insufficient detailed multicolor data available on dwarf galaxies in nearby clusters. Detailed multicolor observations of cluster dwarfs with fine-scale large-field CCD cameras are therefore necessary in order to continue the present investigations. It is important that such new multicolor CCD cluster surveys reach down to magnitudes fainter than 218#218 in 10#10, so as to extend the present study to fainter magnitudes, as faint dwarf galaxies should be more susceptible to interactions with their environment than bright galaxies.