DOI: 10.5061/dryad.k98sf7mcr
title: Data from: Strong bat predation and weak environmental constraints predict longer moth tails

description: Elaborate traits evolve via intense selective pressure, overpowering
 ecological constraints. Hindwing tails that thwart bat attack have
 repeatedly originated in moon moths (Saturniidae), with longer tails
 having greater anti-predator effect. Here, we take a macroevolutionary
 approach to evaluate the evolutionary balance between predation pressure
 and possible limiting environmental factors on tail elongation. To trace
 the evolution of tail length across time and space, we inferred a
 time-calibrated phylogeny of the entirely tailed moth group (Actias +
 Argema) and performed ancestral state reconstruction and biogeographical
 analyses. We generated metrics of predation via estimates of bat abundance
 from nearly 200 custom-built species distribution models and environmental
 metrics via estimates of bioclimatic variables associated with individual
 moth observations. To access community science data, we developed a novel
 method for measuring wing lengths from unscaled photos. Integrating these
 data into phylogenetically-informed mixed models, we find a positive
 association between bat predation pressure and moth tail length and body
 size, and a negative association between environmental factors and these
 morphological traits. Regions with more insectivorous bats and more
 consistent temperatures tend to host longer-tailed moths. Our study
 provides insight into tradeoffs between biotic selective pressures and
 abiotic constraints that shape elaborate traits across the tree of life.
description: # Data for: Stronger bat predation and weaker environmental constraints
 predict longer moth tails --- ## Description of the data and file
 structure There are 4 supplementary archives and 2 supplementary datasets:
 ### Supplementary\_Archive1 : Statistical scripts and data sheets * Data
 sheets containing all moths analyzed in this study and their associated
 trait measurements and lat/long coordinates; Definitions for
 Rubin_etal_2025_fulldata; variables as follows: * Picture_ID = picture
 used for measurements. This corresponds with the names of the pictures
 that can be found in Supplementary_Archive2 * Species = full scientific
 name; * genus = genus; * spp = specific epithet; * decimalLatitude,
 decimalLongitude = lat/long coordinates taken from GBIF or the specimen’s
 museum data; * Ant_length = Antenna length in cm (if the photo had a scale
 bar) or pixels (if the photo did not have a scale bar); * FW_length =
 Right forewing length in cm (if the photo had a scale bar) or pixels (if
 the photo did not have a scale bar). This is a proxy for body size; *
 HW_length = Right hindwing length in cm (if the photo had a scale bar) or
 pixels (if the photo did not have a scale bar); * no_scale = binary code
 where a 0 means the photo had a scale bar and 1 means the photo did not; *
 mean_spp_Ant = species mean for antenna length in cm (taken from scaled
 photos); * Adj_Ant_length = Antenna length /mean species antenna length; *
 Adj_FW_length = Forewing length/(antenna length/mean species antenna
 length); * Adj_HW_length = Hindwing length/(antenna length/mean species
 antenna length); * batRichness = number of species of large, insectivorous
 bats at the given lat/long coordinate. Estimated from custom-built species
 distribution models; * BatPop = estimated abundance of bats at the given
 lat/long coordinate; * mean_annualTemp = Annual mean temperature from
 Worldclim in degreesC *10 units (BIO1); * mean_TempSeasonality = standard
 deviation of mean annual temperature from Worldclim (BIO4); * mean_precip
 = mean annual precipitation in mm from Worldclim (BIO12); * median_LGP:
 median length of growing period (in days out of a 365 day year) extracted
 from Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and is determined by soil
 temperature and available moisture, accounting for transpiration.  *
 Definitions for Rubin_etal2025_Calibration_data.csv are the same *
 Picture_ID = picture used for measurements. This corresponds with the
 names of the pictures that can be found in Supplementary_Archive2 * genus
