Correlated evolution of colour pattern and body size in polymorphic pygmy grasshoppers, Tetrix undulata

被引:62
作者
Ahnesjö, J [1 ]
Forsman, A [1 ]
机构
[1] Kalmar Univ, Dept Biol & Environm Sci, SE-39182 Kalmar, Sweden
关键词
body size; environmental canalization; genetic correlation; integration; life-history; Orthoptera;
D O I
10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00610.x
中图分类号
Q14 [生态学(生物生态学)];
学科分类号
071012 ; 0713 ;
摘要
Theory posits that selection on functionally interrelated characters will promote physical and genetic integration resulting in evolution of favourable trait-value combinations. The pygmy grasshopper Tetrix undulata (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) displays a genetically encoded polymorphism for colour pattern. Colour morphs differ in several traits, including behaviours, thermal biology and body size. To examine if these size differences may reflect phenotypic plasticity of growth and development in response to temperature we used a split brood-design and reared hatchlings from mothers belonging to different morphs in different thermal environments (warm or cold) until maturity. We found that time to maturity was longer in the cold compared with the warm treatment. In the warm (but not in the cold) treatment time to maturity also varied among individuals born to mothers belonging to different colour morphs. Although low temperature and long development time are normally accompanied by increased body size in ectotherms, our results revealed no difference in size at maturity between individuals reared in the two temperature treatments. There was also an increase (not a decrease) in adult body size with shortened time to maturity across families within each treatment. Taken together, this suggests that body size is canalized against environmental perturbations, and that early maturation does not necessarily trade off against a size-mediated decrease in fecundity. Heritability of body size was moderate in magnitude. Moreover, body size at maturity varied among individuals belonging to different morphs and was influenced also by maternal colour morph, suggesting that a genetic correlation exists between colour pattern and body size. These findings suggest that different characters have evolved in concert and that the various colour morphs represent different evolutionary strategies, i.e., alternative peaks in a multi-modal adaptive landscape.
引用
收藏
页码:1308 / 1318
页数:11
相关论文
共 73 条
[1]   The effect of flexible growth rates on optimal sizes and development times in a seasonal environment [J].
Abrams, PA ;
Leimar, O ;
Nylin, S ;
Wiklund, C .
AMERICAN NATURALIST, 1996, 147 (03) :381-395
[2]  
[Anonymous], 1981, Statistical Tables
[3]  
[Anonymous], 1984, MANUAL QUANTITATIVE
[4]  
[Anonymous], NATURAL SELECTION WI
[5]  
[Anonymous], 1998, Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits (Sinauer)
[6]  
ATKINSON D, 1994, ADV ECOL RES, V25, P1, DOI 10.1016/S0065-2504(08)60212-3
[7]   THERMAL-DEPENDENCE OF MUSCLE FUNCTION [J].
BENNETT, AF .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, 1984, 247 (02) :R217-R229
[8]   Effects of temperature on growth, development and diapause in the yellow dung fly - against all the rules? [J].
Blanckenhorn, WU .
OECOLOGIA, 1997, 111 (03) :318-324
[9]   The evolution of body size: What keeps organisms small? [J].
Blanckenhorn, WU .
QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY, 2000, 75 (04) :385-407
[10]   CORRELATIONAL SELECTION FOR COLOR PATTERN AND ANTIPREDATOR BEHAVIOR IN THE GARTER SNAKE THAMNOPHIS-ORDINOIDES [J].
BRODIE, ED .
EVOLUTION, 1992, 46 (05) :1284-1298