DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zm2
title: Data from: A comparative study of body size evolution in moths: Evidence of correlated evolution with feeding and phenology-related traits

description: Interspecific variation in body size is one of the most popular topics in
 comparative studies. Despite recent advances, little is still known about
 the patterns and processes behind the evolution of body size in insects.
 Here, we used a robust data set comprising all geometrid moth species
 occurring in Northern Europe to examine the evolutionary associations
 involving body size and several life-history traits under an explicitly
 phylogenetic framework. We provided new insights into the interactive
 effects of life-history traits on body size and evidence of correlated
 evolution. We further established the sequence of trait evolution linking
 body size with the life-history traits correlated with it. We found that
 most (but not all) of the studied life-history traits, to some extent,
 interfered with interspecific variation in body size, but interactive
 effects were uncommon. Both bi- and multivariate phylogenetic analyses
 indicated that larger species tend to be nocturnal flyers, overwinter in
 the larval stage, feed on the foliage of trees rather than herbs, and have
 a generalist feeding behavior. We found evidence of correlated evolution
 involving body size with overwintering stage, host-plant growth form, and
 dietary specialization. The examination of evolutionary transitions within
 the correlated models signaled that overwintering as larvae preceded the
 evolution of large sizes, as did feeding on tree foliage and the
 generalist feeding behavior. By showing that both body size and all
 life-history traits correlated with it evolve at very slow rates, we
 caution against uncritical attempts to propose causal explanations for
 respective associations based on contemporary ecological settings.
description: # Data from: A comparative study of body size evolution in moths: Evidence
 of correlated evolution with feeding and phenology-related traits
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zm2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rjdfn2zm2) This repository contains the trait data & phylogeny used in the study "A Comparative Study of Body Size Evolution in Moths: Evidence of Correlated Evolution with Feeding and Phenology-Related Traits" published on the *Journal of Evolutionary Biology*. ## Description of the data and file structure * `geom_traits_dbm.csv` Table with 372 rows (species) and 13 columns (traits). It contains the trait data for the geometrid species. Columns 2 to 4 contains mean, standard deviation, and standard error of dry masses (in the natural logarithm scale) calculated for each species, respectively. The column *overwinter* indicates the life stage at which each species undergo overwinter (larva, egg, pupa, adult); column *foodplant* contains iformation on the host-plant growth form of (the larva) of each species, which can be woody plants (labels "W", "WH", "WWH", "HW") or non-woody plants (labels "H", "HHW", "L"); *specialism* contains data on the degree of specialization of each species (three levels: oligophagous, polyphagous, monophagous); *voltinism* indicating the number of generations per season (multivoltine or univoltine); *day_activity* informing whether the species is diurnal (1) or nocturnal (0). * `geom_bs_pam.nex` Assignment of moth species into "small" or "large" based on partitioning of body size via PAM algorithm. The group indexes are used to fit the discrete models of correlated evolution. * `geom_tree.nex` Ultrametric phylogenetic tree with branch lengths in million years (i.e., dated phylogeny). ##### For more information contact: Stenio I. A. Foerster [stenio.foerster@ut.ee](mailto:stenio.foerster@ut.e)