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Predators shape distribution and promote diversification of morphological defenses in Leucorrhinia, Odonata

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Abstract

Predators strongly influence species assemblages and shape morphological defenses of prey. Interestingly, adaptations that constitute effective defenses against one type of predator may render the prey susceptible to other types of predators. Hence, prey may evolve different strategies to escape predation, which may facilitate adaptive radiation of prey organisms. Larvae of different species in the dragonfly genus Leucorrhinia have various morphological defenses. We studied the distribution of these larvae in relation to the presence of predatory fish. In addition, we examined the variation in morphological defenses within species with respect to the occurrence of fish. We found that well-defended species, those with more and longer spines, were more closely associated with habitats inhabited by predatory fish and that species with weakly developed morphological defenses were more abundant in habitats without fish. The species predominantly connected to lakes with or without fish, respectively, were not restricted to a single clade in the phylogeny of the genus. Our data is suggestive of phenotypic plasticity in morphological defense in three of the studied species since these species showed longer spines in lakes with fish. We suggest that adaptive phenotypic plasticity may have broadened the range of habitats accessible to Leucorrhinia. It may have facilitated colonization of new habitats with different types of predators, and ultimately, speciation through adaptive radiation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Michael Andersson, Ida Flenner, Karin Olne, Szymon Śniegula, and Laura Toivanen for help in the field and laboratory. We are grateful to Göran Englund for discussing statistical aspects, Folmer Bokma for helping plot the phylogenetic tree, and Frank Drummond, Kevin Simon, Robby Stoks, Sara Helms Cahan, and the anonymous referees for insightful comments on the manuscript. Maxim Teichert kindly helped improving the language. This study was funded by the Swedish Research Council (to FJ), the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the National Science Foundation, the USGS-Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and University of Maine. Mention of trademarks or commercial products does not imply endorsement by the USA Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden

    Zlatko Petrin & Frank Johansson

  2. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, NINA, 7485, Trondheim, Norway

    Zlatko Petrin

  3. Department of Wildlife Ecology, University of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME, 04469-5755, USA

    Emily G. Schilling

  4. US Geological Survey Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME, 04469-5755, USA

    Cynthia S. Loftin

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  1. Zlatko Petrin
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  2. Emily G. Schilling
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  3. Cynthia S. Loftin
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  4. Frank Johansson
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Correspondence to Zlatko Petrin.

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Petrin, Z., Schilling, E.G., Loftin, C.S. et al. Predators shape distribution and promote diversification of morphological defenses in Leucorrhinia, Odonata. Evol Ecol 24, 1003–1016 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-010-9361-x

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