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Research Paper | Entomology | India | Volume 13 Issue 3, March 2024

Seasonal Adaptations of Body Color Morphs of Tropical Drosophila punjabiensis involve Plastic Changes in Stress Resistance Traits and Energy Metabolites

Meenu Yadav

Abstract: Despite numerous studies on body color polymorphism in diverse insect taxa, assessment of plastic responses to climatic stressors has received lesser attention. Drosophila punjabiensis is a sibling species of D. jambulina but its adaptive strategy is different to cope with environmental stressors. Field data on D. punjabiensis have shown simultaneous occurrence of dark and light morphs in colder as well as warmer seasons in the subtropical regions which seems inconsistent with thermal budget hypothesis. We investigated plastic changes in two cuticular traits (body melanisation and cuticular lipid mass); resistance to cold, heat and drought; and three energy metabolites (carbohydrates, total body lipids and proline) in laboratory reared dark and light body color morphs of D. punjabiensis. Developmental and adult acclimation (cold or drought acclimation and heat hardening) plastic responses were significantly higher for dark morph than light morphs. In the field, greater abundance of dark morph flies under colder climatic conditions seems consistent with its plasticity levels. In D. punjabiensis, occurrence of light morph under colder or drier environments seems compatible with its acclimation potential capacity. Dark and light body color morphs revealed compensatory plastic changes in the levels of three energy metabolites. Thus, in D. punjabiensis divergence of plastic responses of body color morphs to climatic stressors seem to have played a major role attaining its temperate as well as tropical locality.

Keywords: Plastic changes, seasonal, Body color, Drosophila punabiensis, Energy metabolites

Edition: Volume 13 Issue 3, March 2024,

Pages: 1374 - 1386