DOI: 10.5061/dryad.m0cfxppgb
title: Data from: Evidence of plasticity and adaptive responses to thermal stress of <em>Ceratitis capitata</em> across latitude

description: This study explores the thermal tolerance of geographically isolated
 Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) populations and
 examines how response to thermal stress is associated with its capacity to
 invade cooler temperate regions. The remarkable invasion success of C.
 capitata, facilitated by global fruit trade and human activity, offers an
 opportunity to explore the role of phenotypic plasticity in shaping
 invasion dynamics. We assessed Critical Thermal Limits (CTLs) across
 populations from varying latitudes, examining the effects of latitude,
 climate, and thermal acclimation. Critical Thermal Minimum (CTmin) was
 lower in populations obtained from colder, higher-latitude regions and
 influenced by climatic variability. While acclimation temperature had a
 marginally non-significant effect on CTmin, its interaction with latitude
 was significant, showing a pronounced increase in CTmin with acclimation
 at higher latitudes. Critical Thermal Maximum (CTmax) was influenced by
 microclimatic variability, with higher values in populations originating
 from colder, higher-latitude sites. Acclimation temperature increased
 CTmax across populations, with females exhibiting higher CTmax values than
 males. Significant interactions between latitude and climatic variability
 (PC1) for both CTmin and CTmax underscore the role of local climate
 conditions in shaping thermal tolerance. These findings enhance our
 understanding of the physiological mechanisms driving the invasive
 potential of C. capitata and its adaptation to temperate climates.
description: # Data from: Evidence of Plasticity and Adaptive Responses to thermal
 stress of *Ceratitis capitata* across Latitude Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.m0cfxppgb](10.5061/dryad.m0cfxppgb) ## Description of the
 data and file structure This dataset was generated to investigate
 variation in critical thermal limits (CTmin and CTmax) across six
 populations of *Ceratitis capitata* exposed to five different acclimation
 treatments, aiming to assess thermal tolerance plasticity and potential
 local adaptation. ### Files and variables #### File: `CTmin_max_csv.csv`
 **Description:** CTmin/CTmax measurements ##### Variables * Replication
 (Replicate identifier for each experimental unit) Unit: categorical
 (integer values).  * Population (Geographic origin of C. capitata
 individuals used in the experiment). Categories correspond to different
 populations used. * Treatment (Thermal acclimation treatment applied to
 adult flies prior to thermal tolerance). Levels represent the acclimation
 temperature. * Sex (Biological sex of the individual). Categories: males
 and females. * CTmin value (Critical thermal minimum). Unit: Degrees
 Celsius oC * CTmax value (Critical thermal maximum). Unit: Degrees Celsius
 oC ## Code/software The dataset can be opened with any spreadsheet
 software (e.g., Microsoft Excel etc.) Descriptive statistics (means,
 standard deviations, etc.) were calculated using SPSS 29.Further
 statistical analyses were conducted in R ersion 4.1.1 (R Development Core
 Team 2022). To characterize macroclimatic conditions at the six collection
 sites, 19 bioclimatic variables (Bioclim1–Bioclim19) were extracted from
 WorldClim v2.1 (Fick and Hijmans, 2017) using site coordinates. Principal
 Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to summarize climatic variation
 among sites. To identify the best-fitting multivariable linear regression
 models for CTmin and CTmax, a model selection process was applied using: *
 **`regsubsets()`** from the **`leaps`** package, *
 **`ols_step_all_possible()`** from the **`olsrr`** package (Hebbali and
 Hebbali, 2017; Miller, 2020), * and **`vif()`** from the **`car`** package
 to assess multicollinearity (Fox and Weisberg, 2018). Candidate predictors
 included latitude, host, acclimation temperature, sex, and the first two
 PCA axes (PC1 and PC2). Model selection was based on adjusted R², AIC, and
 BIC values, while ensuring biological interpretability. All variables
 (except sex) were treated as continuous.