Collaborative Research: Deconstructing the temperature-size rule: an integration of mechanistic and selection analyses

生物学中最常见的表型可塑性模式之一是温度-尺寸规则：许多在较高环境温度下长大的昆虫、爬行动物、两栖动物和其他生物成年后体型较小。这种模式是一种适应吗？温度越高，越小越好吗？还是温度对生理和发育影响的必然结果？最近对烟草角虫和进口卷心菜虫这两种农业害虫的研究表明，幼虫（毛虫）的营养和快速进化都可以逆转温度-尺寸规则，导致在更高的饲养温度下长成更大的成虫。这些例外提供了一个独特的机会来理解发育机制和这种广泛的表型可塑性模式的选择原因。这些研究将实验室和野外实验与数学模型结合起来，探索幼虫的营养、氧气限制、激素调节和天敌（捕食者和拟寄生物）如何相互作用，以产生温度-尺寸规则及其例外。这些研究将为植物质量、气候和季节天气如何相互作用决定烟草角虫和进口卷心菜虫这两种美国重要的农业害虫的体型和生态成功提供新的机制和进化理解。为北卡罗来纳大学和杜克大学的本科生和研究生提供研究和培训机会，并通过公共电视台、北卡罗来纳生命与科学博物馆和旧金山探索馆进行宣传，这些都是该项目的组成部分。此外，还将开展一项针对进口卷心菜虫（即卷心菜白蝴蝶）的公民科学计划，该计划将涉及北卡罗来纳州和其他州的社区园丁和有机农民。

One of the most common patterns of phenotypic plasticity in biology is the Temperature-Size Rule: many insects, reptiles, amphibians and other organisms raised at higher environmental temperatures are smaller as adults. Is this pattern an adaptation?is smaller better at higher temperatures?or an inevitable consequence of the effects of temperature on physiology and development? Recent studies with two agricultural pests, Tobacco Hornworms and Imported Cabbageworms, show that both larval (caterpillar) nutrition and rapid evolution can reverse the Temperature-Size Rule, leading to larger adults at higher rearing temperatures. These exceptions to the rule provide a unique opportunity to understand the developmental mechanisms and selective causes of this widespread pattern of phenotypic plasticity. The proposed studies integrate laboratory and field experiments with mathematical models to explore how larval nutrition, oxygen limitation, hormonal regulation, and natural enemies (predators and parasitoids) interact to generate the Temperature-Size Rule and its exceptions. These studies will provide a new mechanistic and evolutionary understanding of how plant quality, climate and seasonal weather interact to determine body size and ecological success in Tobacco Hornworms and Imported Cabbageworms, two important agricultural pests in the US. Research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at UNC and Duke, and outreach via Public Television, the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, and the San Francisco Exploratorium, are integral components of the project. In addition, a citizen science program for Imported Cabbageworms (i.e., Cabbage White Butterflies) will be developed that involves community gardeners and organic farmers in North Carolina and other states.