Open AccessTemperatures in the Cothill habitat of Panaxia ( Callimorpha ) dominula L. (the scarlet tiger moth)
Author(s) -
Jones David A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
heredity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.441
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1365-2540
pISSN - 0018-067X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2540.2000.00700.x
Subject(s) - biology , pupa , habitat , litter , larva , ecology , nocturnal , plant litter , zoology , atmospheric sciences , botany , ecosystem , geology
Temperatures were monitored in precisely the places in Cothill Fen in which larvae of Panaxia dominula pupate. At the critical time in June, the temperatures in the litter layer are diurnally often much higher than those used in previous constant temperature experiments. Moreover, the daily mean temperature in the shaded litter layer is also higher than the shaded air temperature at 0.4 m, both temperatures being higher than the estimate of 12°C used as baseline by others. The effects of fluctuating temperatures in the natural habitat on the phenotypic expression of wing patterns of the moth appear to be minimal and do not parallel the results of laboratory experiments.