Can multitrophic interactions shape morphometry, allometry, and fluctuating asymmetry of seed-feeding insects?

Abstract

Body size is commonly associated with biological features such as reproductive capacity, competition, and resource acquisition. Many studies have tried to understand how these isolated factors can affect the body pattern of individuals. However, little is known about how interactions among species in multitrophic communities determine the body shape of individuals exploiting the same resource. Here, we evaluate the effect of fruit infestation, parasitism rate, and seed biomass on size, allometric and asymmetric patterns of morphological structures of insects that exploit the same resource. To test it, we measured 750 individuals associated with the plant Senegalia tenuifolia (Fabaceae), previously collected over three consecutive years. Negative allometry was maintained for all species, suggesting that with increasing body size the body structure did not grow proportionally. Despite this, some variations in allometric slopes suggest that interactions in a multitrophic food web can shape the development of these species. Also, we observed a higher confidence interval at higher categories of infestation and parasitism rate, suggesting a great variability in the allometric scaling. We did not observe fluctuating asymmetry for any category or species, but we found some changes in morphological structures, depending on the variables tested. These findings show that both allometry and morphological trait measurements are the most indicated in studies focused on interactions and morphometry. Finally, we show that, except for the fluctuating asymmetry, each species and morphological structure respond differently to interactions, even if the individuals play the same functional role within the food web.