The adaptive role of melanin plasticity in thermally variable environments

Understanding the evolution of adaptive plasticity is fundamental to our knowledge of how organisms interact with their environments and cope with environmental change. Plasticity in melanin pigmentation is common in response to variable environments, especially thermal environments. Yet, the adaptive significance of melanin plasticity in thermally variable environments is often assumed, but rarely explicitly tested. Furthermore, understanding the role of plasticity when a trait is responsive to multiple environmental stimuli and plays many functional roles remains poorly understood. We test the hypothesis that melanin plasticity is an adaptation for thermally variable environments using Hyles lineata, the white-lined sphinx moth, which shows plasticity in melanin pigmentation during the larval stage. Melanin pigmentation influences thermal traits in H. lineata, as melanic individuals had higher heating rates and reached higher body temperatures than non-melanic individuals. Importantly..., , , # Data from: The adaptive role of melanin plasticity in thermally variable environments

## Description of data

The data can be found in three files.

The first file, “Exp1_ThermalTraits.csv” contains the data used for the first experiment. Below is a description of all variables.

ID = individual larval label
Devo_Day = The developmental day that the individual was tested (with Day 0 being the day that the egg was laid). All individuals are in the 5th (final) instar.
Weight = Larval mass in grams
Melanism = Melanin level (max and min refer to melanic and non-melanic
Ambient = Ambient temperature under the light in degrees C
Initial_temp = Body temperature of the larva at minute 0 in degrees C
4 = Body temperature of the larva at minute 4 in degrees C
24 = Body temperature of the larva at minute 24 in degrees C
Rate_4 = Linear heating rate of larva over first 4 minutes ((4-Initial Temp) / 4) measured as degrees C/ minute
Rate_24 = Linear heating rate of larva over first 24 minutes ((2...