Thermal reaction norms in two Coenagrion damselfly species:contrasting embryonic and larval life-history traits

摘要

The temperature-dependence of important life-history traits were studied both at the embryonic (egg hatching success, embryonic development time and hatchling size) and the larval stage (larval growth rate, larval survival and larval size after 100 days) using full-sib families of two congeneric damselflies, Coenagrion hastulatum and Coenagrion puella, that differ in latitudinal distribution. Larvae were reared in the laboratory from the egg stage at four temperatures (12, 17, 22 and 27 degree C). The observed patterns of thermal plasticity in embryonic traits showed that the northern species was more successful than the southern species at lower temperatures, in line with the pattern of temperature adaptation in thermal reaction norms. At the larval stage, no consistent pattern of latitudinal compensation was found. The thermal family reaction norms indicate, however, the potential for latitudinal compensation to evolve. An ontogenetic shift in thermal optima for larval growth rate was observed, with a higher optimal temperature for growth rate during the first two weeks of the larval stage. This is the first indication of the existence of latitudinal compensation at the interspecific level in an invertebrate; it is stage-specific, being present only in the embryonic stage. It is argued that compensation in the embryonic stage may be much more likely than in the larvae and the importance is stressed of including more then one life-history stage when drawing conclusions about the adaptiveness of patterns in thermal reaction norms.