Prey preference of a wasp determined by nest size supports the role of natural selection in body size evolution in Cassidinae leaf beetles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadashi Shinohara ◽  
Yasuoki Takami
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Prey Preference ◽  
Nest Size ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Leaf Beetles ◽  
Body Sizes

Abstract The prey preference of a predator can impose natural selection on prey phenotypes, including body size. Despite evidence that large body size protects against predation in insects, the determinants of body size variation in Cassidinae leaf beetles are not well understood. We examined the prey preference of the digger wasp Cerceris albofasciata, a specialist predator of adult Cassidinae leaf beetles, and found evidence for natural selection on prey body size. The wasp hunted prey smaller than the size of their nest entrance. However, the wasp preferred larger prey species among those that could be carried into their nest. Thus, the benefits of large prey and the cost associated with nest expansion might determine the prey size preference. As expected from the prey species preference, the wasp preferred small individuals of the largest prey species, Thlaspida biramosa, and large individuals of the smallest prey species, Cassida piperata, resulting in natural selection on body sizes. In intermediate-sized prey species, however, there was no evidence for selection on body size. Natural selection on body size might explain the variation of prey morphologies that increase body size, such as explanate margins, in this group.

scholarly journals Independent evolution towards larger body size in the distinctive Faroe Island mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Wilches ◽  
William H Beluch ◽  
Ellen McConnell ◽  
Diethard Tautz ◽  
Yingguang Frank Chan
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Laboratory Mouse ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Multiple Loci

Abstract Most phenotypic traits in nature involve the collective action of many genes. Traits that evolve repeatedly are particularly useful for understanding how selection may act on changing trait values. In mice, large body size has evolved repeatedly on islands and under artificial selection in the laboratory. Identifying the loci and genes involved in this process may shed light on the evolution of complex, polygenic traits. Here, we have mapped the genetic basis of body size variation by making a genetic cross between mice from the Faroe Islands, which are among the largest and most distinctive natural populations of mice in the world, and a laboratory mouse strain selected for small body size, SM/J. Using this F2 intercross of 841 animals, we have identified 111 loci controlling various aspects of body size, weight and growth hormone levels. By comparing against other studies, including the use of a joint meta-analysis, we found that the loci involved in the evolution of large size in the Faroese mice were largely independent from those of a different island population or other laboratory strains. We hypothesize that colonization bottleneck, historical hybridization, or the redundancy between multiple loci have resulted in the Faroese mice achieving an outwardly similar phenotype through a distinct evolutionary path.

scholarly journals Altered trait variability in response to size-selective mortality

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 20160584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silva Uusi-Heikkilä ◽  
Kai Lindström ◽  
Noora Parre ◽  
Robert Arlinghaus ◽  
Josep Alós ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Directional Selection ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Alternative Feeding ◽  
Stability And Resilience ◽  
Feeding Environments ◽  
Trait Variability

Changes in trait variability owing to size-selective harvesting have received little attention in comparison with changes in mean trait values, perhaps because of the expectation that phenotypic variability should generally be eroded by directional selection typical for fishing and hunting. We show, however, that directional selection, in particular for large body size, leads to increased body-size variation in experimentally harvested zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) populations exposed to two alternative feeding environments: ad libitum and temporarily restricted food availability. Trait variation may influence population adaptivity, stability and resilience. Therefore, rather than exerting selection pressures that favour small individuals, our results stress the importance of protecting large ones, as they can harbour a great amount of variation within a population, to manage fish stocks sustainably.

scholarly journals Body Size Differences between Foraging and Intranidal Workers of the Monomorphic Ant Lasius niger

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 433
Author(s):  
Mateusz Okrutniak ◽  
Bartosz Rom ◽  
Filip Turza ◽  
Irena M. Grześ
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
The Body ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Worker Size ◽  
Body Sizes

The association between the division of labour and worker body size of ants is typical for species that maintain physical castes. Some studies showed that this phenomenon can be also observed in the absence of distinct morphological subcastes among workers. However, the general and consistent patterns in the size-based division of labour in monomorphic ants are largely unidentified. In this study, we performed a field experiment to investigate the link between worker body size and the division of labour of the ant Lasius niger (Linnaeus, 1758), which displays limited worker size variation. We demonstrated that the body size of workers exploring tuna baits is slightly but significantly smaller than the size of workers located in the upper parts of the nest. Comparing the present results with existing studies, large workers do not seem to be dedicated to work outside the nest. We suggest that monomorphic workers of certain body sizes are flexible in the choice of task they perform, and food type may be the important determinant of this choice.

