Complex latitudinal variation in the morphology of the kleptoparasitic spider Argyrodes kumadai associated with host use and climatic conditions

Baba, Y. G., Walters, R. J. and Miyashita, T. (2013) Complex latitudinal variation in the morphology of the kleptoparasitic spider Argyrodes kumadai associated with host use and climatic conditions. Population Ecology, 55 (1). pp. 43-51. ISSN 1438-3896 doi: 10.1007/s10144-012-0334-5

Abstract/Summary

We examined complex geographical patterns in the morphology of a kleptoparasitic spider, Argyrodes kumadai, across its distributional range in Japan. To disentangle biotic and abiotic factors underlying morphological variation, latitudinal trends were investigated in two traits, body size and relative leg length, across separate transition zones for host use and voltinism. Statistical analyses revealed complex sawtooth clines. Adult body size dramatically changed at the transition zones for host use and voltinism, and exhibited a latitudinal decline following the converse to Bergmann’s cline under the same host use and voltinism in both sexes. A similar pattern was observed for relative leg length in females but not in males. A genetic basis for a part of observed differences in morphology was supported by a common-garden experiment. Our data suggest that local adaptation to factors other than season length such as resource availability (here associated with host use) obscures underlying responses to latitude.