Nutritional stress reduces flight performance and exploratory behavior in a butterfly

Reim, Elisabeth; Eichhorn, Danny; Roy, Jan D.; Steinhoff, Philip O. M.; Fischer, Klaus

doi:10.1111/1744-7917.12596

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…For instance, we did not find differences between sexes, although a better flight performance in males has been shown for the study species in previous experiments (Reim et al. , b, see Fig. b for a non‐significant tendency).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 45%

Emigration propensity and flight performance are decoupled in a butterfly

et al. 2018

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Dispersal, defined as any movements potentially leading to gene flow, is a major process driving a species’ capacity to cope with human‐induced environmental modifications. However, the dispersal process is multi‐causal, which currently hinders predictions regarding a species’ resilience to global change. We used a multifaceted approach to disentangle the relative importance of a suite of dispersal‐related factors in the butterfly Lycaena tityrus, including condition‐ (morphology and behavior) and context‐ (environmental) dependent factors. Experiments were conducted at an experimental platform dedicated to study dispersal, the Metatron, to record emigration propensity in two‐patch experimental metapopulations under different environmental conditions. The butterflies’ individual condition was subsequently assessed in the laboratory. Individual condition did not generally influence emigration propensity. We detected a significant sex bias in emigration propensity, being generally higher in females than in males, but in a context‐dependent manner. The environmental context affected emigration propensity, which was higher when habitat quality was poor. Our results show that emigration is not random in L. tityrus, but is rather an active process triggered by sex and habitat quality. Our main finding was that individual condition, and particularly flight ability measured by a performance test, was not related to emigration propensity in experimental metapopulations. Our results may have important implications for forecasting future species distributions, as deteriorating environmental contexts are likely to increase emigration whatever the individual condition is.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 45%

Emigration propensity and flight performance are decoupled in a butterfly

et al. 2018

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“…How food stress at the adult stage affects flight capacity is likely to depend on the severity of food restriction and the type of flight that is being measured as well as differences in life-history strategies. For example, 2-day-old Lycaena tityrus butterflies that had received no food after emergence showed reduced flight endurance in an intense shaking test (Reim et al 2018). Similarly, sugar or blood fed mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae and A. atroparvus flew longer distances in a flight mill than did unfed controls (Kaufmann and Briegel 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of flight and food stress on energetics, reproduction, and lifespan in the butterfly Melitaea cinxia

Niitepõld

2019

Oecologia

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Environmental change can have drastic effects on natural populations. To successfully predict such effects, we need to understand how species that follow different life-history strategies respond to stressful conditions. Here I focus on two stressors, increased flight and dietary restriction, and their effects on bioenergetics and life-history. Using the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia), I subjected mated females to three treatments: (1) control conditions, (2) repeated forced flight with unlimited food, and (3) repeated forced flight coupled with food restriction. Interestingly, flight increased fecundity: females in both flight treatments initiated oviposition earlier, laid more egg clutches, and had higher total fecundity than control females. However, food-restriction by 50% reduced clutch size and resulted in an approximately 25% decrease in total fecundity compared to flown females with unlimited food. There were no differences in egg wet mass, water content or hatching success. Flown females with unlimited food appeared to exhibit a trade-off between reproduction and lifespan: they had higher mass-independent resting metabolic rate and shorter lifespan than females in the other treatments. Mass-independent flight metabolic rate, reflecting flight capacity, did not differ among the treatments. There were no differences in the rate of metabolic senescence across the treatments. The current findings suggest a mechanistic link between flight and reproduction, potentially mediated by juvenile hormone signalling. It appears that this wing-monomorphic butterfly does not show an oogenesis-flight trade-off often found in wing-dimorphic insects. Nevertheless, nectar-feeding is needed for achieving maximum reproductive output, suggesting that diminishing nectar resources may negatively impact natural populations.

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“…Larval diet quantity and quality affect adult flight ability (Reim et al 2019) and morphology (Zahran et al 2018) in several insects, though the mechanisms driving these relationships are not well understood. The availability and composition of larval diet food sources influences morphological traits that can impact flight performance such as adult body size (Portman et al 2015;Reim et al 2019), as well as wing size and shape (Cendra et al 2014;Johnson et al 2014;Stoks 2001;Reim et al 2019;Yama et al 2019). Diet quality can also influence the development and metabolism of flight muscles (Gunn and Gatehouse 1988;Portman et al 2015), which may help to explain larval diet-induced changes in flight ability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of diet and temperature on monarch butterfly wing morphology and flight ability

2020

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Background While global change research has greatly expanded in recent years, it remains unclear how environmental change will impact the mobility of many organisms. Flight is an important mode of transportation that affects ecological functions, including mate location, foraging, and migration. However, the effects of increasing temperature and diet quality on flight remain largely unknown. Here, we explore the effects of rearing temperature and larval diet quality on the flight ability of an iconic and ecologically threatened migratory insect, the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. Experimental Design Monarch larvae were reared at two temperatures (25 °C and 28 °C) and on three milkweed species with varying phytochemistry (Asclepias incarnata, Asclepias syriaca, and Asclepias curassavica) in a fully factorial experiment. We tested flight ability using an automated flight mill, which measured cumulative flight distance, duration, and instantaneous velocity. Results Higher rearing temperatures reduced monarch flight ability, and larval diet quality influenced forewing morphology. Dietary milkweed with higher cardenolide concentrations (A. curassavica) induced shorter, wider forewings whereas milkweed with low to intermediate cardenolides (A. incarnata and A. syriaca) induced longer, narrower forewings, which are considered better for gliding flight used during migration. Implications for Insect Conservation Our results provide evidence that projected increases in temperature and the subsequent expansion of tropical milkweed (A. curassavica) into the central breeding range of eastern North American migratory monarchs could reduce migration success. Further research is needed to identify mechanisms explaining the effects of diet and temperature on monarch flight ability and fitness, to ensure that appropriate conservation strategies are employed to preserve migratory populations.

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Nutritional stress reduces flight performance and exploratory behavior in a butterfly

Cited by 14 publications

References 71 publications

Emigration propensity and flight performance are decoupled in a butterfly

Emigration propensity and flight performance are decoupled in a butterfly

Effects of flight and food stress on energetics, reproduction, and lifespan in the butterfly Melitaea cinxia

Effects of diet and temperature on monarch butterfly wing morphology and flight ability

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