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DNA barcoding reveals polymorphism in the pygmy grasshopper Tetrix bolivari (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae).

ABSTRACT: Many pygmy grasshopper species exhibit colour-marking polymorphism. However, this polymorphism in some species, such as Tetrix bolivari, is almost unknown. The aim of this work is to identify using DNA barcoding the colour-marking polymorphic morphs of this pygmy grasshopper species collected from both grass and sand microhabitats. Analysis by NJ clustering and pairwise distances indicated that all specimens collected showing colour-marking polymorphism are species of Tetrix bolivari. Haplotype network construction showed ten different haplotypes from a total of 57 Tetrix bolivari individuals with H1(82.5%) being the most common type and it also displayed low divergence within Tetrix bolivari population. The haplotype analyses were consistent with the NJ clustering. Our field census showed the frequency of Tetrix bolivari morphs differed significantly, with the rank order of morphs (from high to low) typeA1, type B1, type A2, type A3, type A4, type A5, type A6, type A7, type B2, type B3, and type B4. The most common type A morphs were without contrasting markings, while the rarer type B morphs have contrasting white markings. We suggest that type B morphs have greater camouflage effects against natural backgrounds such as grass or sand than type A morphs. Both our field census and haplotype analysis revealed that type A has higher frequency and more haplotypes than type B.

SUBMITTER: Zhao L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4857047 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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DNA barcoding reveals polymorphism in the pygmy grasshopper Tetrix bolivari (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae).

Zhao Ling L Lin Li-Liang LL Zheng Zhe-Min ZM

ZooKeys 20160421 582

Many pygmy grasshopper species exhibit colour-marking polymorphism. However, this polymorphism in some species, such as Tetrix bolivari, is almost unknown. The aim of this work is to identify using DNA barcoding the colour-marking polymorphic morphs of this pygmy grasshopper species collected from both grass and sand microhabitats. Analysis by NJ clustering and pairwise distances indicated that all specimens collected showing colour-marking polymorphism are species of Tetrix bolivari. Haplotype ...[more]

PMID: 27199587

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Project description:Colour-marking polymorphism is widely distributed among cryptic species. To account for the adaptive significance of such polymorphisms, several hypotheses have been proposed to date. Although these hypotheses argue over the degree of camouflage effects of marking morphs (and the interactions between morphs and their microhabitat backgrounds), as far as we know, most empirical evidence has been provided under unnatural conditions (i.e., using artificial prey).Tetrix japonica, a pygmy grasshopper, is highly polymorphic in colour-markings and occurs in both sand and grass microhabitats. Even within a microhabitat, T. japonica is highly polymorphic. Using humans as dummy predators and printed photographs in which various morphs of grasshoppers were placed against different backgrounds, we addressed three questions to test the neutral, background heterogeneity, and differential crypsis hypotheses in four marking-type morphs: 1) do the morphs differ in the degree of crypsis in each microhabitat, 2) are different morphs most cryptic in specific backgrounds of the microhabitats, and 3) does the morph frequency reflect the degree of crypsis?The degree of camouflage differed among the four morphs; therefore, the neutral hypothesis was rejected. Furthermore, the order of camouflage advantage among morphs differed depending on the two types of backgrounds (sand and grass), although the grass background consistently provided greater camouflage effects. Thus, based on our results, we could not reject the background heterogeneity hypothesis. Under field conditions, the more cryptic morphs comprised a minority of the population. Overall, our results demonstrate that the different morphs were not equivalent in the degree of crypsis, but the degree of camouflage of the morphs was not consistent with the morph frequency. These findings suggest that trade-offs exist between the camouflage benefit of body colouration and other fitness components, providing a better understanding of the adaptive significance of colour-markings and presumably supporting the differential crypsis hypothesis.

Dataset Information

DNA barcoding reveals polymorphism in the pygmy grasshopper Tetrix bolivari (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae).

Publications

DNA barcoding reveals polymorphism in the pygmy grasshopper Tetrix bolivari (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae).

Similar Datasets

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