Wing morphology of the active flyer Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) during its invasion of a sub-Antarctic archipelago where insect flightlessness is the rule

• Published in: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
• Main Authors: Laparie, Mathieu, Vernon, Philippe, Cozic, Yann, Frenot, Yves, Renault, D, Debat, Vincent
• Other Authors: Unité de recherche Zoologie Forestière (URZF), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution Rennes (ECOBIO), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement - CNRS Ecologie et Environnement (INEE-CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Station Biologique de Paimpont, Université de Rennes (UR), L'Institut polaire français Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Origine, structure et évolution de la biodiversité (OSEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), IPEV Program 136; Zone Atelier Antarctique et Subantarctique;, ANR-07-VULN-0004,EVINCE,Vulnerability of native communities to invasive insects and climate change in sub-antarctic islands.(2007)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: allochronic change; blue blowfly; geometric morphometrics; invasive insect; Kerguelen islands; local adaptation; phenotypic plasticity; procrutes superimposition; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Antarctic; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-01328985; https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12815

International audience The cosmopolitan blowfly Calliphora vicina became established in the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands in the late 1970s, following a warming period that allowed its full development. Although temperature and wind may limit flight activity, the fly invaded the archipelago, reaching sites remote from the introduction point. Most native competitors have converged to flightlessness as a response to stringent environmental conditions and therefore the flight strategy of C. vicina might be either a handicap or a competitive advantage under ongoing climate change. Using geometric morphometrics, we investigated whether the wing had changed over time in C. vicina within the archipelago (1998 vs. 2009) and compared its morphology with that of a continental population from a temperate area (1983 vs. 2009). Wing shape plasticity to temperature was also experimentally investigated. We found no clues of relaxed selection on flight morphology in the range invaded. However, rapid changes of wing shape occurred over time in females from the Kerguelen Islands compared with both males and females of the continental population, despite a shorter time-lag between samples in the former. The thermal reaction norms for wing shape found for C. vicina from Kerguelen were also different from those of the continental population, but it remains unknown whether this resulted from or preceded the introduction. These combined findings are consistent with a fingerprint of local adaptation in the invasive population. However, the adaptive significance of the changes, in terms of their aerodynamic consequences and the future evolution of C. vicina in the Kerguelen Islands, requires further investigation. From an evolutionary standpoint, sustaining flight capability under the novel sub-Antarctic conditions might be critical to the invasive success of C. vicina as most competitors are flightless.