 = genus * species = full scientific name * specificEpithet = specific
 epithet * Thorax_width = distance between the anterior forewing joint in
 cm; NA's are used when this distance is not measurable because the
 forewing positioning does not allow for accurate measurement *
 Ant_length_cm = antenna length in cm, from most distal tip of antenna to
 the junction with the head * FW_length_cm = distance from most distal tip
 of forewing (right, if possible) to the middle of the forewing hinge joint
 on the thorax * HW_length_cm = distance from the most distal tip of
 hindwing (right, if possible) to the middle of the hindwing hinge joint on
 the thorax * Mean_ant_cm = average male antenna length for the given
 species (from scaled photos) * Stdev_ant_cm = standard deviation of male
 antenna length for the given species (from scaled photos) * Ant_pixels =
 length of antenna measured in the same way as above, but without using
 scale bar * FW_pixels = length of forewing measured in the same way as
 above, but without using scale bar * HW_pixels = length of hindwing
 measured in the same way as above, but without using scale bar * adj_Ant =
 adjusted antenna length; Ant_pixels / Mean_ant_cm * adj_FW = adjusted
 forewing length; FW_pixels / adj_Ant * adj_HW = adjusted hindwing length;
 HW_pixels / adj_Ant Note: outgroups (Anthereaea, Syntherata, Saturnia,
 Opodiphthera) do not have adjusted measurements (i.e., value is NA for
 adj_Ant, adj_FW, adj_HW) because we were only interested in creating these
 wing length estimates from photos without a scale bar for our ingroup
 species * Rubin_etal_2025_ActiasTree.nex Dated Bayesian tree of the tailed
 moon moth clade (+outgroups). See text for more information. * R scripts
 for the phylogenetically-informed models
 (Rubin_etal_ProcB2025_pglmm-models.R) and comparative trait analyses
 (Rubin_etal2025_ASR&CompTraitMapping.R) ### Supplementary\_Archive2 :
 All photos * A zipped folder containing all the specimen photos we
 analyzed ### **Supplementary\_Archive3 : Tree inference** * A zipped
 folder containing all cleaned loci in FASTA format (Loci.zip) * An amino
 acid super matrix (FcC_supermatrix.fas) and partition file
 (FcC_supermatrix_partition.txt) generated by FASconCAT * The best ML tree
 files, with Actias_fullTree.BEAST* being the ML tree that we subsequently
 used as our starting tree for our Bayesian analysis and IQTREE* being the
 files pertaining to the ML tree we built using the MFP+Merge function in
 IQ-TREE (see main text for more details). * The starting tree (from
 Actias_fullTree.BEAST files above) modified to align with the timing of
 the four calibration points from Kawahara et al. 2019 (see main text for
 more details) = StartingTreeForBEAST.nex. * All .xml input files for
 running the four Bayesian trees in BEAST (Yule, Birth-Death : fixed or
 classic operator) * MCMC trees from each inferred Bayesian model
 (MCMC*.trees) as well as the maximum likelihood results file for each
 inferred tree (*.mle.result.log); name components: 1CL = 1 clock, BD =
 birth-death model, Yule = Yule model, Classicop = classic operator mix
 (allowing BEAST to infer topology), Fixed = tree topology constrained to
 the topology of the maximum likelihood input tree), Uniform = uniform
 distribution = distributions used at the calibration nodes, 200milgen =
 tree inference run for 200 million generations. See main text and
 supplement for more details. * A summary species tree generated from
 ASTRAL (Astral_speciestree.tre) ### Supplementary\_Archive4 : Ancestral
 range estimation * Input dated tree using Nexus format (*.txt) * Dispersal
 multipliers and geographic regions input files (*.txt) * R script (*.R)
 used to run the BioGeoBEARS analysis on UF’s higher-performance computing
 cluster * Output files (resfn, *.Rdata) ### Supplementary Dataset S1:
 Sequence information for phylogenetic inference ### Supplementary Dataset
 S2: Target insectivorous bat list (sheet1) and bat species list for which
 we were able to build SDMs (sheet2) ## Sharing/Access information All data
 was generated for this project and more information can be found in the
 main text. To access species distribution modeling scripts and outputs,
 please got to: 10.5281/zenodo.8117743