Dataset of forewing length of Japanese and Taiwanese butterfly species

Nakadai, Ryosuke; Kobayashi, Takuya; Hashimoto, Koya

doi:10.1111/1440-1703.12147

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…We used adult forewing length as a proxy for the body size of each butterfly species. The forewing lengths of 284 species were derived from the study by Shirôzu (2006) (published in Nakadai et al., 2020). For a total of 247 butterfly species, we assembled data on predicted distribution, host plants and body size.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information on the forewing lengths of Japanese butterflies was published by Nakadai et al (2020). Environmental and geographic data were obtained from Mesh Climate Data 2010 (Japan Meteorological Agency, http://nlftp.mlit.go.jp/ksj/gml/datal ist/KsjTm plt-G02.html) and the National Land Numerical Information database (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan) respectively.…”

Section: Ack N Owled G Em Entsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fundamental resource specialization of herbivorous butterflies decreases towards lower latitudes

Nakadai

Nyman

Hashimoto

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim It is generally assumed that the degree of resource specialization in herbivorous insects increases towards lower latitudes. However, latitudinal patterns in herbivore diet breadth at large spatial scales remain poorly understood. In this work, we investigated the drivers of latitudinal variation in lepidopteran ‘fundamental’ resource specialization, which we defined as the host breadth when not limited by interspecific interactions at the same trophic level. Location The Japanese archipelago (22°N–45°N), including hemiboreal, temperate and subtropical zones. Taxon Herbivorous butterflies. Methods Species‐specific fundamental host breadth was calculated based on pooled host‐use records. We investigated the latitudinal pattern and significant drivers of the degree of specialization in regional species pools at a 10‐km grid level. As potential drivers, we focused on geography, current climate and diversity and body size of butterflies. Through Bayesian structural equation modelling, we investigated the complicated relationships between these variables and community‐level resource specialization represented by three different indices of host breadth. Results We found that the fundamental resource specialization of butterfly communities increases towards higher latitudes. This pattern is contrary to the presumed general trend found in studies based on realized resource specialization within local communities. We found that the observed pattern is driven mainly by factors related to climate, butterfly diversity and body size in each community. Above all, annual mean temperature most strongly drove community‐level fundamental host breadth of herbivorous butterflies. Main conclusions Our findings suggest that the fundamental resource specialization may show different latitudinal patterns from the conventional prediction based on knowledge of realized resource specialization. Our results emphasize the importance of the current climate as a major factor regulating butterfly morphology and fundamental host breadth, regardless of whether the impact is direct or indirect.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ack N Owled G Em Entsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamental resource specialization of herbivorous butterflies decreases towards lower latitudes

Nakadai

Nyman

Hashimoto

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We used adult forewing length as a proxy for the body size of each butterfly species. The forewing lengths of 284 species were derived from Shiro□zu (2006; published in Nakadai et al, 2020). For a total of 247 butterfly species, we assembled data on predicted distribution, host plants and body size.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information on the forewing lengths of Japanese butterflies was published by Nakadai et al (2020). Environmental and geographic data were obtained from Mesh Climate Data 2010 (Japan Meteorological Agency, http://nlftp.mlit.go.jp/ksj/gml/datalist/KsjTmplt-G02.html) and the National Land Numerical Information database (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan), respectively.…”

Section: Data Accessibility Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamental resource specialization of herbivorous butterflies decreases toward lower latitudes

Nakadai

Nyman

Hashimoto

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Revealing drivers of variation in resource specialization is a long-standing goal in ecological and evolutionary research. As a general prediction, the degree of resource specialization increases towards lower latitudes. Although herbivorous insects are one of the best-studied consumer groups, factors determining the degree of specialization on large spatial scales are poorly understood. Herein, we focused on the fundamental host breadth of 246 herbivorous butterfly species distributed across the Japanese archipelago. Using Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling based on information of pooled geographical occurrence and host use, we show that local butterfly communities tend to become more specialized towards higher latitudes, a pattern that is opposite to predictions from classical hypotheses. We also found that the pattern is mainly driven by factors related to climate, butterfly diversity, and body size in each community. Our results re-emphasize the importance of current climate as a regulating factor for butterfly host breadth and morphology.

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Dataset of forewing length of Japanese and Taiwanese butterfly species

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

Fundamental resource specialization of herbivorous butterflies decreases towards lower latitudes

Fundamental resource specialization of herbivorous butterflies decreases towards lower latitudes

Fundamental resource specialization of herbivorous butterflies decreases toward lower latitudes

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