Data from: Genetic variation for thermal adaptation in a cosmopolitan stored product pest

Ectotherms’ ability to adapt to climate warming depends on the
availability of genetic variation. This is particularly important for
insect pests because adaptation to warming could lead to greater crop
damage and food shortages. We quantified genetic variation in the thermal
reaction norms of life history traits in the bean beetle Callosobruchus
maculatus, a stored product pest with a cosmopolitan distribution. We used
these data to measure genetic variation in fitness, as quantified by the
temperature response of the intrinsic growth rate. We find that the
maturation rate, a trait subject to strong biochemical control, exhibits
the least amount of genetic variation, while the birth rate, subject to
regulatory feedback processes, exhibits the greatest amount. As a result,
genetic variation in fitness is constrained by genetic variability in the
thermal reaction norm for maturation, suggesting that maturation may be
the key limiting factor in ectotherms' adaptation to climate warming.