Environmental conditions influence allometric patterns in the blow fly, Chrysomya albiceps

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study variations in allometry of body characters in females and males of two populations of blow flies, Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), under different environmental conditions to establish patterns of morphological variation. Body size of both males and females in the experimental population was significantly higher than in the individuals of the natural population, indicating an important influence of food on body size. All genitalic and non-genitalic characters in males and females of the two populations showed a trend towards negative allometry rather than isometry. Allometric patterns were modified in both sexes and between populations. The data show generally larger allometric slopes in females than in males. We confirmed that the environmental conditions have an important effect on allometric patterns and body size.

Keywords: allometry, blow flies, body size, Calliphoridae

Correspondence: ^a moira_battan@yahoo.com.ar, ^b aperetti@com.uncor.edu, *Corresponding author

Editor: Allen Cohen was Editor of this paper.

Received: 23 November 2010 | Accepted: 6 May 2011 | Published: 3 October 2011

Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.  

ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 131

Battán Horenstein M, Peretti AV. 2011. Environmental conditions influence allometric patterns in the blow fly, Chrysomya albiceps. Journal of Insect Science 11:131 available online: insectscience.org/11.131