Traits_Data

The dataset contains morphological and biochemical information of insects (adult Amblystogenium pacificum) collected from a sub-Antarctic island (Possession Island, Crozet archipelago). ‘Dark’ (D-morphotype, i.e., of black coloration) and ‘Light’ insects (L-morphotype, i.e. of brown coloration) were samples along an altitudinal gradient: 12 insects of the 'dark' morphotype and 11 insects of the 'light' morphotype were sampled at 0 m asl, 12 ‘dark’' and 12 'light' insects at both 130 m and 300 m, 26 'dark' and 20 'light' insects at 600 m, and finally 13 'dark' and 9 ‘light' insects at 900 m asl. All specimens collected were preserved in 70% ethanol at -25 °C until being processed. Several morphological and physiological traits were measured for each collected individual. First, six size features were measured: interocular distance as a proxy of head size, length and width of the pronotum, length of the femur of the third left leg and length and width of the elytra. Each insect was then weighed (XP2U Mettler Toledo Balance, Columbus, OH, d = 0.1 μg), and its sex identified. Biochemical assays were performed to extract and quantify protein, sugar and lipid body contents. For all biochemical measurements, quantities were related to the dry body mass of each individual, and results are thus presented as Proteins/Mass, Sugars/Mass, Lipids/Mass.