Evolutionary change is the change in trait values across generations, and usually occurs in multidimensional trait space rather than along isolated traits. Genetic covariation influences the magnitude and direction of evolutionary change and can be statistically summarized by the additive genetic (co)variance matrix, G. While G can affect the response to selection, it is exposed to evolutionary change by selection and genetic drift, but the magnitude and speed of these changes are poorly understood. We use comparative G matrix analyses to assess evolution of the shape and orientation of G over longer time scales in three species of Gomphocerine grasshoppers. We estimate 10x10 G matrices for five morphological traits expressed in both sexes. We find low to moderate heritabilities (average 0.36), mostly large cross-sex correlations (average 0.54) and moderate between-trait correlations (average 0.34). G matrices differ significantly among species with wing length contributing most to these differences. Wing length is the trait that is most divergent among species, suggesting it has been under selection during species divergence. The more distantly related species, Pseudochorthippus parallelus, was the most different in the shape of G. Projecting contemporary genetic variation into the divergence space D illustrates that the major axis of genetic variation in Gomphocerippus rufus is aligned with divergence from Chorthippus biguttulus, while the major axis of genetic variation in neither of the species is aligned with the divergence between Pseudochorthippus parallelus and the other two species. Our results demonstrate significant differences in G matrices with a phylogenetic signal in the differentiation.

This dataset consists of morphological measurements of three Gomphocerine grasshoppers, and their pedigree information. Of the three grasshoppers, Chorthippus biguttulus and Pseudochorthippus parallelus were collected from Bielefeld and Gomphocerippus rufus was collected from Tuebingen, in Germany. The measurements were taken from photographs with the help of the sofware ImageJ. The individuals used in the study come from a paternal half-sib breeding design set up in the lab with individuals caught from the field. 

There are three categories of files for each species,  a data file containing morphological measurements for the individuals used in the study, a pedigree file containing parental information, and ReadMe files which enlist the details of the data and pedigree files. There are missing values in the data as well as the pedigrees, and they are marked with NA.