Thermal plasticity in protective wing pigmentation is modulated by genotype and food availability in an insect model of seasonal polyphenism

Phenotypic variation in natural populations results from complex interactions between organisms and their changing environments. The environment shapes both phenotypic frequencies (during adaptation) and organismal phenotypes (through phenotypic plasticity). Developmental plasticity, in particular, refers to the phenomenon whereby an organism’s phenotype depends on the environmental conditions during development. It can match phenotype to ecological conditions and help organisms to cope with environmental heterogeneity, including differences between alternating seasons. Experimental studies of developmental plasticity often focus on the impact of individual environmental cues and do not take explicit account of genetic variation. In contrast, natural environments are complex, comprising multiple variables with combined effects that are poorly understood and may vary among genotypes. We investigated the effects of multifactorial environments on the development of the seasonally plastic e..., For this study we used B. anynana specimens from a previous full-factorial split-brood experiment (doi: 10.1002/ece3.718) examining variation in various life-history traits in relation to two thermal environments, two nutritional treatments, and 28 families (corresponding to different genotypes). An image of one wing of each individual was analysed with custom Mathematica notebooks that allowed the definition and measurement of a wing transect, which we used as a proxy for wing size, and of the diameter of the eyespot included in that transect, which we used as our measurement of eyespot size. We tested the effects of genotype, temperature, and nutrition, as well as interactions between them on eyespot size, with wing size as covariate. We also calculated and analysed the slopes of the thermal and nutritional reaction norms for eyespot size. More details can be found in the Materials and Methods section of the paper these data correspond to., , # Thermal plasticity in protective wing pigmentation is modulated by genotype and food availability in an insect model of seasonal polyphenism.

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.stqjq2cb8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.stqjq2cb8)

## Description of the data and file structure

Our experimental animals include female and male progeny (variable “sex” with F or M, respectively) from 28 families (variable “genotype” with identification number of the family) reared at one of two temperatures (variable “temperature” with 20 or 27 corresponding to 20°C or 27°C, respectively) and one of two food quantity treatments (variable “nutrition” with “control” or “limited”). An image of one wing of each individual was analyzed with custom Mathematica notebooks that allowed the definition and measurement of a wing transect, which we used as a proxy for wing size, and of the diameter of the eyespot included in that transect, which we used as our measurement of eyespot size. Measurements were obtained as num...