DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9ksh
title: Evolution of wing shape in geometrid moths: phylogenetic effects dominate over ecology

description: Locomotory performance is an important determinant of fitness in most
 animals, including flying insects. Strong selective pressures on wing
 morphology are therefore expected. Previous studies on wing shape in
 Lepidoptera have found some support for hypotheses relating wing shape to
 environment-specific selective pressures on aerodynamic performance. Here,
 we present a phylogenetic comparative study on wing shape in the
 lepidopteran family Geometridae, covering all 374 species of the northern
 European fauna. We focused on eleven wing traits including aspect ratio,
 wing roundness, and the pointedness of the apex, as well as the ratio of
 forewing and hindwing areas. All measures were taken from images available
 on the internet, using a combination of tools available in Fiji software
 and in R. We found that wing shape demonstrates a phylogenetically
 conservative pattern of evolution in Geometridae, showing similar or
 greater phylogenetic signal than many of its potential predictors. Several
 wing traits showed statistically significant associations with predictors
 such as body size, flight phenology, and preference for forest habitats.
 Overall, however, all of these associations remained notably weak, with no
 wing shape being excluded for any value of the predictors, including body
 size. We conclude that, in geometrids, wing traits do not readily respond
 to selective pressures optimising aerodynamic performance of the moths in
 different environments. Selection on wing shape may nevertheless operate
 through other functions of the wings, with the effectiveness of crypsis at
 rest being a promising candidate for further studies.
description: For methods, see the article: Ude, K., Õunap, E., Kaasik, A.,
 Davis, R.B., Javoiš, J., Nedumpally, V., Foerster, S.I.A. &
 Tammaru, T. (2024). Evolution of wing shape in geometrid moths:
 phylogenetic effects dominate over ecology, <em>Journal of
 Evolutionary Biology</em>, 2024, voae033, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voae033
description: # **Evolution of wing shape in geometrid moths: phylogenetic effects
 dominate over ecology**
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9ksh](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9ksh) The dataset contains wing shape and body size measurements, and ecological data of 374 Northern European geometrid moths (Geometridae) used to study the evolution of wing shape. It also includes the phylogenetic tree of geometrids used in the comparative analysis. The dataset contains 4 files, as described below. * phylogeny.txt The ultrametric phylogenetic tree comprises of 458 species of geometrids, and 37 species from various other families of Macroheterocera used as an outgroup. * wing_shape_traits.csv Contains wing shape measurements of 374 species of geometrids, separated by sex. Values are missing (NA) for flightless females. Columns are described below: "AR" = aspect ratio; length of the longest line segment drawn from wing base to apex (span segment) divided by the length of the longest perpendicular line segment (width segment); "roundness" = area of the incircle (largest circle that fits within the contour of the forewing) divided by the total area of the forewing; "WiC" = width centre; length of the basal segment of the span divided by length of the apical segment of the span (as defined by the interception point with the width segment); "apex" = apical angle; angle measured at 5% of the length of the segment drawn from the centre of the wing to apex; "R1" = ratio of the lengths of line segments drawn from the centre of the wing to base and to apex; "R2" = ratio of lengths of line segments drawn from the centre of the wing to apex and to tornus; "R3" = ratio of lengths of line segments drawn from the centre of the wing to base and to tornus; "A1" = angle between segments drawn from the wing centre to base and to apex; "A2" = angle between segments drawn from the wing centre to apex and to tornus; "A3" = angle between segments drawn from the wing centre to base and to tornus; "FW/HW" = area of the forewing divided by area of the hindwing. * body_size.csv Contains linear measurements taken from photos and used to predict dry body mass, and the predicted dry body mass in 374 species of geometrid moths (Geometridae), separated by sex. Values are missing (NA) for flightless females. Columns are described below: "wingspan" = maximum wingspan in millimetres, representing the maximal distance between the outer margins of the left and the right forewing in a traditionally mounted moth; "abdomen" = abdomen width in millimetres, measured at the midpoint of the abdomen; "body mass" = dry body mass in milligrams, predicted based on "wingspan" and "abdomen"; see Foerster et al. 2023, [https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blad069 ](https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blad069)for rationale and methodology. * ecological_predictors.csv Contains ecological traits for 374 species of geometrid moths (Geometridae). Columns are desribed below: "host plant type" = growth form of larval host plant; W (woody plants), H (herbaceous plants), WH (both woody and herbaceous plants), WWH (both woody and herbaceous plants but mostly woody plants), HHW (both woody and herbaceous plants but mostly herbaceous plants), L (lichens); "dietary breath" = larval dietary breadth; M (monophagous), O (oligophagous), P (polyphagous); "flight phenology" = flight phenology in northern Europe: deviation, in days, of the midpoint of first generation’s flight period from 15th of July (middle of meteorological summer), expressed in absolute values; "sylvanity" = habitat preference on a scale from 1 (strictly open habitat species) to 5 (strictly forest species).