Predisposed to Adapt? Clade-Level Differences in Characters Affecting Swimming Performance in Damselflies

Abstract

Abstract. Previous studies have shown that two or three lineages of Enallagma damselflies, which historically coexisted with fish, recently invaded and adapted to living with large dragonfly predators in fishless waters. In adapting to live with these new predators, lineages shifted behaviorally to using swimming as an evasive tactic against attacking predators, evolved morphological features that made them faster swimmers, and evolved biochemical features to increase refueling strenuous activities like swimming. However, these habitat shifts have occurred in only one of the two primary clades within the genus in North America. Here, I show that clade-level differences exist among species in the ancestral, fish-lake habitat that should make habitat shifts easier to accomplish in the clade in which they have occurred. Specifically, fish-lake species in the clade in which habitat shifts occurred have much higher propensities to swim in the laboratory, swim faster when they do swim, and have higher mass-specific activities for arginine kinase than do species in the other primary clade, in which no extant species are found in fishless waters. These results are discussed in the context of the dynamics of founder events and the potential implications for community structure.

Predator-Driven Trait Diversification in a Dragonfly Genus: Covariation in Behavioral and Morphological Antipredator Defense

“…Intriguingly, the opposite evolutionary pattern, namely, an increase in burst escape speed and Ak activity, occurred when Enallagma damselfly larvae shifted from fish lakes toward dragonfly lakes (McPeek et al 1996; McPeek 1999, 2000). Burst speeds are comparable between both odonate genera and cannot explain these contrasting patterns.…”

Predator defense along a permanence gradient: roles of case structure, behavior, and developmental phenology in caddisflies

“…Wellborn et al (1996) ''predator-permanence'' model for this phenomenon emphasizes that shifts in lentic community composition often result from species replacements within taxa (typically at the genus or family level) that reflect changes in biotic interactions with top predators, as well as differences in tolerance to drying. Their model provides the framework for both understanding the evolutionary ecology of lineage diversification (e.g., McPeek 1995aMcPeek , b, 1999McPeek , 2000McPeek and Brown 2000;Richardson 2002;Stoks et al 2003) and for linking tradeoffs in individual species traits to patterns of lentic community structure. Despite comparative evidence for species replacements in most groups of lentic taxa, nearly all experimental studies on the underlying mechanisms have focused on just two groups-frog tadpoles and damselfly larvae (but see Pierce 1988;Wellborn 2002).…”

“…competitive ability or physiological efficiency (e.g. , Relyea 2000;McPeek 2000;McPeek et al 2001), (2) high activity to facilitate emergence from temporary habitats versus risk-sensitive activity to reduce predator detection in permanent habitats (e.g., Skelly 1995Skelly , 1997Anholt 1993, 1996;Relyea and Werner 1999;Anholt et al 2000;Johansson and Suhling 2004), and (3) alternative escape behaviors that are effective against different predators (e.g., McPeek 1990McPeek , 1996Werner and McPeek 1994;Peacor and Werner 1997;Altwegg 2002;Stoks and McPeek 2003a, b). Despite the extensive research on these two groups, relationships among ''phenotype, performance, and distribution'' are poorly understood for the 25 other lentic taxa for which this phenomenon has been documented (Wellborn et al 1996).…”

Functional Annotation and Comparative Analysis of a Zygopteran Transcriptome

“…In agreement with this, we annotated genes involved in muscle mass increase and differentiation (GO:0003012) and genes with roles in arginine kinase (GO:0004054) and arginine methylation [accelerated (see Table S1); GO:0019918], which has been shown to partially responsible for the observed rapid movements of the damselflies (McPeek 1999; McPeek 2000). …”

“…One of the interesting ecological and evolutionary scenarios involving Enallagma is that various Enallagma lineages have adapted to living with predators by increasing their burst swimming speeds to increase their probability of escape during predator attacks (McPeek et al 1996; McPeek 1999; McPeek 2000). In agreement with this, we annotated genes involved in muscle mass increase and differentiation (GO:0003012) and genes with roles in arginine kinase (GO:0004054) and arginine methylation [accelerated (see Table S1); GO:0019918], which has been shown to partially responsible for the observed rapid movements of the damselflies (McPeek 1999; McPeek 2000).…”