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EVOLUTION OF DORMANCY AND ITS PHOTOPERIODIC CONTROL IN PITCHER‐PLANT MOSQUITOES
Author(s) -
Bradshaw William E.,
Lounibos L. Philip
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1977.tb01044.x
Subject(s) - biology , citation , dormancy , library science , ecology , environmental ethics , botany , computer science , philosophy , germination
Phenotypic characters which vary over a wide geographic range are not unusual. Good examples relating ecogeographic characters to specific environmental variables are less frequently encountered and usually correlate a physiological function with some aspect of environmental temperature (Brown and Lee, 1969; Snyder and Weathers, 1975; Moore, 1950; Ruibal, 1955; Volpe, 1957). Photoperiodism is also an ecogeographic character and correlates closely with altitude, latitude, and growing season (Danilevskii et al., 1970; Danilevskii, 1965; Masaki, 1972; Bradshaw, 1976). Since natural selection will favor adaptation to a combination of climatic factors impinging upon an organism, ecogeographic characters like photoperiodism which provide a link between the organism and climate in general are more likely to correlate with geography than a character relating to only one aspect of climate. In our current study, we examine the effects of latitude, altitude, and longitude on photoperiodism and dormancy of pitcherplant dwelling mosquitoes in eastern North America. The range of the purple pitcher-plant, Sarracenia purpurea Lin. extends from the Gulf Coast of the United States north to Labrador and west to Manitoba (McDaniel, 1971). Throughout most of this range, the water-filled leaves serve