scholarly journals Life on the edge: carnivore body size variation is all over the place

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1661) ◽  
pp. 1469-1476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shai Meiri ◽  
Tamar Dayan ◽  
Daniel Simberloff ◽  
Richard Grenyer
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Range Edge ◽  
Geographic Range Size ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
The Way

Evolutionary biologists have long been fascinated by both the ways in which species respond to ecological conditions at the edges of their geographic ranges and the way that species' body sizes evolve across their ranges. Surprisingly, though, the relationship between these two phenomena is rarely studied. Here, we examine whether carnivore body size changes from the interior of their geographic range towards the range edges. We find that within species, body size often varies strongly with distance from the range edge. However, there is no general tendency across species for size to be either larger or smaller towards the edge. There is some evidence that the smallest guild members increase in size towards their range edges, but results for the largest guild members are equivocal. Whether individuals vary in relation to the distance from the range edges often depends on the way edge and interior are defined. Neither geographic range size nor absolute body size influences the tendency of size to vary with distance from the range edge. Therefore, we suggest that the frequent significant association between body size and the position of individuals along the edge-core continuum reflects the prevalence of geographic size variation and that the distance to range edge per se does not influence size evolution in a consistent way.

Incubation temperature and clutch effects on initial body sizes and growth rates in green iguana hatchlings (Iguana iguana)

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 239-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuleimis T. Martínez-Caballero ◽  
Brian C. Bock ◽  
Isabel Pérez ◽  
Ángela M. Ortega-León ◽  
Vivian P. Páez
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Incubation Temperature ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Rate Variation ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Green Iguanas

Large initial body size and rapid early growth rate are important in many species, both because predation rates decline as individuals grow and because females that attain a larger adult body size are more fecund. To identify possible factors contributing to size and growth rate variation in hatchling green iguanas, we artificially incubated six clutches at three constant temperatures to test for effects of incubation temperature and/or clutch effects on initial size and growth rate. Higher incubation temperatures resulted in significantly shorter incubation periods but did not influence initial body size. There were significant differences among clutches in egg size, and also in initial hatchling body size, even after correcting for differences in egg size among clutches. A subset of hatchlings from each nest was reared in semi-natural conditions for four months, with individuals from the high incubation temperature condition exhibiting the slowest longer-term growth rates. No clutch effects were detected in the growth rate analyses. The observed variation in early growth rate of juvenile iguanas seems to be selectively important and this variation may be due in part to the conditions the eggs experience during incubation, but clutch effects in this study were limited to egg size and initial hatchling body size variation, but were not found for subsequent growth rates.

scholarly journals Size- and sex-specific predation on dung flies by amphibian and arthropod predators – size match matters

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolf U. Blanckenhorn ◽  
Gabriele Cozzi ◽  
Gregory Jäggli ◽  
Juan Pablo Busso
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Rana Temporaria ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Mechanistic Study ◽  
Mating Activity ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Arthropod Predators ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Predation Rates

Because predator-prey interactions in nature are multifarious, linking phenomenological predation rates to the underlying behavioural or ecological mechanisms is challenging. Size- and sex-specific predation has been implicated as a major selective force keeping animals small, affecting the evolution of body size and sexual size dimorphism. We experimentally assessed predation by various amphibian (frogs and toads) and arthropod predators (bugs, flies, spiders) on three species of dung flies with similar ecology but contrasting body sizes, sexual size dimorphism and coloration. Predators were offered a size range of flies in single- or mixed-sex groups. As expected based on optimal foraging theory, some anurans (e.g. Bufo bufo) selected larger prey, thus selecting against large body size of the flies, while others (Bombina variagata and Rana esculenta) showed no such pattern. Small juvenile Rana temporaria metamorphs, in contrast, preferred small flies, as did all arthropod predators, a pattern that can be explained by larger prey being better at escaping. The more mobile males were not eaten more frequently or faster than the cryptic females, even when conspicuously colored. Predation rates on flies in mixed groups permitting mating activity were not higher, contrary to expectation, nor was predation generally sex-specific. We conclude that the size-selectivity of predators, and hence the viability selection pattern exerted on their prey, depends foremost on the relative body sizes of the two in a continuous fashion. Sex-specific predation by single predators appears to contribute little to sexual dimorphism. Therefore, the mechanistic study of predation requires integration of both the predator’s and the prey’s perspectives, and phenomenological field studies of predation remain indispensable.

scholarly journals Temperature/Body Size Interactions and Species Interaction in Montane Ponds in Grand Teton National Park

1991 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 180-181
Author(s):  
Bruce Woodward ◽  
Sandra Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
National Park ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
First Year ◽  
Grand Teton National Park ◽  
Interacting Species ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
Body Sizes

We visited Grand Teton National Park in May, June and July 1991 to begin research on species interactions in shallow montane ponds. Our primary interests were in how body size variation influences species interactions, and how temperature influences body size and thus species interactions. Our goal in the first year was to explore the extant variation in temperature regimes and body sizes of potentially interacting species, and examine some of these species interactions.

