Meeting Abstract
For insects, most physiological processes are temperature-dependent. Laboratory studies have shown that rearing conspecifics at different temperatures can induce variation in morphology, fitness, and other life history traits. With short lifespans over four distinct metamorphic stages, butterflies provide an excellent model system for studying the effect of variation of developmental temperature on individual body size and fitness. Here I examined the phenotypic plasticity and fitness consequences of Pieris rapae, or cabbage butterflies, when individuals were incubated and reared under different temperature treatments, mimicking climate change patterns observed in the Northeastern United States. Larval size at hatching and pupal mass both decreased with increasing temperature, suggesting that individuals reared primarily in colder temperatures are larger at adulthood. However, contrary to what has been shown in previous studies, larger size did not correlate with higher reproductive success. Moreover, fitness, measured as the number of eggs laid per female, did not vary significantly among temperature treatments. These data suggest that P. rapae, a widespread and abundant temperate species, shows a strong plastic response to temperature variation, suggesting that this species may exhibit resilience in the face of future climate change scenarios.
