Data from: Diurnal moths have larger hearing organs: Evidence from comparative 3D morphometric study on geometrid moths
Data files
Jul 24, 2025 version files 31.22 KB
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Box_plot_codes.R
1.23 KB
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Geomorph_codes.R
7.40 KB
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Phylogenetic__PCA.R
4.85 KB
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Phylogenetic_linear_regression.R
3.34 KB
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README.md
2.91 KB
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Tympanal_ansa_data.csv
8.99 KB
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Tympanal_organ_measurements_and_abdomen_measurements.csv
1.70 KB
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Tympanal_species_CO1_sequence.fas.treefile
802 B
Abstract
Tympanal organs, crucial for anti-bat defence in moths and key for taxonomy, are often overlooked due to their fragility during dissection. Using micro-CT, we analyzed the tympanal organs of 19 geometrid species, comparing diurnal and nocturnal species to understand how predators, like bats and diurnal birds or lizards, influence tympanal morphology and its allometric relationship with body size. We hypothesized that diurnal moths, with reduced anti-bat function, would have smaller tympanal organs, irrespective of body size.
Allometry was tested using phylogenetic linear regression and tympanal volume was compared across diurnal and nocturnal moths relative to the abdominal volume. We used 3D geometric morphometry, followed by comparative analysis of the shape and size of ansa, a unique “mechanical” for geometrids.
Contrary to our hypothesis, diurnal moths had significantly larger tympanal organs, with no allometric relationship with body size. Activity patterns had no significant effect on ansa shape and size, but nocturnal species exhibited convergence, suggesting potential auditory functions.
This study shows how daily activity patterns and predator-prey interactions shape sensory adaptations, with larger tympanal organs of diurnal species potentially reflecting adaptations to detect lower “non-bat” frequency. It also highlights non-invasive imaging techniques for studying delicate anatomical features in museum specimens.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxz3
Description of the data and file structure
Files and variables
File: Tympanal_species_CO1_sequence.fas.treefile
Description: The phylogenetic tree based on CO1 sequences that have been used in the analyses
File: Box_plot_codes.R
Description: R codes used for making the box plots in the manuscript
File: Geomorph_codes.R
Description: R codes used for the package 'geomorph' for 3D landmarking and geometric morphometrics analysis
File: Phylogenetic_linear_regression.R
Description: R codes used for the phylogenetic linear regression analysis done for the manuscript
File: Phylogenetic__PCA.R
Description: R codes used for the Phylogenetic Principal Component analysis to assess the shape of ansa based on 3D landmarks
File: Tympanal_organ_measurements_and_abdomen_measurements.csv
Description: The measurements used to determine the size of the tympanal organ done on the software AGMT-3D, and the linear morphometric measurements done on the moth museum specimens.
Variables
- Species: The moth species included in the study
- Behaviour: The species were either nocturnal or diurnal in behaviour
- Volume: The volume of the tympanal organ based on 3D landmarks as measured with the software AGMT-3D
- width, dorsal view (mm): The width of the abdomen of the moth specimen as measured from the dorsal side
- height, lateral view (mm): The height of the abdomen of the moth specimen as measured from the lateral side
- abdomen length (mm): The linear measurement from the base of the moth abdomen to the tip
- Abdomen volume(cubic mm): The product of (widthheight length) of the moth abdomen
- tympanal volume: abdomen volume: The ratio of the tympanal volume and the abdomen volume
- Body size (mm): The linear measurement from the tip of the abdomen to the head of the moth
File: Tympanal_ansa_data.csv
Description:
Variables
- ID: The ID given to each of the Tympanal organ corresponding the the species in the next column
- species: The moth species included in the study
- subfamily: The subfamily within the family Geometridae to which each species belongs
- Behaviour: The species were either nocturnal or diurnal in behaviour
- specimen region: The geographical region from where the specimen was acquired
- Csize: The centroid size determined based on the 3D landmarks. Centroid size is calculated as the square root of the sum of squared distances of all landmarks from their centroid (center of gravity) in the 'geomorph' package in R
- x: x coordinate of the 3D landmarks
- y: y coordinate of the 3D landmarks
- z: z coordinate of the 3D landmarks
Code/software
R and Microsoft Excel