| Title: | "The Morphological Changes of Moths on Nakajima Island, Hokkaido, Japan" |
| Author(s): | Yama H; Soga M; Evans MJ; Iida T; Koike S; |
| Address: | "Graduate School of Agriculture, Department of Environment Conservation, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai, Fuchu, Japan. Department of Ecosystem Studies, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Institute of Agriculture, Division of Environment Conservation, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai, Fuchu, Japan. Institute of Global Innovation Research, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai, Fuchu, Japan" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1938-2936 (Electronic) 0046-225X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Overgrazing by large mammalian herbivores has led to significant adverse impacts on ecosystems globally. Insects are often a key taxon affected by large herbivores because the plants that are grazed provide crucial food and habitat. By changing vegetation, overgrazing by herbivores could affect aspects of insect morphology, including through changes to larval development due to reduced food availability, and adult dispersal ability due to habitat fragmentation. We investigated the wing morphology of moth species in two contrasting sites at Lake Toya in Hokkaido, Japan. We compared moths on Nakajima Island where deer are overabundant, with moths from the lakeshore 3 km away where deer are far less abundant. We compared forewing size and aspect ratio (length/width) of 13 moth species from both lakeshore and island sites. Four species, three of which were herb-feeding generalists, had significantly smaller wings on the island compared with the lakeshore. Seven species demonstrated a reduction in wing aspect ratio, whereas one species, the largest we measured, showed an increase in wing aspect ratio. We suggest that these morphological changes could be induced by overgrazing by deer (i.e., a reduction in moth host plant biomass and quality) and/or the isolation of moth populations on Nakajima Island. Further work is needed to reveal how these confounded but potentially interacting effects contribute to the morphological changes we found in the moths on the island. Our results show that habitat isolation and overabundance of deer populations can affect moth wing morphology, with potential implications for their population dynamics and community structure" |
| Keywords: | "Animals *Deer Ecosystem *Herbivory Japan Male Moths/*growth & development Wings, Animal Lepidoptera deer herbivory diet breadth large herbivore overabundance plant-herbivore interaction;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineYama, Hayato Soga, Masashi Evans, Maldwyn J Iida, Taichi Koike, Shinsuke eng Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2019/02/28 Environ Entomol. 2019 Apr 3; 48(2):291-298. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvz011" |
