Green-brown polymorphism in alpine grasshoppers affects body temperature.

ABSTRACT: Ectothermic animals depend on external heat sources for pursuing their daily activities. However, reaching sufficiently high temperature can be limiting at high altitudes, where nights are cold and seasons short. We focus on the role of a green-brown color polymorphism in grasshoppers from alpine habitats. The green-brown polymorphism is phylogenetically and spatially widespread among Orthopterans and the eco-evolutionary processes that contribute to its maintenance have not yet been identified.We here test whether green and brown individuals heat up to different temperatures under field conditions. If they do, this would suggest that thermoregulatory capacity might contribute to the maintenance of the green-brown polymorphism.We recorded thorax temperatures of individuals sampled and meas

SUBMITTER: Kohler G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6972831 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature