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37 results for “Insect body size”
Old Field All Arthropod Sweepnet Sampling 2004 :Trophic Structure: Insect Species Diversity, Abundance and Body Size
The goal of this study was to examine the populations of insects in prairies and savannas. Most of the prairies had developed after being abandoned from agriculture, but none of the savannas had been cultivated. The history of burning varied between sites. The main sampling for this study was conducted in 1992 by the lead investigators: John Haarstad, Evan Siemann, and David Tilman. Insects were sampled via sweep-net sampling, pitfalls and ant scent plates throughout the growing season in each of 49 grassland fields and savannas. In total, 89,596 individuals of 1,167 species were captured and enumerated. Body size was measured for a subset of grasshoppers collected. In 2004, John Haarstad conducted two similar studies by identifying and enumerating all insects collected in sweepnet samples taken in old fields (prairies) as part of E014 grasshopper studies and from sweepnet samples taken in savannas.
Data from: Body size evolution in an old insect order: no evidence for Cope's Rule in spite of fitness benefits of large size
We integrate field data and phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate causes of body size evolution and stasis in an old insect order: odonates ("dragonflies and damselflies"). Fossil evidence for "Cope's Rule" in odonates is weak or non-existent since the last major extinction event 65 million years ago, yet selection studies show consistent positive selection for increased body size among adults. In particular, we find that large males in natural populations of the banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) over several generations have consistent fitness benefits both in terms of survival and mating success. Additionally, there was no evidence for stabilizing or conflicting selection between fitness components within the adult life-stage. This lack of stabilizing selection during the adult life-stage was independently supported by a literature survey on different male and female fitness components from several odonate species. We did detect several significant body size shifts among extant taxa using comparative methods and a large new molecular phylogeny for odonates . We suggest that the lack of Cope's rule in odonates results from conflicting selection between fitness advantages of large adult size and costs of long larval development. We also discuss competing explanations for body size stasis in this insect group.
Data from: How has the environment shaped geographical patterns of insect body sizes? A test of hypotheses using sphingid moths
Aim: We mapped the geographical pattern of body sizes in sphingid moths and investigated latitudinal clines. We tested hypotheses concerning their possible environmental control, i.e., effects of temperature (negative: temperature size rule or Bergmann's rule; positive: converse Bergmann rule), food availability, robustness to starvation during extreme weather, and seasonality. Location: Old World and Australia/Pacific region Methods: Body size data of 950 sphingid species were compiled and related to their distribution maps. Focusing on body length, we mapped the median and maximum size of all species occurring in 100 km grid cells. In a comparative approach we tested the predictions from explanatory hypotheses by correlating species' size to the average environmental conditions encountered throughout their range, under univariate and multivariate models. We accounted for phylogeny by stepwise inclusion of phylogenetically informed taxonomic classifications into hierarchical random-intercept mixed models. Results: Median body sizes showed a distinctive geographical pattern, with large species in the Middle East and the Asian tropics, and smaller species in temperate regions and the Afrotropics. Absolute latitude explained very little body size variation, but there was a latitudinal cline of maximum size. Species' median size was correlated to net primary productivity, supporting the food availability hypothesis, whereas support for other hypotheses was weak. Environmental correlations contributed much less (i.e., <10%) to explaining overall size variation than phylogeny (inclusion of which led to models explaining >70% of variability). Main conclusion: The intuitive impression of larger species in the tropics is shaped by larger size maxima. Median body sizes are only very weakly related to latitude. Most of the geographic variation in body size in sphingid moths is explained by their phylogenetic past. NPP and forest cover correlate positively with the body size, which supports the idea that food availability allowed the evolution of larger sizes.
