Effects of shape variations on the energy metabolism of the sand cricket Gryllus firmus: a geometric morphometric analysis

Respiration and energy metabolism are key processes in animals, which are severely constrained by the design of physical structures, such as respiratory structures. Insects have very particular respiratory systems, based on gas diffusion across tracheae. Since the efficiency of the tracheal respiratory system is highly dependent on body shape, the pattern of morphological variation during ontogeny could have important metabolic consequences. We studied this problem combining through-flow respirometry and geometric morphometrics in 88 nymphs of the sand cricket, Gryllus firmus. After measuring production in each individual, we took digital photographs and defined eight landmarks for geometric morphometric analysis. The analysis suggested that ontogenic deformations were mostly related to enlargement of the abdomen, compared to thorax and head. We found that (controlling for body size) metabolic variables and especially resting metabolism are positively correlated with a shape-component associated to an elongation of the abdomen. Our results are in agreement with the mechanics of tracheal ventilation in orthopterans, as gas circulation occurs by changes in abdominal pressures due to abdominal contractions and expansions along the longitudinal axis.

Quantitative genetic variation of metabolism in the nymphs of the sand cricket, Gryllus firmus, inferred from an analysis of inbred-lines

Compared with morphological and life history traits, quantitative genetic variation of metabolic and related traits in animals has been poorly studied. We used flow-through VC0(2) respirometry and simultaneous activity measurement on nymphs of the sand cricket {Gryllus firmus) from inbred lines to estimate broad-sense heritability of four metabolic variables. In addition, we measured a number of linear dimensions in the adults from the same inbred lines. There were significant multivariate effects of inbred lines for all traits and broad-sense heritability for physiological traits was 4.5 percent, 5.2 percent, 10.3 percent and 8.5 percent for average, resting, minimum and maximum C0(2) production in nymphs, respectively. Though the MANOVA indicated significant genetic variation among inbred lines in adult morphology, the broad-sense heritabilities were relatively low ranging from 0-18 percent. Our results indicate that the heritabilities of metabolic measures are large enough to potentially respond to selection.

New invariants and dimensionless numbers: futile renaissance of old fallacies?

The necessity of the mathematical description of living processes and the recent advances in theoretical syntheses that fit surprisingly well with real data have led many scientists to experiment with new "generalizations," beginning with allometric equations. I present here, briefly, why caution is needed when allometric equations are multiplied or divided to make new ones. This practice is flawed by old and recognized problems, such as the fallacy of averages combined with misunderstandings that include error propagation, misuse of statistics and confounding scale.