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Insect egg size and shape evolve with ecology but not developmental rate

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel H. Church

    (Harvard University)

  • Seth Donoughe

    (Harvard University
    University of Chicago)

  • Bruno A. S. de Medeiros

    (Harvard University)

  • Cassandra G. Extavour

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University)

Abstract

Over the course of evolution, organism size has diversified markedly. Changes in size are thought to have occurred because of developmental, morphological and/or ecological pressures. To perform phylogenetic tests of the potential effects of these pressures, here we generated a dataset of more than ten thousand descriptions of insect eggs, and combined these with genetic and life-history datasets. We show that, across eight orders of magnitude of variation in egg volume, the relationship between size and shape itself evolves, such that previously predicted global patterns of scaling do not adequately explain the diversity in egg shapes. We show that egg size is not correlated with developmental rate and that, for many insects, egg size is not correlated with adult body size. Instead, we find that the evolution of parasitoidism and aquatic oviposition help to explain the diversification in the size and shape of insect eggs. Our study suggests that where eggs are laid, rather than universal allometric constants, underlies the evolution of insect egg size and shape.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel H. Church & Seth Donoughe & Bruno A. S. de Medeiros & Cassandra G. Extavour, 2019. "Insect egg size and shape evolve with ecology but not developmental rate," Nature, Nature, vol. 571(7763), pages 58-62, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:571:y:2019:i:7763:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1302-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1302-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Ariel F. Kahrl & Rhonda R. Snook & John L. Fitzpatrick, 2022. "Fertilization mode differentially impacts the evolution of vertebrate sperm components," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Seth Donoughe & Jordan Hoffmann & Taro Nakamura & Chris H. Rycroft & Cassandra G. Extavour, 2022. "Nuclear speed and cycle length co-vary with local density during syncytial blastoderm formation in a cricket," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Xueying C. Li & Lautaro Gandara & Måns Ekelöf & Kerstin Richter & Theodore Alexandrov & Justin Crocker, 2024. "Rapid response of fly populations to gene dosage across development and generations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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