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Shephard AM, Knudsen K, Snell-Rood EC. Anthropogenic sodium influences butterfly responses to nitrogen-enriched resources: implications for the nitrogen limitation hypothesis. Oecologia 2023; 201:941-952. [PMID: 36971819 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05366-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Humans are increasing the environmental availability of historically limited nutrients, which may significantly influence organismal performance and behavior. Beneficial or stimulatory responses to increases in nitrogen availability (i.e., nitrogen limitation) are generally observed in plants but less consistently in animals. One possible explanation is that animal responses to nitrogen enrichment depend on how nitrogen intake is balanced with sodium, a micronutrient crucial for animals but not plants. We tested this idea in the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae), a species that frequently inhabits nutrient-enriched plants in agricultural settings and roadside verges. We asked (1) whether anthropogenic increases in sodium influence how nitrogen enrichment affects butterfly performance and (2) whether individuals can adaptively adjust their foraging behavior to such effects. Larval nitrogen enrichment enhanced growth of cabbage white larvae under conditions of low but not high sodium availability. In contrast, larval nitrogen enrichment increased egg production of adult females only when individuals developed with high sodium availability. Ovipositing females preferred nitrogen-enriched leaves regardless of sodium availability, while larvae avoided feeding on nitrogen-enriched leaves elevated in sodium. Our results show that anthropogenic increases in sodium influence whether individuals benefit from and forage on nitrogen-enriched resources. Yet, different nitrogen-to-sodium ratios are required to optimize larval and adult performance. Whether increases in sodium catalyze or inhibit benefits of nitrogen enrichment may depend on how evolved nutrient requirements vary across stages of animal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Shephard
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
| | - Kyle Knudsen
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Emilie C Snell-Rood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
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2
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Molleman F, Granados‐Tello J, Chapman CA, Tammaru T. Fruit‐feeding butterflies depend on adult food for reproduction: Evidence from longitudinal body mass and abundance data. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Freerk Molleman
- Department of Systematic Zoology Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, A. Mickiewicz University Poznań Poland
| | | | - Colin A. Chapman
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology The George Washington University Washington DC USA
| | - Toomas Tammaru
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences University of Tartu Tartu Estonia
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3
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Promislow DEL, Flatt T, Bonduriansky R. The Biology of Aging in Insects: From Drosophila to Other Insects and Back. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2022; 67:83-103. [PMID: 34590891 PMCID: PMC8940561 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-061621-064341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
An enormous amount of work has been done on aging in Drosophila melanogaster, a classical genetic and molecular model system, but also in numerous other insects. However, these two extensive bodies of work remain poorly integrated to date. Studies in Drosophila often explore genetic, developmental, physiological, and nutrition-related aspects of aging in the lab, while studies in other insects often explore ecological, social, and somatic aspects of aging in both lab and natural populations. Alongside exciting genomic and molecular research advances in aging in Drosophila, many new studies have also been published on aging in various other insects, including studies on aging in natural populations of diverse species. However, no broad synthesis of these largely separate bodies of work has been attempted. In this review, we endeavor to synthesize these two semi-independent literatures to facilitate collaboration and foster the exchange of ideas and research tools. While lab studies of Drosophila have illuminated many fundamental aspects of senescence, the stunning diversity of aging patterns among insects, especially in the context of their rich ecology, remains vastlyunderstudied. Coupled with field studies and novel, more easily applicable molecular methods, this represents a major opportunity for deepening our understanding of the biology of aging in insects and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E L Promislow
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA;
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Thomas Flatt
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;
| | - Russell Bonduriansky
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia;
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4
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A comparative study on insect longevity: tropical moths do not differ from their temperate relatives. Evol Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-021-10150-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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5
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Sexual differences in age-dependent survival and life span of adults in a natural butterfly population. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10394. [PMID: 32587296 PMCID: PMC7316833 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66922-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Adult survival and longevity in insects are key life-history traits, but their variation between sexes and individuals in natural populations is largely unexplored. Sexual divergence in senescence, the decline in survival with age is also poorly understood. Based on an intensive mark-recapture dataset of the butterfly Polyommatus daphnis, we aimed to assess whether adult survival is age-dependent, and to estimate life span distribution and abundance of males and females using Cormack-Jolly-Seber and Jolly-Seber models. Female survival slightly increased with date of emergence and slightly decreased with age, while male survival considerably declined with age. Mean life span of females (12.7 days) was ~50% higher than that of males (8.5 days), but two times higher if only the oldest 5% of each sex was considered (39 vs.19 days). Abundance of females (358 ± 14) and males (359 ± 11) was similar, but peak abundance of males preceded that of females by 11 days. Our results suggest that senescence is much more rapid in males than in females in this butterfly, which is in agreement with sexual selection theory. We also conclude that estimating life span distributions provides much more valuable information on the demography of natural populations than simply reporting the mean life span.
