Wolf-Rayet stars in "lazy" galaxies : a statistical approach.

Spectra of 45 'lazy galaxies', which are blue emission-line galaxies forming stars by intermittent short bursts, have been reanalyzed to search for Wolf-Rayet (WR) emission at 4686 A. The reduction and data analysis are described, and the redshift, oxygen abundance, and luminosity distributions of the sample are discussed along with instrumental and selection effects. The results indicate that an SNR of about eight is needed in the continuum over a bandwidth of about 90-120 A depending upon the resolution in future studies of WR emission in lazy galaxies. The O/H vs Mp diagram shows a large scatter which does not seem to be attributable to observational uncertainties. The upper envelope of the diagram is consistent with a total mass to luminosity ratio of about one for the lazy galaxies. The WR feature is not present at any preferred absolute luminosity nor for any preferential oxygen abundance. Whenever present, WR stars are more numerous in sites of higher metallicities.