Developmental constraints in cave beetles.

ABSTRACT: In insects, whilst variations in life cycles are common, the basic patterns typical for particular groups remain generally conserved. One of the more extreme modifications is found in some subterranean beetles of the tribe Leptodirini, in which the number of larval instars is reduced from the ancestral three to two and ultimately one, which is not active and does not feed. We analysed all available data on the duration and size of the different developmental stages and compared them in a phylogenetic context. The total duration of development was found to be strongly conserved, irrespective of geographical location, habitat type, number of instars and feeding behaviour of the larvae, with a single alteration of the developmental pattern in a clade of cave species in southeast France. We al

SUBMITTER: Cieslak A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4272213 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature