A comparative morphometric study of sensory capacity in geometrid moths

• Published in: Journal of evolutionary biology Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 380 - 389
• Main Authors: Javoiš, Juhan, Davis, Robert B., Tammaru, Toomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2019
• Subjects: Animals; Antennae; Biological evolution; Body size; brain; Breeding; Butterflies & moths; cognitive capacity; Diet; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Female; Females; Forehead; Head - anatomy & histology; host specificity; Income; Insect ecology; Insects; Male; Males; Moths - anatomy & histology; niche breadth; olfaction; pectinate antennae; phylogenetic generalized least squares; Phylogeny; plumose antennae; Reproduction (biology); Reproduction - physiology; Sensation - physiology; sexual dimorphism; Species; Species comparisons; Species Specificity; visual; plumose antennae; cognitive capacity; pectinate antennae; olfaction; visual; host specificity; phylogenetic generalized least squares; brain; sexual dimorphism; niche breadth
• ISSN: 1010-061X; 1420-9101
• DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13422

Diet breadth and the degree of capital breeding have been established as major determinants of species‐specific ecology of herbivorous insects. Both of these variables are related to resource foraging and therefore can be expected to have effects on sensory capacity. However, such effects have remained poorly studied, let alone in phylogenetically explicit multi‐species comparisons. We contribute to filling this gap in a study of 60 species of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), using adult head measures (eye size, antennal length and shape, forehead width) as indices of sensory capacity. When controlled for body size, eyes of the more capital breeding species (i.e. those with low contribution of adult feeding to reproduction) were found to be smaller, and female antennae shorter, than in income breeders. Feathery (vs simple filiform) male antennae were more frequently present in the capital breeders and in larger species. Regarding diet breadth, generalist species were found to have relatively wider male foreheads than specialists. The results suggest that (a) breeding strategy rather than diet breadth predicts sensory capacity in geometrids, (b) capital breeding (vs income breeding) is related to low sensory capacity in females, and (c) in contrast, males of the capital breeding species have evolved towards elevated olfactory capacity.