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Robinson ML, Weber MG, Freedman MG, Jordan E, Ashlock SR, Yonenaga J, Strauss SY. Macroevolution of protective coloration across caterpillars reflects relationships with host plants. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222293. [PMID: 36651051 PMCID: PMC9845978 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
A critical function of animal coloration is avoiding attack, either by warning predators or reducing detectability. Evolution of these divergent strategies may depend on prey palatability and apparency to predators: conspicuous coloration may be favoured if species are distasteful, or habitats make hiding difficult; by contrast, camouflage may be effective if prey lack defences or environments are visually complex. For insect herbivores, host plants provide both chemical defence and the background against which they are detected or obscured; thus, plant traits may be key to coloration in these foundational terrestrial organisms. We use 1808 species of larval Lepidoptera to explore macroevolution of protective coloration strategy. We find that colour and pattern evolve jointly in caterpillars, similar to an array of species across the animal kingdom, while individual elements of coloration evolve closely with diet ecology. Consistent with key tenets of plant defence and plant-herbivore coevolutionary theory, conspicuous colours are associated with herbaceous host plants-thought to be defended by toxins-while camouflage colours and patterns are associated with woody plants and grasses. Contrary to theory, dietary specialization is not associated with conspicuous coloration. Our results add valuable insights into the evolutionary forces shaping colour and pattern in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moria L. Robinson
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA,Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
| | - Marjorie G. Weber
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Micah G. Freedman
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA,Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Evan Jordan
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, CA 95616, USA
| | - Sarah R. Ashlock
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, CA 95616, USA
| | - Jenna Yonenaga
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, CA 95616, USA
| | - Sharon Y. Strauss
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA,Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Berlin, 14193, Germany,Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, CA 95616, USA
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Li P, Zhang J, Ding S, Yan P, Zhang P, Ding S. Environmental Effects on Taxonomic Turnover in Soil Fauna across Multiple Forest Ecosystems in East Asia. INSECTS 2022; 13:1103. [PMID: 36555013 PMCID: PMC9786105 DOI: 10.3390/insects13121103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The large-scale spatial variation in and causes of biotic turnover of soil fauna remain poorly understood. Analyses were conducted based on published data from 14 independent sampling sites across five forest ecosystems in East Asia. Jaccard and Sørensen's indices were used to measure turnover rates in soil fauna orders. A redundancy analysis was used to investigate multiple environmental controls of the composition of soil fauna communities. The results showed that both Jaccard's and Sørensen's index increased significantly with increasing latitude difference. The environment explained 54.1%, 50.6%, 57.3% and 50.9% of the total variance, and spatial factors explained 13.8%, 15.9%, 21.0% and 12.6% of the total variance in the orders' composition regarding overall, phytophagous, predatory and saprophagous fauna, respectively. In addition, climate factors in environmental processes were observed to have a stronger effect than soil factors on the orders' turnover rates. Our results support the hypothesis that the effect of environment factors on soil animal taxa turnover is more important than the effect of spatial factors. Climatic factors explained more variation in the turnover of phytophagic fauna, but soil and environment factors equally explained the variation in the turnover of predatory fauna. This study provides evidence to support both environmental filtering and dispersal limitation hypotheses at the regional and population scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peikun Li
- Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
- College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
- College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Shunping Ding
- Plant Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA
| | - Peisen Yan
- Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
- College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Panpan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
- College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Shengyan Ding
- Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions, Ministry of Education, College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
- College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
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