Journal
INSECT SCIENCE
Volume 24, Issue 5, Pages 829-841Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12362
Keywords
body size; body shape; 3D surface imaging; sphericity; structured light; water loss
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Funding
- DFG Priority Program [1374, BL 960 2-1]
- German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
- BMBF-project ASTOR [05K13VTA]
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Body mass, volume and surface area are important for many aspects of the physiology and performance of species. Whereas body mass scaling received a lot of attention in the literature, surface areas of animals have not been measured explicitly in this context. We quantified surface area-volume (SA/V) ratios for the first time using 3D surface models based on a structured light scanning method for 126 species of pollinating insects from 4 orders (Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera). Water loss of 67 species was measured gravimetrically at very dry conditions for 2 h at 15 and 30 degrees C to demonstrate the applicability of the new 3D surface measurements and relevance for predicting the performance of insects. Quantified SA/V ratios significantly explained the variation in water loss across species, both directly or after accounting for isometric scaling (residuals of the SA/V approximate to mass(2/3) relationship). Small insects with a proportionally larger surface area had the highest water loss rates. Surface scans of insects to quantify allometric SA/V ratios thus provide a promising method to predict physiological responses, improving the potential of body mass isometry alone that assume geometric similarity.
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