Data from: Ontogenetic thermal tolerance and performance of ectotherms at variable temperatures

Early experience and environmental conditions during ontogeny may effect
organismal structure, physiology and fitness. Here, we assessed the effect
of developmental acclimation to environmental thermal variability on
walking speed in Drosophila melanogaster adults. Our results showed a
shift in the performance curve to the right. Thus, upper and lower thermal
limits exhibited developmental plasticity. Additionally, in constant and
variable climatic scenarios, flies shifted to the right the optimum
temperature but the maximum performance decreased only in flies reared on
high temperatures and high thermal variability. Overall, we showed that
environmental cues during ontogeny might help to construct phenotypic
variation, which supports the hypothesis of ontogenetic dependence of
thermal tolerances.