Showing papers by "Wolf U. Blanckenhorn published in 2017"

Critical weight mediates sex-specific body size plasticity and sexual dimorphism in the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae).

Abstract: Ultimate factors driving insect body size are rather well understood, while—apart from a few model species—the underlying physiological and developmental mechanisms received less attention. We investigate the physiological basis of adaptive size variation in the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria, which shows pronounced male-biased sexual size dimorphism and strong body size plasticity. We estimate variation of a major physiological threshold, the critical weight, which is the mass at which a larva initiates pupariation. Critical weight was associated with sexual size dimorphism and sex-specific plasticity, and is thus a likely target of selection on adult size. Detailed larval growth trajectories derived from individuals raised at two food and temperature treatments further reveal that sex-specific size plasticity is mediated by faster initial growth of males that later becomes reduced by higher male weight loss during the wandering stage. We further demonstrate that integral growth rates, which are typically calculated as simple ratios of egg-to-adult development time and adult weight, do not necessarily well reflect variation in instantaneous growth rates. We illustrate the importance of detailed assessments of ontogenetic growth trajectories for the understanding of adaptive size variation and discuss the mechanistic basis of size determination in shaping sex-specific phenotypic plasticity.

Healthier or bigger? Trade-off mediating male dimorphism in the black scavenger fly Sepsis thoracica (Diptera: Sepsidae)

Abstract: 1. Life history trade-offs emerge when limited resources are allocated to multiple functions of an organism. Under highly competitive conditions trade-offs can result in alternative phenotypes that differ morphologically and physiologically. Such is the case in insect species that grow under high densities, where competition for resources but also the risk of disease contagion is high, prompting important adjustments in immune response and melanic cuticular pigmentation, with consequent sacrifices in other fitness-related traits. 2. In the present study, the potential trade-offs between total- and active phenoloxidase (PO), body size and body pigmentation in Sepsis thoracica black scavenger flies that show alternative male morphs differing in cuticular pigmentation, and body size were evaluated. 3. As expected, small/dark (obsidian) males showed higher total-PO activity than larger/orange (amber) males. A negative relationship was found between total-PO activity and body size in females and obsidian but not amber males, suggesting that growth and immunity are more costly for the former. In contrast, density did not affect PO activity, as predicted by the density-dependent prophylaxis hypothesis, which had not been tested in dipterans before. However, rearing density did affect the body size negatively in females and amber but not obsidian males, showing that male morph is largely determined by condition-dependent plasticity rather than genes. 4. This study provides good evidence that trade-offs between different life-history traits can result in alternative resource allocation strategies, even within one species. These strategies can produce strikingly different alternative phenotypes, evincing that there is not only one optimal solution to address fitness optimisation.

Taxonomic resolution and treatment effects – alone and combined – can mask significant biodiversity reductions

Abstract: Taxonomic resolution or uncertainty poses an important problem in biodiversity research. Assessment of biodiversity at the species level is most informative and preferred, but requires effort and expertise. Alternatively, researchers often bin species into higher taxa because they are unable to recognize them, or to save money and time. Here we analyse, by simulation and analytical modelling, the combined effects of dose-dependent mortality and taxonomic binning on biodiversity indices for a fictitious community of organisms. We asked (1) how binning species in a sample into higher taxa significantly affects biodiversity measures, and (2) whether dose-dependent mortality effects, alone or in combination with taxonomic uncertainty, are duly captured by classic biodiversity indices. Our study shows that haphazard binning into various taxonomic levels is legitimate and preferable to orderly binning (all taxa binned at the same level), because it provides the best resolution. We further show that binn...

Selection On Morphological Traits And Fluctuating Asymmetry By A Fungal Parasite In The Yellow Dung Fly

Abstract: Evidence for selective disadvantages of large body size remains scarce in general. Previous phenomenological studies of the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria have demonstrated strong positive sexual and fecundity selection on male and female size. Nevertheless, the body size of flies from a Swiss study population has declined by almost 10% from 1993 to 2009. Given substantial heritability of body size, this negative evolutionary response of an evidently positively selected trait suggests important selective factors being missed (e.g. size-selective predation or parasitism). A periodic epidemic outbreak of the fungus Entomophthora scatophagae allowed assessment of selection exerted by this parasite fatal to adult flies. Fungal infection varied over the season from ca. 50% in the cooler and more humid spring and autumn to almost 0% in summer. The probability of dying from fungal infection increased with adult body size. All infected females died before laying eggs, so there was no fungus impact on female fecundity beyond its impact on mortality. Large males showed the typical mating advantage in the field, but this pattern of positive sexual selection was nullified by fungal infection. Mean fluctuating asymmetry of paired appendages (legs, wings) did not affect the viability, fecundity or mating success of yellow dung flies in the field. This study demonstrates rare parasite-mediated disadvantages of large adult body size in the field. Reduced ability to combat parasites such as Entomophthora may be an immunity cost of large size in dung flies, although the hypothesized trade-off between fluctuating asymmetry, a presumed indicator of developmental instability and environmental stress, and immunocompetence was not found here.