Eur. J. Entomol. 108 (3): 461-468, 2011

Seasonal constraints on the mandible allometry of Lucanus cervus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

Sönke HARDERSEN1, Anna L.M. MACAGNO1,2, Roberto SACCHI3, Ilaria TONI1
1 Corpo Forestale dello Stato, Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della BiodiversitL Forestale "Bosco Fontana" di Verona, Strada Mantova 29, I-46045 Marmirolo, Italy; e-mails: s.hardersen@gmail.com; anna.macagno@gmail.com; ilaria_toni@vodafone.it
2 Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", Sapienza UniversitL di Roma, Via Borelli 50, I-00161 Rome, Italy
3 UniversitL di Pavia, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Via Ferrata 9, I-27100 Pavia, Italy; e-mail: roberto.sacchi@unipv.it

In insects, allometries of exaggerated traits such as horns or mandibles are often considered species specific and constant during a season. However, given that constraints imposed by the advancing season affect the developmental processes of organisms, these allometries may not be fixed, and the switch point between morphs may vary between populations and within populations during a season. The hypothesis of such a seasonal variation in exaggerated traits was tested using the dimorphic males of the beetle Lucanus cervus. The remains of specimens killed by predators were collected along forest tracks from mid May to late August 2008 in a protected lowland forest in northern Italy. The largest beetles were collected in mid May and average size thereafter decreased. Males collected early in the season mostly had large mandibles (i.e. they belonged to the major morph). In contrast, late in the season the probability of finding males with large mandibles was very low. The threshold body size determining morph expression also shifted during the season. Early in the season, the threshold pronotum width for a 50% chance of developing into the major morph was 1.74 cm, whereas later in the season it was 1.90 cm. This shift in the threshold body size was interpreted as the effect of phenotypic plasticity in a population exposed to constraints imposed by the advancing season.

Keywords: Allometry, Coleoptera, Lucanidae, Lucanus cervus, mandibles, season, size, time constraints

Received: June 16, 2010; Revised: March 30, 2011; Accepted: March 30, 2011; Published: July 1, 2011  Show citation

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HARDERSEN, S., MACAGNO, A.L.M., SACCHI, R., & TONI, I. (2011). Seasonal constraints on the mandible allometry of Lucanus cervus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). EJE, 108(3), 461-468
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