“She was neither unduly fat nor lanky”: Representation of body size and beauty in the novels of Daniel O. Fágúnwà

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-147
Author(s):  
Fausat Motunrayo Ibrahim ◽  
Ayodele S. Jegede
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Body ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Thin Structure ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Definition Of

The climate of thought regarding beauty characterization among Africans and other people of colour portrays the large body as beautiful. This reflects that body size and beauty is racially and culturally expressive, making it apposite to be disparate in advancing related discourses. This is particularly important because such discourses can influence Africans’ evaluation of their self-worth. The concerns generated by the global rise in obesity further create interest in these issues. African literature offers a fine and disparate platform to understand social realities. Consequently, relevant contents of the five precedent Yorùbá novels of Daniel Fágúnwà including Igbó Olódùmarè, Ìrèké Oníbùdó,Ògbójú ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmọlè, Ìrìnkèrindò nínú Igbó Elégbèje and Àdììtú Olódùmarè were extracted and analyzed to examine association of beauty with body sizes. Findings reflect more of bipolarity in the definition of beauty, such that the none-fat/none-thin structure is conveyed as beautiful. Concurrently, the fat and the thin is also portrayed as beautiful, making ‘body size’ definition of beauty to be elusive, and strongly suggesting neutrality to body size among the Yorùbá. This is strongly borne out of Fágúnwà’s and indeed, Yorùbá construction of beauty from a ‘character’ perspective. Character (ìwà) is staunchly expounded as constituting beauty. The beautiful body size is indeterminate in Fágúnwà’s narratives and indeed, in Yorùbá thought.

Traditional Attenuation of Inequality: Neutral Meaning of Body Size among the Yorùbá of Southwestern Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Fausat M. Ibrahim ◽  
Ayodele S. Jegede
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Southwestern Nigeria ◽  
Good Person ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Globalized World ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Body size is a profound ground of inequality in modern global society. Moreover, constructions of body size are racially polarized, with blacks being reputed for venerating large body. Proceeding with a triangulation of qualitative methods, this phenomenological study featured forty-two in-depth interviews, eight focus group discussions and eighteen key informant interviews among men and women of varying body sizes in two of the six states of southwestern Nigeria. Findings reflect dominantly neutral meaning of body size among the Yorùbá. This neutrality is dominantly reflected in the literal questioning of meaning that Yorùbá attach to body size, and who becomes a king in Yorùbá land but partially neutral in acceptability of prospective son or daughter in-law. Divinity, orí (fate), ìwà (good behavior) and ọmọlúàbí (good person) are among phenomena that counts in discerning people’s worth. Meaning attached to body size is opposed to common-place attitude to body size, making this attitude to be profane while meaning is solemn. This meaning is tremendously in favour of optimum health, and attenuating inequality, for which even black societies are perpetrating in the globalized world. Traditional Yorùbá value of human person is irrespective of body size.

scholarly journals TP53 copy number expansion is associated with the evolution of increased body size and an enhanced DNA damage response in elephants

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sulak ◽  
Lindsey Fong ◽  
Katelyn Mika ◽  
Sravanthi Chigurupati ◽  
Lisa Yon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Damage ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Genotoxic Stress ◽  
Suppressor Gene ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Body Sizes

A major constraint on the evolution of large body sizes in animals is an increased risk of developing cancer. There is no correlation, however, between body size and cancer risk. This lack of correlation is often referred to as 'Peto's Paradox'. Here, we show that the elephant genome encodes 20 copies of the tumor suppressor gene TP53 and that the increase in TP53 copy number occurred coincident with the evolution of large body sizes, the evolution of extreme sensitivity to genotoxic stress, and a hyperactive TP53 signaling pathway in the elephant (Proboscidean) lineage. Furthermore, we show that several of the TP53 retrogenes (TP53RTGs) are transcribed and likely translated. While TP53RTGs do not appear to directly function as transcription factors, they do contribute to the enhanced sensitivity of elephant cells to DNA damage and the induction of apoptosis by regulating activity of the TP53 signaling pathway. These results suggest that an increase in the copy number of TP53 may have played a direct role in the evolution of very large body sizes and the resolution of Peto's paradox in Proboscideans.

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