Meeting Abstract
Developmental temperature is known to influence the adult phenotype in many ectothermic organisms. Invasive species entering new climate zones are often faced with changes in temperature which may affect their adult phenotype and performance. Here we explore whether variation in developmental temperature affects wing shape and flight performance in the invasive D. suzukiicurrently moving towards the North of Europe. Our preliminary results show that developmental temperature has a strong effect on wing shape with animals raised at cooler temperatures having larger amd more elongate wings. Moreover, our results show that wing shape is significantly correlated to flight perforamnnce traits with animals with more elongate wings showing more direct flight paths. Although no direct effects of developmental temperature on flight performance at a standard temperature could be demonstrated (p = 0.057), our data suggest that the shapes induced by development at low temperature are similar to those of animals showing straighter flight trajectories. Thus, developmental plasticity appears intimately linked to flight performance in D. suzukii which may explain its evolutionary success in invading cold climate zones.
