Data from diet C:N ratio and temperature influence the performance and coloration of tobacco hornworms
Data files
Feb 26, 2025 version files 47.55 KB
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Color.xlsx
25.34 KB
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Performance_clean.xlsx
19.48 KB
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README.md
2.73 KB
Abstract
Insect coloration mediated by melanization can assist in dealing with environmental temperatures. However, melanin synthesis can be costly and depends on the ability of insects to acquire enough energy and nutrients from their diets. Due to the increased plant C:N ratio associated with elevated CO2 concentrations, insect herbivores’ melanization could be limited by the amount of nitrogen they acquire from their host plants. To investigate how diet C:N impacts the potential color response to temperature, we used Manduca sexta caterpillars reared at different combinations of temperatures and diet C:N ratio, and measured pupal mass and development time (performance metrics) and color morphology. The high-temperature treatment (27°C) had a positive impact on larvae performance, whereas a nitrogen-poor diet was related to lower performance. Using a fitness metric that considers both pupal mass and development time, we found a positive effect of both high-temperature and nitrogen-rich diet treatments on larvae fitness. We found that diet and temperature affected the coloration of larvae, in which larvae reared at the low-temperature treatment (18°C) and fed a nitrogen-rich diet were darker than their counterparts. Our results provide experimental evidence of the impact of diet on melanization and suggest that CO2-related changes in plant quality could be associated with changes in insect herbivore performance and coloration.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3f9
Description of the data and file structure
Soon after eclosion, Manduca sexta larvae were reared under two temperature conditions (18 or 27 degrees Celsius) and two diet treatments (N-poor or N-rich). We measured pupal mass, development time, and survival as performance metrics, all data are in the 'Performance' csv file. We photographed the 5th instar larvae before the wandering stage and measured color as RGB, Luminance, and Value, and all data are in the 'Color' csv file. R and Python codes are available in the Github repository: https://github.com/mayracvidal1/Manduca_color
Files and variables
File: Color.xlsx
Description: Data file for color metrics
Variables
- ID: individual larva identifier
- Diet: type of diet treatment (High-quality = N-rich; Low-quality = N-poor)
- Temperature: type of temperature treatment (18 or 27 Celsius)
- Year: year the experiment was performed, which also corresponds to the 'trial' or egg sources
- Size (px/cm): the larva image size measured as pixels per cm
- Red Mean: mean of R
- Red Median: median of R
- Red Variance: variance of R
- Green Mean: mean of G
- Green Median: median of G
- Green Variance: variance of G
- Blue Mean: mean of B
- Blue Median: median of R
- Blue Variance: variance of R
- Value Mean: mean of V
- Value Median: median of V
- Value Variance: variance of V
- Luminance Mean: mean of L
- Luminance Median: median of L
- Luminance Variance: variance of L
File: Performance_clean.xlsx
Description: Data file for performance metrics.
Variables
- ID: individual larva identifier
- Diet: type of diet treatment (High-quality = N-rich; Low-quality = N-poor)
- Temperature: type of temperature treatment (18 or 27 Celsius)
- Hatch Date: date the larva hatched from egg
- Pupa Date: date the larva pupated. Inidividuals that did not pupate (i.e., died before pupation) received a n/a.
- Death Date: if larva died, the date of death. Inidividuals that did survived received a n/a.
- Survived?: binary value of survival (0 = dead, 1 = alive).
- Development Time: the number of days from hatch date to pupa date. Inidividuals that did not pupate (i.e., died before completing development) received a n/a.
- Pupal Mass (g): mass of pupa after 10 days of pupation measured in grams. Inidividuals that did not pupate (i.e., died before pupation), or that emerged before pupal weighting, received a n/a.
- Year: year the experiment was performed