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6
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Butterflies do not alter oviposition or larval foraging in response to anthropogenic increases in sodium. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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7
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Sielezniew M, Kostro‐Ambroziak A, Klimczuk P, Deoniziak K, Pałka K, Nowicki P. Habitat‐related differences in the adult longevity of two ecotypes of a specialized butterfly. J Zool (1987) 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Sielezniew
- Laboratory of Insect Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Institute of Biology University of Bialystok Białystok Poland
| | - A. Kostro‐Ambroziak
- Laboratory of Insect Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Institute of Biology University of Bialystok Białystok Poland
| | - P. Klimczuk
- Laboratory of Insect Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Institute of Biology University of Bialystok Białystok Poland
| | - K. Deoniziak
- Laboratory of Insect Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Institute of Biology University of Bialystok Białystok Poland
- Department of Behavioural Ecology Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań Poland
| | - K. Pałka
- Department of Comparative Anatomy and Anthropology Maria Curie‐Skłodowska University Lublin Poland
| | - P. Nowicki
- Institute of Environmental Sciences Jagiellonian University Kraków Poland
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8
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Holm S, Davis RB, Javoiš J, Õunap E, Kaasik A, Molleman F, Tammaru T. A comparative perspective on longevity: the effect of body size dominates over ecology in moths. J Evol Biol 2016; 29:2422-2435. [PMID: 27536807 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2016] [Revised: 08/11/2016] [Accepted: 08/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Both physiologically and ecologically based explanations have been proposed to account for among-species differences in lifespan, but they remain poorly tested. Phylogenetically explicit comparative analyses are still scarce and those that exist are biased towards homoeothermic vertebrates. Insect studies can significantly contribute as lifespan can feasibly be measured in a high number of species, and the selective forces that have shaped it may differ largely between species and from those acting on larger animals. We recorded adult lifespan in 98 species of geometrid moths. Phylogenetic comparative analyses were applied to study variation in species-specific values of lifespan and to reveal its ecological and life-history correlates. Among-species and between-gender differences in lifespan were found to be notably limited; there was also no evidence of phylogenetic signal in this trait. Larger moth species were found to live longer, with this result supporting a physiological rather than ecological explanation of this relationship. Species-specific lifespan values could not be explained by traits such as reproductive season and larval diet breadth, strengthening the evidence for the dominance of physiological determinants of longevity over ecological ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Holm
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - R B Davis
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - J Javoiš
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - E Õunap
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.,Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
| | - A Kaasik
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - F Molleman
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.,Vanasiri Evolutionary Ecology Group, School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.,Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, Rennes, France
| | - T Tammaru
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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9
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Swanson EM, Espeset A, Mikati I, Bolduc I, Kulhanek R, White WA, Kenzie S, Snell-Rood EC. Nutrition shapes life-history evolution across species. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20152764. [PMID: 27412282 PMCID: PMC4947880 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2015] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrition is a key component of life-history theory, yet we know little about how diet quality shapes life-history evolution across species. Here, we test whether quantitative measures of nutrition are linked to life-history evolution across 96 species of butterflies representing over 50 independent diet shifts. We find that butterflies feeding on high nitrogen host plants as larvae are more fecund, but their eggs are smaller relative to their body size. Nitrogen and sodium content of host plants are also both positively related to eye size. Some of these relationships show pronounced lineage-specific effects. Testis size is not related to nutrition. Additionally, the evolutionary timing of diet shifts is not important, suggesting that nutrition affects life histories regardless of the length of time a species has been adapting to its diet. Our results suggest that, at least for some lineages, species with higher nutrient diets can invest in a range of fitness-related traits like fecundity and eye size while allocating less to each egg as offspring have access to a richer diet. These results have important implications for the evolution of life histories in the face of anthropogenic changes in nutrient availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli M Swanson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Anne Espeset
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA Department of Biology, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV 89509, USA
| | - Ihab Mikati
