Publication with datasets Azevedo et al. 1998, Latitudinal variation of wing: thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio in Drosophila melanogaster, Evolution

Keywords
Artificial selection, Flight, Latitudinal cline, Phenotypic plasticity, Thermal selection and Wing loading

Summary

ABSTRACT: In dipterans, the wing-beat frequency, and, hence, the lift generated, increases linearly with ambient temperature. If flight performance is an important target of natural selection, higher wing:thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio should be favoured at low temperatures because they increase the lift for a given body weight. We investigated this hypothesis by examining wing:thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio in Drosophila melanogaster collected from wild populations along a latitudinal gradient and in their descendants reared under standard laboratory conditions. In a subset of lines, we also studied the phenotypic plasticity of these traits in response to temperature. To examine whether the latitudinal trends in wing:thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio could have resulted from a correlated response to latitudinal selection on wing area, we investigated the correlated responses of these characters in lines artificially selected for wing area. In both the geographic and the artificially selected lines, wing:thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio decreased in response to increasing temperature during development. Phenotypic plasticity for either trait did not vary among latitudinal lines or selective regimes. Wing:thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio increased significantly with latitude in field-collected flies. The cline in wing:thorax size ratio had a genetic component, but the cline in wing-aspect ratio did not. Artificial selection for increased wing area led to a statistically insignificant correlated increase in wing:thorax size ratio and a decrease in wing-aspect ratio. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that high wing-thorax size ratio and wing aspect ratio are per se selectively advantageous at low temperatures.

Datasets

  • 02 Azevedo et al. 1998, Wing traits

    This data file contains means and 95% confidence limits of wing:thorax size ratio and mean wing-aspect ratio for 18 Drosophila melanogaster locations collected at 12 latitudes in 1993. The wing traits were measured in females and males of field collected flies and in their descendants reared under standard laboratory conditions (extracted from Fig. 1). Note longitudes in data are approximate.

Publication Citations

  • Azevedo, Ricardo B. R., James, Avis C., McCabe, Jennie & Partridge, Linda, 'Latitudinal variation of wing: thorax size ratio and wing-aspect ratio in Drosophila melanogaster', Evolution, vol. 52, no. 5, 1998, pp. 1353-1362. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2411305. Details

Digital Resources

Title
Materials and Methods - Azevedo et al. 1998, Evolution
Type
methods
Date
1998

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2411305