Curvature measurement as a tool for the analysis of morphometric variation using Drosophila wings as a model

ABSTRACT

This article describes the use of geometric measurements of continuous, discrete parameters to studymorphometric variation in the wing cells of two sibling species, Drosophila mercatorum and Drosophilaparanaensis. To validate the results, the same wing samples were also analyzed using truss networks andpartial warps, in addition to a comparison with the ellipse method. The use of discriminative measurementsin conjunction with a Bayesian-based classification method yielded a relatively high number of correctclassifications for new individuals. These results compared favorably with those obtained using trussnetworks, partial warps and the ellipse method. These findings indicate that continuous curvature and arclength measurements may be useful parameters for the morphometric analysis of insect wings and possiblyother biological structures and shapes.