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Isaac Bolduc
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Robert Kulhanek
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - William A White
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Susan Kenzie
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Emilie C Snell-Rood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
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10
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Ravenscraft A, Boggs CL. Nutrient acquisition across a dietary shift: fruit feeding butterflies crave amino acids, nectivores seek salt. Oecologia 2015; 181:1-12. [PMID: 26267402 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3403-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Accepted: 07/15/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary dietary shifts have major ecological consequences. One likely consequence is a change in nutrient limitation-some nutrients become more abundant in the diet, others become more scarce. Individuals' behavior should change accordingly to match this new limitation regime: they should seek out nutrients that are deficient in the new diet. We investigated the relationship between diet and responses to nutrients using adult Costa Rican butterflies with contrasting feeding habits, testing the hypothesis that animals will respond more positively to nutrients that are scarcer in their diets. Via literature searches and our own data, we showed that nitrogen and sodium are both at lower concentration in nectar than in fruit. We therefore assessed butterflies' acceptance of sodium and four nitrogenous compounds that ranged in complexity from inorganic nitrogen (ammonium chloride) to protein (albumin). We captured wild butterflies, offered them aqueous solutions of each substance, and recorded whether they accepted (drank) or rejected each substance. Support for our hypothesis was mixed. Across the sexes, frugivores were four times more likely to accept amino acids (hydrolyzed casein) than nectivores, in opposition to expectation. In males, nectivores accepted sodium almost three times more frequently than frugivores, supporting expectations. Together, these results suggest that in butterflies, becoming frugivorous is associated with an increased receptivity to amino acids and decreased receptivity to sodium. Nectivory and frugivory are widespread feeding strategies in organisms as diverse as insects, birds, and bats; our results suggest that these feeding strategies may put different pressures on how animals fulfill their nutritional requirements.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Carol L Boggs
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA
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11
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Vlasanek P, Novotny V. Demography and mobility of three common understory butterfly species from tropical rain forest of Papua New Guinea. POPUL ECOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10144-015-0480-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Petr Vlasanek
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaBranisovska 31370 05Ceske BudejoviceCzech Republic
- Institute of EntomologyCzech Academy of SciencesBranisovska 31370 05Ceske BudejoviceCzech Republic
| | - Vojtech Novotny
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaBranisovska 31370 05Ceske BudejoviceCzech Republic
- Institute of EntomologyCzech Academy of SciencesBranisovska 31370 05Ceske BudejoviceCzech Republic
- New Guinea Binatang Research CenterPO Box 604MadangPapua New Guinea
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12
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Neubauer G, Nowicki P, Zagalska-Neubauer M. Haldane's rule revisited: do hybrid females have a shorter lifespan? Survival of hybrids in a recent contact zone between two large gull species. J Evol Biol 2014; 27:1248-55. [PMID: 24820228 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2013] [Accepted: 04/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Haldane's rule predicts that particularly high fitness reduction should affect the heterogametic sex of interspecific hybrids. Despite the fact that hybridization is widespread in birds, survival of hybrid individuals is rarely addressed in studies of avian hybrid zones, possibly because of methodological constraints. Here, having applied capture-mark-recapture models to an extensive, 19-year-long data set on individually marked birds, we estimate annual survival rates of hybrid individuals in the hybrid zone between herring (Larus argentatus) and Caspian (Larus cachinnans) gulls. In both parental species, males have a slightly higher survival rate than females (model-weighted mean ± SE: herring gull males 0.88 ± 0.01, females 0.87 ± 0.01, Caspian gull males 0.88 ± 0.01, females 0.87 ± 0.01). Hybrid males do not survive for a shorter time than nonhybrid ones (0.88 ± 0.01), whereas hybrid females have the lowest survival rate among all groups of individuals (0.83 ± 0.03). This translates to a shorter adult (reproductive) lifespan (on average by 1.7-1.8 years, i.e. ca 25%) compared with nonhybrid females. We conclude that, in line with Haldane's rule, the lower survival rate of female hybrids may contribute to selection against hybrids in this hybrid zone.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Neubauer
- Ornithological Station, Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Gdańsk, Poland
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13
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Factors affecting lifespan in bird-eating spiders (Arachnida: Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae) – A multi-species approach. ZOOL ANZ 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2013.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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14
