Skip to content
BY-NC-ND 3.0 license Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Access April 24, 2014

Variation in wing characteristics of monarch butterflies during migration: Earlier migrants have redder and more elongated wings

  • Dara A. Satterfield and Andrew K. Davis EMAIL logo
From the journal Animal Migration

Abstract

The migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in North America has a number of parallels with long-distance bird migration, including the fact that migratory populations of monarchs have larger and more elongated forewings than residents. These characteristics likely serve to optimize flight performance in monarchs, as they also do with birds. A question that has rarely been addressed thus far in birds or monarchs is if and how wing characteristics vary within a migration season. Individuals with superior flight performance should migrate quickly, and/or with minimal stopovers, and these individuals should be at the forefront of the migratory cohort. Conversely, individuals with poor flight performance and/or low endurance would be more likely to fall behind, and these would comprise the latest migrants. Here we examined how the wing morphology of migrating monarchs varies to determine if wing characteristics of early migrants differ from late migrants. We measured forewing area, elongation (length/width), and redness, which has been shown to predict flight endurance in monarchs. Based on a collection of 75 monarchs made one entire season (fall 2010), results showed that the earliest migrants (n = 20) in this cohort had significantly redder and more elongated forewings than the latest migrants (n = 17). There was also a non-significant tendency for early migrants to have larger forewing areas. These results suggest that the pace of migration in monarchs is at least partly dependent on the properties of their wings. Moreover, these data also raise a number of questions about the ultimate fate of monarchs that fall behind

References

[1] Bowlin M. S., Sex, wingtip shape, and wing-loading predict arrival date at a stopover site in the swainson’s thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Auk 2007, 124, 1388-139610.1093/auk/124.4.1388Search in Google Scholar

[2] Corman A.-M., Bairlein F., Schmaljohann H., The nature of the migration route shapes physiological traits and aerodynamic properties in a migratory songbird, Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 2014, 68, 391-40210.1007/s00265-013-1653-zSearch in Google Scholar

[3] Chandler C. R., Mulvihill R.S., Wing-shape variation and differential timing of migration in dark-eyed juncos, Condor, 1990, 92, 54-61.10.2307/1368382Search in Google Scholar

[4] Lockwood R., Swaddle J. P., Rayner J. M. V., Avian wingtip shape reconsidered: wingtip shape indices and morphological adaptations to migration, J. Avian Biol., 1998, 29, 273-29210.2307/3677110Search in Google Scholar

[5] Calmaestra R. G., Moreno E., A phylogenetically-based analysis on the relationship between wing morphology and migratory behaviour in Passeriformes, Ardea, 2001, 89, 407-416Search in Google Scholar

[6] Bowlin M. S., Wikelski W., Pointed wings, low wingloading and calm air reduce the cost of migratory flight in songbirds, Plos One, 2008, 3, e215410.1371/journal.pone.0002154Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

[7] Mulvihill R. S., Chandler C. R., A comparison of wing shape between migratory and sedentary dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), Condor 1991, 93, 172-17510.2307/1368620Search in Google Scholar

[8] Copete J. L., Marine R., Bigas D., Martinez-Vilalta A., Differences in wing shape between sedentary and migratory Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus, Bird Study 1999, 46, 100-10310.1080/00063659909461119Search in Google Scholar

[9] Egbert J. R., Belthoff J. R., Wing shape in House Finches differs relative to migratory habit in eastern and western North America, Condor, 2003, 105, 825-82910.1093/condor/105.4.825Search in Google Scholar

[10] Forschler M. I., Bairlein F., Morphological shifts of the external flight apparatus across the range of a Passerine (Northern Wheatear) with diverging migratory behavior, Plos One, 2011, 6, 910.1371/journal.pone.0018732Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

[11] McKenna D. D., McKenna K. M., Malcolm S. B., Berenbaum M. R., Mortality of Lepidoptera along roadways in central Illinois, J. Lepidopterists’ Soc., 2001, 55, 63-68Search in Google Scholar

[12] Howard E., Davis A. K., Mortality of migrating monarch butterflies from a wind storm on the shore of Lake Michigan, USA, J. Res. Lepidoptera, 2012, 45, 49-5410.5962/p.266481Search in Google Scholar

[13] Brower L. P., Fink L. S., Walford P., Fueling the fall migration of the monarch butterfly, Integr. Comp. Biol., 2006, 46, 1123-114210.1093/icb/icl029Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[14] Dockx C., Directional and stabilizing selection on wing size and shape in migrant and resident monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus (L.), in Cuba, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 2007, 92, 605-61610.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00886.xSearch in Google Scholar

