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Diapause induction and relaxed selection on alternative developmental pathways in a butterfly
Inger M Aalberg Haugen1, Karl Gotthard1
1Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-10691, Sweden.
The Journal of Animal Ecology
|October 1, 2014
Summary
Seasonal plasticity in insects shows how life cycles adapt to latitude. Higher latitudes favor univoltine cycles, reducing developmental pathway selection and potentially altering life-history traits.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Entomology
Background:
- Seasonal phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to adjust trait expression based on environmental cues.
- Winter diapause in temperate insects is a facultative developmental switch influencing life-history traits.
- Latitudinal shifts in insect life cycles, from bivoltine to univoltine, can disrupt selection on specific developmental pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate latitudinal variation in voltinism in Pararge aegeria.
- Examine local adaptation of the diapause switch mechanism.
- Analyze selection footprints on life-history traits and sexual dimorphism in larval development.
Main Methods:
- Utilized field and experimental data from five Swedish populations of Pararge aegeria.
- Assessed latitudinal variation in voltinism (bivoltine vs. univoltine).
- Experimentally determined critical daylengths and developmental pathways.
Main Results:
- Field data showed a gradual shift from bivoltine to univoltine life cycles with increasing latitude.
- Experimental results indicated local adaptation in the diapause switch, with decreased direct development at higher latitudes correlating with increased critical daylengths.
- Developmental pathways (development time, growth rate) showed less differential expression in univoltine populations.
- Univoltine populations lacked significant protandry, suggesting loss of sex-specific modifications in the direct development pathway.
Conclusions:
- Pararge aegeria populations exhibit latitudinal adaptation in their life cycle strategies, shifting from bivoltine to univoltine patterns.
- Relaxed selection in univoltine populations may lead to the erosion of specific developmental pathways and associated sex-specific traits.
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