How do host-plant use and seasonal life cycle relate to insect body size: A case study on European geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)
<p><span>We used European geometrid moths (> 630 species) as a model group to investigate how life history traits linked to larval host plant use (i.e., diet breadth and host-plant growth form) and seasonal life cycle (i.e., voltinism, overwintering stage, and caterpillar phenology) are related to adult body size in holometabolous insect herbivores. To do so, we applied phylogenetic comparative methods to account for shared evolutionary history among herbivore species. We further categorised larval diet breadth based on the phylogenetic structure of utilised host plant genera. Our results indicate that species associated with woody plants are, on average, larger than herb feeders and increase in size with increasing diet breadth. Obligatorily univoltine species are larger than multivoltine species, and attain larger sizes when their larvae are restricted to the early season. Furthermore, adult body size is significantly smaller in species that overwinter in the pupal stage compared to those that overwinter as egg or caterpillar. In summary, our results indicate that the ecological niche of an holometabolous insect herbivore is strongly interrelated with its size at maturity.</span></p>
Data from: How has the environment shaped geographical patterns of insect body sizes? A test of hypotheses using sphingid moths
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Body size determines the thermal coupling between insects and plant surfaces
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Data from: Body size evolution in an old insect order: no evidence for Cope’s Rule in spite of fitness benefits of large size
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Data from: Elucidating mechanisms for insect body size: partial support for the oxygen-dependent induction of moulting hypothesis
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How do host-plant use and seasonal life cycle relate to insect body size: A case study on European geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)
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Ecological specialisation and range size determine intraspecific body size variation in a speciose clade of insect herbivores
<p><span>The body size of an adult insect is strongly determined by the environmental factors to which it is exposed during growth and development. Insect species confronted with a high environmental variability across their geographical range (i.e., wide ecological niche breadth) may therefore reveal broader variation in body size than those species which are more specialised (i.e., narrow ecological niche). </span><span>In this study, we aim to investigate whether characteristics related to the ecological niche breadth of a holometabolous insect species (i.e., its ecological specialisation) affect its intraspecific variation in adult body size. By using European geometrid moths as a model group, we specifically tested whether latitudinal range size, larval resource use, and voltinism affect intraspecific body size variation. We hypothesised that plasticity will increase along with latitudinal range and larval diet breadth. We further expected that univoltine species reveal a lower body size variation compared to those with multiple generations per year. To test these hypotheses, w</span><span>e compiled a comprehensive trait database for 631 species of European geometrid moths from literature, including information on adult body size, life history, and distribution. </span><span>We further </span><span>reconstructed a molecular phylogeny including all analysed geometrid species and applied </span><span>phylogenetic comparative methods in order to test our predictions. In support of our hypotheses, we found that intraspecific size variation is positively related to latitudinal range size and larval diet breadth, and that multivoltine species reveal a higher heterogeneity in body size than taxa with a strictly univoltine life style. </span><span>Based on our results, we demonstrated that intraspecific body size variation in geometrid moths is negatively related to ecological specialisation. We further suggest that increased variation in body size with increasing niche breadth is a general pattern, which likely applies to many other insect groups as well. This assumption, however, demands further empirical scrutiny.</span></p>
Data from: Degree of specialization is related to body size in herbivorous insects: a phylogenetic confirmation
Numerous studies have suggested a general relationship between the degree of host specialization and body size in herbivorous animals. In insects, smaller species are usually shown to be more specialized than larger-bodied ones. Various hypotheses have attempted to explain this pattern but rigorous proof of the body size-diet breadth relationship has been lacking, primarily because the scarceness of reliable phylogenetic information has precluded formal comparative analyses. Explicitly using phylogenetic information for a group of herbivores (geometrid moths) and their host plant range, we perform a comparative analysis to study the body size-diet breadth relationship. Considering several alternative measures of body size and diet breadth, our results convincingly demonstrate without previous methodological issues – a first for any taxon – a positive association between these traits, which has implications for evaluating various central aspects of the evolutionary ecology of herbivorous insects. We additionally demonstrate how the methods used in this study can be applied in assessing hypotheses to explain the body size-diet breadth relationship. By analyzing the relationship in tree-feeders alone and finding that the positive relationship remains, the result suggests that the body size-diet breadth relationship is not solely driven by the type of host plant that species feed on.
Data from: Consistent associations between body size and hidden contrasting color signals across a range of insect taxa
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Ecological specialisation and range size determine intraspecific body size variation in a speciose clade of insect herbivores
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Data from: Degree of specialization is related to body size in herbivorous insects: a phylogenetic confirmation
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Data from: Insect temperature-body size trends common to laboratory, latitudinal and seasonal gradients are not found across altitudes
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Data from: Bergmann's body size rule operates in facultatively endothermic insects: evidence from a complex of cryptic bumblebee species
According to Bergmann's rule we expect species with larger body size to inhabit locations with a cooler climate, where they may be well adapted to conserve heat and resist starvation. This rule is generally applied to endotherms. In contrast, body size in ectothermic invertebrates has been suggested to follow the reverse ecogeographic trend: these converse Bergmann's patterns may be driven by the ecological constraints of shorter season length and lower food availability in cooler high latitude locations. Such patterns are particularly common in large insects due to their longer development times. As large and facultatively endothermic insects, bumblebees could thus be expected to follow either trend. In this investigation, we studied body size of three bumblebee species over a large spatial area and investigated whether interspecific trends in body size correspond to differences in their distribution consistent with either Bergmann's or a converse Bergmann's rule. We examined the body size of queens, males and workers of the Bombus lucorum complex of cryptic bumblebee species from across the whole of Great Britain. We found interspecific differences in body size corresponding to Bergmann's rule: queens and males of the more northerly distributed, cool-adapted, species were largest. In contrast, the mean body size of the worker caste did not vary between the three species. These differences in body size may have evolved under selection pressures for thermoregulation or starvation resistance. We suggest that this case study in facultatively endothermic insects may help clarify the selection pressures governing Bergmann rule trends more generally.
Data from: Bergmann's body size rule operates in facultatively endothermic insects: evidence from a complex of cryptic bumblebee species
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