Abstract
The present study aimed to determine the wing asymmetry and sexual asymmetry of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius 1798) collected from a paddy field. P. flavescens is known as the longest migratory insect species and the morphological architecture of their hindwing aids in long-distance gliding. In our study, we collected F1 generation of male and female P. flavescens and used for geometric morphometric study to investigate wing asymmetry. We observed no difference in wing size between sexes from the study, but there are significant (p < 0.05) shape differences. The female population was more asymmetric than male population, with a high shape-related fluctuation asymmetry (FA). Discriminant function analysis was used to validate wing asymmetry (right-left) and sexual asymmetry of P. flavescens. Canonical variant analysis discriminated the forewings and hindwings of P. flavescens both sexes in a distinct morphospace. The PC’s warp shape analysis proved that, when compared to forewings, the highest amount of shape variations was observed in hindwings, especially in anal lobe regions. Based on the results, pesticide and fertilizer used in the paddy fields are the primary reason for the high level of FA, and the morphological variations observed in the hindwings may influence the migratory behaviour of P. flavescens.
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All data are included in the main manuscript; additional data are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author.
Change history
06 April 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01404-8
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Department of Zoology, the University of Calicut, for providing the infrastructural facility and UGC-SAP (F.3-6/2012 (SAP-II) dated 10.10.2012). The first author is thankful to the UGC-JRF (F.No.16-9(June 2017)/2018(NET/CSIR) & UGC-Ref. No. 519/(CSIR-UGC NET JUNE 2017), Government of India, for the financial assistance.
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Conceptualization, Conceived and designed the experiment: MG, PPA & YSV. Data collection, Digitalization and landmarking of specimen: MG. Analyzation and interpretation of the data: PPA, MG, & YSV. Wrote the main manuscript: MG & PPA. Drawing & photographic plate preparation: YSV. Supervision: YSV. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Gayathri, M., Anand, P.P. & Shibu Vardhanan, Y. Wing size, shape, and asymmetry analysis of the wandering glider, Pantala flavescens (Odonata: Libellulidae) revealed that hindwings are more asymmetric than the forewings. Biologia 78, 2749–2762 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01396-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01396-5