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Honda K, Takase H, Ômura H, Honda H. Procurement of exogenous ammonia by the swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polytes, for protein biosynthesis and sperm production. Naturwissenschaften 2012; 99:695-703. [PMID: 22842938 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-0951-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2012] [Revised: 07/04/2012] [Accepted: 07/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
How to acquire sufficient quantity of nitrogen is a pivotal issue for herbivores, particularly for lepidopterans (butterflies and moths) of which diet quality greatly differs among their life stages. Male Lepidoptera often feed from mud puddles, dung, and carrion, a behavior known as puddling, which is thought to be supplementary feeding targeted chiefly at sodium. During copulation, males transfer a spermatophore to females that contains, besides sperm, nutrients (nuptial gifts) rich in sodium, proteins, and amino acids. However, it is still poorly understood how adults, mostly nectarivores, extract nitrogen from the environment. We examined the availability of two ubiquitous inorganic nitrogenous ions in nature, viz. ammonium (or ammonia) and nitrate ions, as nutrients in a butterfly, and show that exogenous ammonia ingested by adult males of the swallowtail, Papilio polytes, can serve as a resource for protein biosynthesis. Feeding experiments with (15)N-labeled ammonium chloride revealed that nitrogen was incorporated into eupyrene spermatozoa, seminal protein, and thoracic muscle. Ammonia uptake by males significantly increased the number of eupyrene sperms in the reproductive tract tissues. The females also had the capacity to assimilate ammonia into egg protein. Consequently, it is evident that acquired ammonia is utilized for the replenishment of proteins allocable for reproduction and somatic maintenance. The active exploitation of exogenous ammonia as a nutrient by a butterfly would foster better understanding of the foraging and reproductive strategies in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiichi Honda
- Department of Biofunctional Science and Technology, Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima, 739-8528, Japan.
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15
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CARROLL JUSTIN, KORSHIKOV ELENA, SHERRATT THOMASN. Post-reproductive senescence in moths as a consequence of kin selection: Blest's theory revisited. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01736.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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16
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Diamond SE, Frame AM, Martin RA, Buckley LB. Species' traits predict phenological responses to climate change in butterflies. Ecology 2011; 92:1005-12. [PMID: 21661561 DOI: 10.1890/10-1594.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
How do species' traits help identify which species will respond most strongly to future climate change? We examine the relationship between species' traits and phenology in a well-established model system for climate change, the U.K. Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS). Most resident U.K. butterfly species have significantly advanced their dates of first appearance during the past 30 years. We show that species with narrower larval diet breadth and more advanced overwintering stages have experienced relatively greater advances in their date of first appearance. In addition, species with smaller range sizes have experienced greater phenological advancement. Our results demonstrate that species' traits can be important predictors of responses to climate change, and they suggest that further investigation of the mechanisms by which these traits influence phenology may aid in understanding species' responses to current and future climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Diamond
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
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17
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Molleman F, Ding J, Boggs CL, Carey JR, Arlet ME. Does dietary restriction reduce life span in male fruit-feeding butterflies? Exp Gerontol 2009; 44:601-6. [PMID: 19580860 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2009.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2008] [Revised: 06/16/2009] [Accepted: 06/25/2009] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Male life history and resource allocation is not frequently studied in aging and life span research. Here, we verify that males of long-lived fruit-feeding butterfly species have reduced longevity on restricted diets [Beck, J., 2007. The importance of amino acids in the adult diet of male tropical rainforest butterflies. Oecologia 151, 741-747], in contrast to the common finding of longevity extension in dietary restriction experiments in Drosophila and some other organisms. Males of some of the most long-lived species of fruit-feeding butterflies were collected from Kibale Forest, Uganda, and kept on diets of either sugar or mashed banana. Seven out of eight species had non-significantly longer life spans on mashed banana diets. Data analysis using a time-varying Cox-model with species as covariate showed that males had reduced survival on the sugar diet during the first 35 days of captive life, but the effect was absent or reversed at more advanced ages. These results challenge the generality of dietary restriction as a way to extend life span in animals. We argue that such studies on males are promising tools for better understanding life history evolution and aging because males display a wider variety of tactics for obtaining reproductive success than females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Freerk Molleman
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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