Left–right asymmetry and morphological consequences of a host shift in the oligophagous Neotropical moth Macaria mirthae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Benítez, Hugo A.; Vargas, Héctor A.; Püschel, Thomas A.

doi:10.1007/s10841-015-9779-0

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We also report effects of milkweed species on monarch wing shape, loading and density, similar to findings in other flying insects (Benítez, Vargas, & Püschel, ; Davis & de Roode, ; Soto, Carreira, Soto, & Hasson, ). Importantly, monarch wings are rounder and less dense when larvae are reared on A. curassavica , a plant exotic to N. America and increasing in prevalence in the southern United States (Satterfield, Maerz, & Altizer, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO₂ alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental change has the potential to influence trophic interactions by altering the defensive phenotype of prey. Here, we examine the effects of a pervasive environmental change driver, elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO2 (eCO2), on toxin sequestration and flight morphology of a specialist herbivore. We fed monarch butterfly larvae, Danaus plexippus, foliage from four milkweed, Asclepias, species of varying chemical defence profiles grown under either ambient or eCO2. We also infected a subset of these herbivores with a protozoan parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, to understand how infection and environmental change combine to alter herbivore defences. We measured changes in phytochemistry induced by eCO2 and assessed cardenolide, toxic steroid, sequestration and wing morphology of butterflies. Monarchs compensated for lower plant cardenolide concentrations under eCO2 by increasing cardenolide sequestration rate, maintaining similar cardenolide composition and concentrations in their wings under both CO2 treatments. We suggest that these increases in sequestration rate are a by‐product of compensatory feeding aimed at maintaining a nutritional target in response to declining dietary quality under eCO2. Monarch wings were more suitable for sustained flight (more elongated) when reared on plants grown under eCO2 or when reared on Asclepias syriaca or Asclepias incarnata rather than on Asclepias curassavica or Asclepias speciosa. Parasite infection engendered wings less suitable for sustained flight (wings became rounder) on three of four milkweed species. Wing loading (associated with powered flight) was higher on A. syriaca than on other milkweeds, whereas wing density was lower on A. curassavica. Monarchs that fed on high cardenolide milkweed developed rounder, thinner wings, which are less efficient at gliding flight. Ingesting foliage from milkweed high in cardenolides may provide protection from enemies through sequestration yet come at a cost to monarchs manifested as lower quality flight phenotypes: rounder, thinner wings with lower wing loading values. Small changes in morphology may have important consequences for enemy evasion and migration success in many animals. Energetic costs associated with alterations in defence and morphology may, therefore, have important consequences for trophic interactions in a changing world. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13270/suppinfo is available for this article.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO₂ alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies on mammals and birds have correlated the amount of FA with ecological indicators of stress, including degree of habitat fragmentation (Anciaes & Marini, 2001) and proximity to range limits (Auffray et al, 1999; Møller, 1997). However, studies on lepidopterans have reported mixed results in this regard (Kark et al, 2004; Windig et al., 2000; but see Benítez et al., 2015; Betzholtz, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does fluctuating asymmetry of wing traits capture relative environmental stress in a lepidopteran?

Symanski

Redak

2021

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is hypothesized to be a useful predictor of population canalization, especially for organisms at risk from environmental change. Identification of traits that meet statistical criteria as FA measures remains a challenge. Here, a laboratory experiment subjected immature butterflies (Vanessa cardui) to diet and temperature conditions of varying stress levels. Variation in dietary macronutrient ratio (protein: carbohydrate) and rearing temperature (optimal: 25°C; elevated: 32°C) was introduced as stressors. Temperature and nutrition are key variables influencing ectotherm growth and fitness and so are likely to be important stressors that influence FA. Individuals subjected to stressful conditions were predicted to show elevated FA of three wing size traits, as well as increased mortality and decreased adult body size. Trait FA did not vary across treatments. Instead, treatment levels impacted viability: The combined incidence of pupal death and expression of significant wing malformations increased in treatment levels designated as stressful. Variation in adult dry mass also reflected predicted stress levels. Results suggest that individuals predicted to display increased FA either died or displayed gross developmental aberrations. This experiment illustrates important constraints on the investigation of FA, including selection of appropriate traits and identification of appropriate levels of stressors to avoid elevated mortality. The latter concern brings into question the utility of FA as an indicator of stress in vulnerable, natural populations, where stress levels cannot be controlled, and mortality and fitness effects are often not quantifiable.

show abstract

“…The shape variation in Lottia mesoleuca have shown diverse strategies to inhabit in different depth zones across the intertidal populations, these strategies may be related with patterns of morphological adaptation among their distribution sites, which may be related with the environmental pressure across the intertidal. Specimens whose traits present more plasticity particularly shell shape in response to the environment, have been extensively identified as having characteristics of successful invaders by contrast with species with a lower pattern of plasticity [28,[54][55][56]. Morphometric traits, in some cases, pose challenges when being used to identify species, since they are influenced by both environmental and genetic factors [53,57].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Geometric Shell Shape between Populations of True Limpets Lottia Mesoleuca (Mollusca: Lottidae) in Colombia

Echeverry

Londoño‐Cruz

Benítez

2020

Animals

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The increasing activity in morphological studies has provided new tools to analyses the shape quantitatively, these quantitative measurements allow the researcher to examine the variation in shape and perform analysis to examine the quantitative differences among the species shapes, where geometric morphometrics has rendered great results in the last years. This study was focused on assessing the morphometric variation between populations of Lottia mesoleuca of the family Lottidae, an abundant group of gastropods in the rocky ecosystems of Bahía Málaga and Isla Gorgona (Colombian Pacific). This family has a high morphological diversity, making the identification of some morphotypes problematic work. Geometric morphometrics methods were applied on the shell using dorsal, lateral and ventral views. Different multivariate analyses were performed to differentiate the groups of species and populations (principal component analysis, morphological distances comparisons and grouping analysis by means of the Ward method). The results indicate that individuals of the species Lottia mesoleuca have key geometric characteristics associated to the different populations (depth intertidal zones) for classification, being the geometric shape of the shell enough to determine morphotypes between the different populations studied. Aspects associated with the combination of ecological variables with morphometric ones are necessary to be able to visualize with a higher resolution the structural complexity of populations and their adaptation processes. Furthermore, it is obvious that there is a strong need to conduct more explorations of environmental and ecological processes that provide some insight on why the morphological characteristics are so variable in the same species.

show abstract

Left–right asymmetry and morphological consequences of a host shift in the oligophagous Neotropical moth Macaria mirthae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 67 publications

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO₂ alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO₂ alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

Does fluctuating asymmetry of wing traits capture relative environmental stress in a lepidopteran?

Quantifying the Geometric Shell Shape between Populations of True Limpets Lottia Mesoleuca (Mollusca: Lottidae) in Colombia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Left–right asymmetry and morphological consequences of a host shift in the oligophagous Neotropical moth Macaria mirthae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 67 publications

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO2 alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO2 alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

Does fluctuating asymmetry of wing traits capture relative environmental stress in a lepidopteran?

Quantifying the Geometric Shell Shape between Populations of True Limpets Lottia Mesoleuca (Mollusca: Lottidae) in Colombia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO₂ alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies

Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO₂ alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies