Evaluating the role and measures of juvenile growth rate: latitudinal variation in insect life histories

Meister, Hendrik; Esperk, Toomas; Välimäki, Panu; Tammaru, Toomas

doi:10.1111/oik.04233

Cited by 14 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 106 publications

(184 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For Lepidoptera in particular, several studies report genetically based geographical differences in body size. Larger sizes at lower latitudes – the pattern characteristic of E. atomaria – has been found frequently (Blanckenhorn & Demont, ; Nygren et al., ; Meister et al., ) but not universally (Chown & Gaston, ; Kivelä et al., ; Barton et al., ; Horne et al., ). With one notable exception (Arnett & Gotelli, ), the among‐population difference documented in most previous studies were substantially smaller than the almost two‐fold mass difference detected for E. atomaria in the present work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How to become larger: ontogenetic basis of among‐population size differences in a moth

Meister

Hämäläinen

Valdma

et al. 2018

Entomologia Exp Applicata

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evolutionary studies on animal body size have primarily focussed on selective pressures operating during the adult life. In contrast, ontogenetic pathways leading to differently sized adults have received less attention. In the present study, based on a common garden experiment, we report considerable genetic differences in body size among European populations of Ematurga atomaria (L.) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). In terms of body mass, the moths from a southern (Georgian) population are twice as large as their northern (Estonian) conspecifics. Detailed monitoring of larval growth schedules revealed that the size difference arises through a longer development period of the Georgian larvae, with no difference in the number of instars. Differential (instantaneous) growth rates of the larvae do not differ between the populations. Eggs and newly hatched larvae are larger in the Georgian population but the difference vanishes in the second instar. The larger size of the Georgian moths is regained through higher relative mass increments during each of the three final instars. Such gradual 'accumulation of the difference' confirms the idea about constraints on substantial evolutionary changes in growth patterns within a single instar. The larger Georgian moths were found to be considerably more fecund which implies a strong selection for large female size. It remains unclear which counteracting selective pressures have favored the smaller size of Estonian conspecifics. As the associated difference in egg size appears not to be carried over to larger larval size, the adaptive value of larger eggs is not likely in contributing to the prospective large adult size. The larger eggs of the Georgian population should have an adaptive value per se, or represent a mechanistic consequence of larger maternal body size.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rearing E. atomaria under common garden conditions was part of a more comprehensive study on latitudinal gradients in multiple lepidopteran species. Accordingly, some of the data on E. atomaria have previously been used in another context (Meister et al, 2017).…”

Section: Common Garden Rearingmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to become larger: ontogenetic basis of among‐population size differences in a moth

Meister

Hämäläinen

Valdma

et al. 2018

Entomologia Exp Applicata

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the study area, the species is most abundant in coniferous forests and on peat bogs where, due to their abundance, dwarf shrubs from the family Ericaceae must serve as primary host plants. There is no evidence of geographical differences in host preference (Meister et al ., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weak and inconsistent associations between melanic darkness and fitness‐related traits in an insect

Sandre

Kaart

Morehouse

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The idea that the fitness value of body coloration may be affected by biochemically mediated trade‐offs has received much research attention. For example, melanization is believed to interact with other fitness‐related traits via competition for substrates, costs associated with the synthesis of melanin or pleiotropic effects of the involved genes. However, genetic correlations between coloration and fitness‐related traits remain poorly understood. Here, we present a quantitative‐genetic study of a coloration trait correlated to melanin‐based cuticular darkness (‘darkness’, hereafter) in a geometrid moth, Ematurga atomaria. This species has considerable variation in larval appearance. We focus on correlations between larval darkness and fitness‐related growth performance traits. Both a half‐sib analysis and an ‘animal model’ approach revealed moderately high heritabilities of larval darkness and indices of growth performance. Heritability estimates of darkness derived from the animal model were, however, considerably higher than those based on the half‐sib model suggesting that the determination of coloration includes genetic interactions and epigenetic effects. Importantly, on the host plant with the largest sample size, we found no evidence for either genetic or environmental correlations between darkness and growth parameters. On an alternative host plant, there was some indication of positive genetic and negative environmental correlation between these traits. This shows that respective relationships are environment‐specific. Nevertheless, the overall pattern of weak and inconsistent correlations between larval coloration and growth parameters does not support universal trade‐offs between these traits and suggests that physiological costs of producing colour patterns do not necessarily interfere with adaptive evolution of coloration.

show abstract

“…The criteria for inclusion of a particular species was a broad distribution covering both northern and southern Europe (Meister et al, 2017), sufficient abundance to allow us to obtain rearing material with reasonable effort, and the absence of known ecological differences across the European range. For the present immunological study, we had to limit ourselves to the subset of larger-bodied species which facilitated obtaining sufficient haemolymph.…”

Section: Materials and Methods Study Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is considered the most adequate characteristic of the 'free' growth period in the beginning of an instar; that is, the growth that is not yet affected by physiological preparations for pupation (Ayres and MacLean, 1987;Esperk and Tammaru, 2004;Tammaru et al, 2010). From the mass data, DGR was calculated as (final mass 1/3 -initial mass 1/3 )/time, where time was in days (Meister et al, 2017), with the cube root transformation having been suggested to linearise larval growth curves of lepidopteran larvae (Tammaru and Esperk, 2007). Development time within the last instar was measured by counting the number of days from the beginning of the final instar to the formation of prepupae.…”

Section: Variables Recorded and Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of variance in immunological traits: evidence of congruent latitudinal trends across species

Meister

Tammaru

Sandre

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Among-population differences in immunological traits allow assessment of both evolutionary and plastic changes in organisms' resistance to pathogens. Such knowledge also provides information necessary to predict responses of such traits to environmental changes. Studies on latitudinal trends in insect immunity have so far yielded contradictory results, suggesting that multispecies approaches with highly standardised experimental conditions are needed. Here, we studied among-population differences of two parameters reflecting constitutive immunity-phenoloxidase (PO) and lytic activity, using common-garden design on three distantly related moth species represented by populations ranging from northern Finland to Georgia (Caucasus). The larvae were reared at different temperatures and on different host plants under a crossed factors experimental design. Haemolymph samples for measurement of immune status were taken from the larvae strictly synchronously. Clear among-population differences could be shown only for PO activity in one species (elevated activity in the northern populations). There was some indication that the cases of total absence of lytic activity were more common in southern populations. The effects of temperature, host and sex on the immunological traits studied remained highly species specific. Some evidence was found that lytic activity may be involved in mediating trade-offs between immunity and larval growth performance. In contrast, PO activity rarely covaried with fitness-related traits, and neither were the values of PO and lytic activity correlated with each other. The relatively inconsistent nature of the detected patterns suggests that studies on geographic differences in immunological traits should involve multiple species, and rely on several immunological indices if general trends are a point of interest.

show abstract

Evaluating the role and measures of juvenile growth rate: latitudinal variation in insect life histories

Cited by 14 publications

References 106 publications

How to become larger: ontogenetic basis of among‐population size differences in a moth

How to become larger: ontogenetic basis of among‐population size differences in a moth

Weak and inconsistent associations between melanic darkness and fitness‐related traits in an insect

Sources of variance in immunological traits: evidence of congruent latitudinal trends across species

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About