Data from 'Convergent patterns of body size variation in distinct parasite taxa with convergent life cycles'

Aim: Interspecific variation among metazoans often follows a latitudinal pattern, with species at higher latitudes being larger-bodied than related species from lower latitudes (Bergmann’s rule). For parasitic species, body sizes within any higher taxon often correlate with the body sizes of their hosts (Harrison’s rule). Whether temperature-driven latitudinal effects or host-driven resource constraints act independently or additively to shape interspecific variation in parasite body sizes remains unknown. We use a comparative approach to test the effects of latitude and host body size on parasite body sizes in two taxa of parasitic worms showing convergent life cycles.

Location: Global.

Time period: Contemporary.

Major taxa studied: Hairworms (Nematomorpha) and mermithids (Nematoda) parasitic in arthropods.

Methods: With 223 records for mermithids and 258 for nematomorphs worldwide, we used linear mixed effects models to test the effects of latitude and host body size on pa...