Contrasting morphologies of low and high elevation populations of the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) in Oregon

Chenchen Fan, Monte Mattsson, Linda Buergi, Peter Mcevoy

Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

Introduction
The cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), is endemic from Europe through
central Asia, and in the last century has been introduced by humans to New Zealand, Australia and
North America as a biocontrol agent for the invasive noxious weed tansy ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris
Results
(Asteraceae), on which its larvae feed. Populations of the moth were introduced to the Willamette MASS
Valley, Oregon beginning in 1960 (Frick and Holloway 1964). Throughout the 1980s, Oregon I found no significant difference in adult mass between mountain and valley origin moths (F1,103=0.32, P=0.58), but a
populations of the moth were further redistributed at numerous sites in the Cascade Mountains to clear difference between female and male moths (F1, 103=39, P<0.001) (Figure 2). The interaction between origin and
control emergent tansy ragwort populations following clear-cut logging and forest fires (Coombs sex was not significant (F1,102 = 1.1, P=0.29)
1996). Redistribution efforts ceased around 1985, therefore mountain and valley populations of the WING LENGTH
cinnabar moth have been genetically isolated for ~30 years. For wing length, I found no significant difference between mountain and valley origin moths (F1,103=1.48, P=0.23),
but a clear difference between female and male moths (F1, 103=39, P<0.001) (Figure 3). The interaction between origin
and sex was not significant (F1,102 = 0.40, P=0.53).
WING LOADING (= WING LENGTH/WEIGHT RATIO)
Goals The interaction between origin and sex was marginally significant (F1,102 = 2.88, P=0.09), suggesting a sex specific effect of
origin. When analyzed separately, mountain male moths had higher wing loading compared to valley male moths (t=-1.87,
In this study, I test hypotheses relating to wing morphology and body mass using adult cinnabar moths from both Cascade Mountains
P=0.07), and no difference in female moths (t=-0.11, P=0.9) (Figure 4).
(elevation: ~1500 m) and Willamette Valley, OR (elevation: ~50 m) environments. Moths might have different wing sizes due to different
abiotic forces driving adaptation. I hypothesize that the mountain moths have larger wing area to body weight ratio, because they have to fly in
the thinner air in the higher elevation mountain where atmospheric pressure is lower than in the valley region. In most moth species size and
need for flightiness differs significantly between the sexes, so I hypothesize that any wing loading differences we would find might differ
between male and female moth. I was able to test if (1) mountain and valley moths had similar body mass; (2) male and female moths had
similar body mass; (3) mountain and valley origin moths had similar wing length; (4) male and female moths had similar wing lengths; and (5)
there was an interactions between sex and geographic origin for any of the traits under study.

Cascade Mountains Willamette Valley, OR

(Elevation: 1572 m) (Elevation: 87 m)
http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/790903.JPG
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/97/f1/36/97f136f3a75e0d7a6245c5c5056e2895.jpg
Materials and Methods
The cinnabar moth larvae were collected in 2015 and reared in the laboratory until
pupation. Mountain- and valley-origin pupae were overwintered in a common, low
elevation environment. In spring 2016, the pupae were brought back into the lab and
monitored adult eclosion daily. Then cinnabar moths were photographed, weighed,
and sexed upon eclosion. Then ImageJ (Schneider, Rasband and Eliceiri 2012) was
used to analyze the moth images. To avoid bias, I was unaware of the moths origins
while performing measurements. To transform units between pixels and metric scale
measuremetns we included a ruler in each picture. Then, 105 moths were selected for
data analysis, comprised of 17 mountain origin males and 34 mountain origin females,
19 valley origin males and 35 valley origin females. When selecting which wing to
measure, I alternated between left and right wing depending upon which was clearer in
in the image. Measurements included (1) wing length, measured as distance from head
to the most distal point on the wing (Figure 1), (2) body mass.
Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4
Figure 2: Body mass of females (left) and males (right) from mountain (M) and valley (V) environments.
Figure 3: Wing lengths of female (left graph) and male (right graph) moths from mountain (M) and valley (V) environments.
Figure 4: Wing lengths of female (left graph) and male (right graph) moths from mountain (M) and valley (V) environments.
Discussion
My hypothesis of increased wing loading in mountain moths has been confirmed with marginal significance for male
moths. Female moths did not show any difference in wing loading. In the cinnabar moth females are often too heavy to fly right after
emergence due to large egg loads. The females remain close to the site of emergence and attract the more mobile males. Thus, it makes
sense that males should be the ones that have adapted to the difference in flight condition. As seen in the adult weight, wing length and
wing length/ adult weight relationship, males tend to be lighter with larger wings, a combination leading to increased flight ability of the
males compared with the females.
Figure 1 Future studies could address this question with an increased sample size and possibly dissect the wings off the moths rather
than taking pictures of live moths, where wing angles and positions lead to a larger measurement error. In addition, future studies should
determine if the changes observed in the mountain males are adaptive, leading to higher fitness in the local environment. Second, it should
be investigated what these changes are adaptive to with our main hypothesis being thinner air at higher elevation, but other possibilities
including patchier hosts or windier environment.

Reference
Coombs, E.M., H. Radtke, D. L. Isaacson, and S.P.Snyder. 1996. Economic and regional benefits from the biological control of tansy ragwort,
Senecio jacobaea, in Oregon. In Proceedings of the IX International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds, pp. 489-494.
University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Frick, K.E., and J.K.Holloway 1964. Establishment of the cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae, on tansy ragwort in the western United States.
Journal of Economic Entomology 57: 152-154.
Schneider, C.A.; Rasband, W.S. and Eliceiri, K.W. 2012. NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis, Nature methods 9(7): 671-674,
PMID 22930834