Dispersal and migration have contrasting effects on butterfly flight morphology and reproduction.

ABSTRACT: Movement may fundamentally alter morphology and reproductive states in insects. In long-distance migrants, reproductive diapause is associated with trade-offs between diverse life-history traits such as flight morphology and lifespan. However, many non-diapausing insects engage in shorter resource-driven dispersals. How diapause and other reproductive states alter flight morphology in migrating versus dispersing insects is poorly understood. To find out, we compared flight morphology in different reproductive states of multiple butterfly species. We found that dispersers consisted of ovulating females with higher egg loads compared with non-dispersing females. This trend was in stark contrast with that of migrating female butterflies in reproductive diapause, which made substantially highe

SUBMITTER: Bhaumik V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7480162 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature