Eur. J. Entomol. 104 (3): 445-452, 2007 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2007.064

The association between wing morphology and dispersal is sex-specific in the glanville fritillary butterfly Melitaea cinxia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Casper J. BREUKER1, Paul M. BRAKEFIELD2, Melanie GIBBS3
1 Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK; e-mail: casper_j_breuker@yahoo.co.uk
2 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9516, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
3 Biodiversity Research Centre, Ecology and Biogeography Unit, Catholic University of Louvain, (UCL), Croix du Sud 4, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

We examined whether dispersal was associated with body and wing morphology and individual quality, and whether such an association was sex-specific, in the Glanville fritillary butterfly Melitaea cinxia (L.) in Paldiski on the north coast of Estonia. Body weight, size and shape of both fore- and hindwing, wing aspect ratio and wing loading were used as measures of body and wing morphology. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of wing shape was used as a measure of individual quality. Males and females did not differ in dispersal rates, despite large differences in overall morphology and FA. Females had a significantly higher wing loading and aspect ratio, but a lower FA than males. Females, but not males, that dispersed differed in forewing shape from those that did not disperse. The sex-specifity of the covariation between dispersal and forewing shape is most probably due to wing shape being associated with different life-history traits in both sexes, resulting in different selection pressures on wing shape in each of the sexes.

Keywords: Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, glanville fritillary, Melitaea cinxia, dispersal, wing shape, body morphology, individual quality, fluctuating asymmetry, wing aspect ratio, wing loading, sexual dimorphism

Received: December 28, 2006; Revised: February 28, 2007; Accepted: February 28, 2007; Published: July 25, 2007  Show citation

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BREUKER, C.J., BRAKEFIELD, P.M., & GIBBS, M. (2007). The association between wing morphology and dispersal is sex-specific in the glanville fritillary butterfly Melitaea cinxia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). EJE, 104(3), 445-452. doi: 10.14411/eje.2007.064
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