Climate warming leads to decline in frequencies of melanic individuals in subarctic leaf beetle populations

Zvereva, Elena L.; Hunter, Mark D.; Zverev, Vitali; Kruglova, Oksana Yu.; Kozlov, Mikhail V.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.458

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The results of the present study indicate that the differences in the survival are due to sex rather than elytral colour ( Fig 1B), confirming the findings of Labrie [49]. In nature, black is good for absorbing heat from the ambient environment [11][12], which is weakened under the limitations of laboratory conditions. Zhao et al found that the super cooling point of over-wintering black forms was lower than that of yellow forms [60][61].…”

Section: Relationship Between Sex and Cold Tolerance Of H Axyridissupporting

confidence: 88%

“…In north China, the proportion of melanic and non-melanic H. axyridis adults show seasonal variation, dominated by non-melanic forms in autumn and melanic forms in spring [10]. In summary, yellow adults significantly outnumbered black adults during winter, possibly due to the relationship between climate and the formation of insect melanin [11][12]. Given that overwintering success is important for insect population growth in temperate regions [13], an important question remains whether the low temperature resistance of yellow adults is higher than that of black adults.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…However, non-melanic forms decreased from 88.85% in autumn to 69.53% in spring, while the melanic forms increased from 11.15% to 30.46% (Fig 2). This change in relative frequencies may be related to change in ambient temperature [11][12]. Melanic forms of H. axyridis are thought to have a fitness advantage at low temperatures because their dark colour may enable them to absorb heat and increase body temperature more rapidly than non-melanic forms [5,51,54].…”

Section: Relationship Between Elytral Colour and Ambient Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of long-term cold storage on trehalose metabolism of pre-wintering Harmonia axyridis adults and changes in morphological diversity before and after wintering

Zeng

Wang

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Harmonia axyridis is a major bio-control agent of pests in agriculture and forest ecosystems. It is also a globally important invasive insect species. To test whether dark elytra colour is associated with greater cold hardiness, we compared the survival rate of prolonged cold exposure in both yellow and black colour morphs of female and male H. axyridis. We determined the trehalose and glycogen content, trehalase activity, and the dynamics of genes associated with the trehalose metabolic pathway. Yellow forms predominated before winter began, however black forms increased from 11.15 to 30.46% after overwintering. There was no significant difference in trehalose content between the females and males during overwintering. Glycogen content in over-wintering yellow females and black males increased significantly, while it decreased in black females. Soluble trehalase activity increased significantly in all the insects except black females. Membrane-bound trehalase activity increased in black males, and decreased in black females. Trehalose and glycogen content and trehalase activity were regulated by differential expression of TRE and TPS genes. Female beetles weighed more than males and survived in low temperatures for longer periods of time, regardless of elytra colour, suggesting that mass is a stronger predictor of overwintering survival rather than colour morph. Our results provide a guide for comparing cold resistance in insects and a theoretical basis for cold storage of H. axyridis for use as natural enemies of pests in biological control programs.

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Section: Relationship Between Sex and Cold Tolerance Of H Axyridissupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Relationship Between Elytral Colour and Ambient Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of long-term cold storage on trehalose metabolism of pre-wintering Harmonia axyridis adults and changes in morphological diversity before and after wintering

Zeng

Wang

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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“…A similar pattern (i.e., the absence of a correlation between pollution and melanization) was reported earlier in a polymorphic leaf beetle Chrysomela lapponica L. in the same environmental gradient. (Zvereva et al ., 2019). Therefore, we conclude that neither pollution nor the associated environmental disturbance in the surroundings of the Monchegorsk smelter affect the proportion of melanic individuals in insect populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decline ofEulia ministrana(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in polluted habitats is not accompanied by phenotypic stress responses

Zverev

Kozlov

2020

Insect Science

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Environmental pollution is currently identified as one of the major drivers of rapid decline of insect populations, and this finding has revitalized interest in insect responses to pollution. We tested the hypothesis that the pollution-induced decline of insect populations can be predicted from phenotypic stress responses expressed as morphological differences between populations inhabiting polluted and unpolluted sites. We explored populations of the brassy tortrix Eulia ministrana in subarctic forests along an environmental disturbance gradient created by long-lasting severe impacts of aerial emissions of the copper-nickel smelter in Monchegorsk, northwestern Russia. We used pheromone traps to measure the population densities of this leafrolling moth and to collect specimens for assessment of three morphological stress indices: size, forewing melanization, and fluctuating asymmetry in wing venation. Wing length of E. ministrana increased by 10%, and neither forewing melanization nor fluctuating asymmetry changed from the unpolluted forest to the heavily polluted industrial barren. However, the population density of E. ministrana decreased 5 to 10 fold in the same pollution gradient. Thus, none of the studied potential morphological stress indicators signaled vulnerability of E. ministrana to environmental pollution and/or to pollution-induced environmental disturbance. We conclude that insect populations can decline without any visible signs of stress. The use of morphological proxies of insect fitness to predict the consequences of human impact on insect populations is therefore risky until causal relationships between these proxies and insect abundance are deciphered.

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“…MacLean et al, 2019;Zeuss et al, 2014). Similarly, the frequency of melanistic individuals declined in two beetle species (Brakefield & De Jong, 2011;Zvereva et al, 2019). However, to the best of our knowledge, no previous work has explicitly tested potential interactive effects between melanism and future climate projections on squamates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

How melanism affects the sensitivity of lizards to climate change

et al. 2022

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Climate warming leads to decline in frequencies of melanic individuals in subarctic leaf beetle populations

Cited by 11 publications

References 49 publications

Effect of long-term cold storage on trehalose metabolism of pre-wintering Harmonia axyridis adults and changes in morphological diversity before and after wintering

Effect of long-term cold storage on trehalose metabolism of pre-wintering Harmonia axyridis adults and changes in morphological diversity before and after wintering

Decline ofEulia ministrana(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in polluted habitats is not accompanied by phenotypic stress responses

How melanism affects the sensitivity of lizards to climate change

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