[15] Altizer S. M., Oberhauser K., Brower L. P., Associations between host migration and the prevalence of a protozoan parasite in natural populations of adult monarch butterflies, Ecol. Entomol., 2000, 25, 125-13910.1046/j.1365-2311.2000.00246.xSearch in Google Scholar

[16] Altizer S., Davis A. K., Populations of monarch butterflies with different migratory behaviors show divergence in wing morphology, Evolution, 2010, 64, 1018-102810.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.00946.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

[17] Davis A. K., Wing color of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in eastern North America across life stages: migrants are ‘redder’ than breeding and overwintering stages, Psyche, 2009, DOI: 10.1155/2009/70578010.1155/2009/705780Search in Google Scholar

[18] Davis A. K., Chi J., Bradley C. A., Altizer S., The redder the better: wing color predicts flight performance in monarch butterflies, PloS One, 2012, 7, e41323, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.004132310.1371/journal.pone.0041323Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

[19] Hanley D., Miller N. G., Flockhart D. T., Norris D. R., Forewing pigmentation predicts migration distance in wild-caught migratory monarch butterflies, Behav. Ecol., 2013, 24, 1108-111310.1093/beheco/art037Search in Google Scholar

[20] Bradley C. A., Altizer S., Parasites hinder monarch butterfly flight: implications for disease spread in migratory hosts, Ecol. Letters, 2005, 8, 290-300 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00722.xSearch in Google Scholar

[21] Sander S. E., Altizer S., De Roode J. C., Davis A. K., Genetic factors and host traits predict spore morphology for a butterfly pathogen, Insects, 2013, 4, 447-46210.3390/insects4030447Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

[22] Gibo D. L., McCurdy J. A., Lipid accumulation by monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.), Can. J. Zool., 1993, 71, 76-8210.1139/z93-012Search in Google Scholar

[23] Statistica 2003, Statistica version 6.1, Statsoft Inc.Search in Google Scholar

[24] Satterfield D. A., Wright A. E., Altizer S., Lipid reserves and immune defense in healthy and diseased migrating monarchs Danaus plexippus, Curr. Zool., 2013, 59, 393-40210.1093/czoolo/59.3.393Search in Google Scholar

[25] Flockhart D. T. T., Martin T. G., Norris D. R., Experimental examination of intraspecific density-dependent competition during the breeding period in monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), Plos One, 2012, 7, 810.1371/journal.pone.0045080Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

[26] Davis A. K., Farrey B., Altizer S., Variation in thermally-induced melanism in monarch butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from three North American populations, J. Therm. Biol., 2005, 30, 410-42110.1016/j.jtherbio.2005.04.003Search in Google Scholar

[27] Maggini I., Spina F., Voigt C. C., Ferri A., Bairlein F., Differential migration and body condition in Northern Wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) at a Mediterranean spring stopover site, J Ornithology, 2013, 154, 321-32810.1007/s10336-012-0896-1Search in Google Scholar

[28] Borland J., Johnson C. C., Crumpton III T. W., Thomas M., Altizer S., Oberhauser K., Characteristics of fall migratory monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, in Minnesota and Texas, In K. Oberhauser, M. Solensky [Eds.], The monarch butterfly, Biology and conservation, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2004, 97-104Search in Google Scholar

[29] McCord J. W., Davis A. K., Biological observations of monarch butterfly behavior at a migratory stopover site: results from a long-term tagging study in coastal South Carolina, J. Insect Behav., 2010, 23, 405-41810.1007/s10905-010-9224-xSearch in Google Scholar

[30] Calvert W. H., Brower L. P., The location of monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.) overwintering colonies in Mexico in relation to topography and climate, J Lepidopterists’ Soc., 1986, 40, 164-187Search in Google Scholar

[31] Howard E., Davis A. K., Tracking the fall migration of eastern monarchs with Journey North roost sightings: new findings about the pace of fall migration, In: K. Oberhauser, S. Altizer, K. Nail [Eds.], Monarchs in a changing world: Biology and conservation of an iconic insect, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, (in press)Search in Google Scholar

[32] Howard E., Aschen H., Davis A. K., Citizen science observations of monarch butterfly overwintering in the southern United States, Psyche, 2010, DOI: 10.1155/2010/689301 10.1155/2010/689301Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2013-11-18
Accepted: 2013-12-16
Published Online: 2014-04-24
Published in Print: 2015-01-01

© 2014 Dara A. Satterfield, Andrew K.Davis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Downloaded on 28.3.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2478/ami-2014-0001/html
Scroll to top button