Data from: A case for a joint strategy of diversified bet hedging and plasticity in the pea aphid wing polyphenism

Phenotypic plasticity and diversified bet hedging are strategies for coping with variable environments. Plasticity is favoured when an organism can predict future conditions using environmental cues, while bet hedging is favoured when predictive cues are not available. Theoretical analyses suggest that many organisms should use a mixture of both strategies, because environments often present both scenarios. Here, we examine if the pea aphid wing polyphenism, a well-known case of plasticity, is potentially a mixture of plasticity and bet hedging. In this polyphenism, asexual females produce more winged offspring in crowded conditions, and wingless offspring in uncrowded conditions. We find that pea aphids use plasticity to respond to crowding and we find considerable genetic variation for this response. We further show that individual aphids produce both winged and wingless offspring, consistent with the variability expected in a bet hedging trait. We conclude that the pea aphid wing polyphenism system is probably a mixture of plasticity and bet hedging. Our study adds to a limited list of empirical studies examining mixed strategy usage, and suggests that mixed strategies may be common in dispersal traits.

表型可塑性（phenotypic plasticity）与多样化避险策略（diversified bet hedging）是生物体应对多变环境的两类生存策略。当生物体可通过环境信号预测未来环境条件时，自然选择更青睐表型可塑性；而当无法获取有效预测信号时，则更倾向于采用多样化避险策略。理论分析表明，由于环境往往同时兼具这两种情境，多数生物体应同时采用这两类策略。本研究以广为人知的表型可塑性案例——豌豆蚜翅多型现象为研究对象，探究其是否同时兼具表型可塑性与多样化避险策略。在该翅多型系统中，无性生殖雌蚜在拥挤环境下会产生更多有翅后代，而非拥挤环境下则以无翅后代为主。研究发现，豌豆蚜确实通过表型可塑性响应拥挤环境，且该响应存在显著的遗传变异。进一步研究表明，单只蚜虫可同时产生有翅与无翅后代，这与多样化避险策略性状的预期变异模式相符。综上，豌豆蚜翅多型系统大概率同时兼具表型可塑性与多样化避险策略。本研究丰富了当前为数不多的混合策略使用实证研究案例，并提示混合策略可能广泛存在于扩散相关性状中。