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Genetic and environmental sources of egg size, fecundity and body size in the migrant skipper, Parnara guttata guttata (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)

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Population Ecology

Abstract

Genetic and environmental sources of egg size, fecundity and body size (forewing length) were examined in the butterfly, Parnara guttata guttata. Phenotypic and genetic correlation and heritability were estimated for these traits under different day-length and temperature conditions. Egg size and fecundity had relatively high heritabilities, and body sizes in males and females had moderate and high heritability, respectively. Negative phenotypic and genetic correlations between egg size and fecundity were estimated in treatments corresponding to the natural conditions during larval development of the first and second generations. Phenotypic and genetic correlations between body size and egg size differed considerably between insects reared under long and short day-lengths. Next, genotype–environment interactions were estimated by comparing reaction norms to day-length or temperature of these traits among families. ANOVA analysis revealed significant genotype–environment interactions in egg size and forewing length in both sexes for day-length and temperature. These results suggested that a large additive genetic variance for egg size might have been maintained by a genetic trade-off and/or by genotype–environment interactions in P. g. guttata.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. D.A. Roff and R. Stouthamer (University of California, Riverside, CA) for critical review of the original manuscript. We also thank Dr. K. Miura (National Agricultural Research Center for Western Region) for his useful comments on this manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers and an editor provided helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Agricultural Research Center for Western Region, 6-12-1 Nishifukatsu, Fukuyama, 721-8514, Japan

    Tomokazu Seko

  2. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan

    Takahisa Miyatake & Fusao Nakasuji

  3. Research Division, Nihon Nohyaku Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan

    Shinsuke Fujioka

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  1. Tomokazu Seko
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  2. Takahisa Miyatake
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  3. Shinsuke Fujioka
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  4. Fusao Nakasuji
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Correspondence to Tomokazu Seko.

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Seko, T., Miyatake, T., Fujioka, S. et al. Genetic and environmental sources of egg size, fecundity and body size in the migrant skipper, Parnara guttata guttata (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Popul Ecol 48, 225–232 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-006-0266-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-006-0266-z

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