Narrowversusbroad: sexual dimorphism in the wing form of western European species of the subgenusAvaritia(Culicoides, Ceratopogonidae)

Abstract

While wing form is known to differ between males and females of the genus Culicoides, detailed studies of sexual dimorphism are lacking. In this study, we analyze sex‐specific differences in the wing form of 5 species of the subgenus Avaritia, using geometric morphometrics and comparative phylogenetic methods. Our results confirm the existence of marked sexual dimorphism in the wing form of the studied species and reveal for the first time that while there is a shared general pattern of sexual shape dimorphism within the subgenus, sexual size dimorphism, and particular features of sexual shape dimorphism differ among species. Sexual shape dimorphism was found to be poorly associated to size and the evolutionary history of the species. The tight association of sexual shape dimorphism with aspect ratio suggests that the shape of the wing is optimized for the type of flight of each sex, that is, dispersal flight in females versus aerobatic flight in males. Moreover, the fact that interspecific shape differences are greater and more strongly associated to aspect ratio in males than in females might be indicating that in males the selective pressures affecting flight performance characteristics are more heterogeneous and/or stronger than in females among the studied species.

Wing morphology variations in Culicoides circumscriptus from France

“…This technique was used to study the intra specific variations in Glossinidae ( 30 ), Muscidae ( 31 ), Psychodiae ( 28 , 32 , 33 ), Reduviidae ( 34 ) and Tabanidae ( 35 , 36 ) and to show inter specific variations in Muscidae ( 37 ). The landmark-based WGM analysis of Culicoides wings has proven to be a valuable tool for interspecific discrimination ( 38–42 ), C. circumscriptus intersexes specimens ( 43 ), sexual dimorphism ( 44 ) and geographic variations ( 45 ).…”

Geographic Variation in Organ Size in a Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

“…Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of organisms to modify their morphological and physiological characteristics in response to diverse environmental conditions, which is important for the adaptation of species to different environmental conditions, is widely recognized across animal taxa [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. For example, the same genotype may exhibit distinct phenotypic traits as an adaptive mechanism in response to environmental fluctuations [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Geographical Variation in Body Size in the Asian Common Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

“…The environmental factors temperature and rainfall are two important selective forces that lead to geographic variation in morphological, physiological and life-history characteristics [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Especially, temperature is a key factor that leads to geographic variation in age and body size in animals because the responses to environmental temperature along geographic gradients are likely influenced not only by energy storage but also by food intake [13,20,21].…”