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. 2022 Apr 23;13(5):405.
doi: 10.3390/insects13050405.

Wing Phenotypic Variation among Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) Populations in Thailand

Tanawat Chaiphongpachara  1 , Gerard Duvallet  2 , Tanasak Changbunjong  3   4
Affiliations

Wing Phenotypic Variation among Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) Populations in Thailand

Tanawat Chaiphongpachara et al. Insects. .

Abstract

Stomoxys calcitrans (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Muscidae) is a cosmopolitan hematophagous ectoparasite of veterinary and medical importance. It is an important mechanical vector of several animal pathogens and can cause significant economic losses. However, the morphological variation of this species remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the phenotypic variation in the wing size and shape of S. calcitrans populations in Thailand based on a landmark-based geometric morphometric approach. Specimens were collected from five populations in five geographical regions in Thailand. A total of 490 left wings of S. calcitrans (245 female and 245 male individuals) were used for geometric morphometric analysis. Wing size differences were detected between some populations of S. calcitrans, whereas wing shape differences were found among populations. Therefore, the phenotypic variation in S. calcitrans populations indicated that these populations are adaptive responses to local environmental pressures, suggesting the presence of phenotypic plasticity in this species.

Keywords: Stomoxys calcitrans; Thailand; geometric morphometrics; phenotype; stable fly.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of S. calcitrans populations in Thailand: Mae Hong Son (1), Nakhon Ratchasima (2), Nakhon Pathom (3), Kanchanaburi (4), and Songkhla (5).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ten anatomical landmarks selected from the left wing to estimate the phenotypic variation of S. calcitrans based on landmark-based geometric morphometric analysis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Linear regression between wing size (CS) and shape (DF) of female (top) and male (bottom) S. calcitrans. Orange dotted lines indicate linear regression prediction.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Quantile boxes of wing CS variations of male and female S. calcitrans populations. The horizontal line crossing each box is the median separating the 25th and 75th quartiles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Superposition of the aligned mean anatomical landmark positions of female (top) and male (bottom) S. calcitrans populations. Enlarged images in small frames showed the parts of wing construction where variation occurred.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Factor maps based on discriminant analysis in wing shape variation of female (top) and male (bottom) S. calcitrans populations. Each point in a polygon represents an individual wing sample, and small squares in a polygon represent the position of the mean group. The horizontal axis was the first DF (DF1), whereas the vertical axis was the second DF (DF2).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Hierarchical clustering tree based on Mahalanobis distances of female and male S. calcitrans populations. Numbers at the nodes indicate the percentages of bootstrap values based on 1000 bootstraps.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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