TY - JOUR T1 - Quantifying wing shape and size of saturniid moths with geometric morphometrics JF - Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society Y1 - 2016 A1 - Zhong, M. A1 - Hill, G.A. A1 - Gomez, J.P. A1 - Plotkin, D. A1 - Barber, J.R. A1 - Kawahara, A.Y. SP - 99 EP - 107 KW - GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRICS KW - LANDMARKS KW - MORPHOMETRICS KW - PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS KW - PROCRUSTES ANALYSIS KW - SATURNIIDAE KW - WING LENGTH KW - WING SHAPE AB -

"Butterflies and moths exhibit a spectacular diversity of wing shape and size. The extent of wing variation is particularly evident in wild silk moths (Saturniidae), which have large wing shape and size variation. Some species have jagged wing margins, rounded forewing apical lobes, or narrow hind wings with long tails, while others lack these traits entirely. Surprisingly, very little work has been done to formally quantify wing variation within the family. We analyzed the hind wing shape and size of 76 saturniid species representing 52 genera across five subfamilies using geometric morphometrics. We identified fifteen landmarks that we predict can be applied to families across Lepidoptera. PCA analyses grouped saturniid hind wings into six distinct morphological clusters. These groups did not appear to follow species relatedness—some phylogenetically and genetically distantly related taxa clustered in the same morphological group. We discuss  ecological factors that might have led to the extraordinary wing variation within Saturniidae."

VL - 70 IS - 2 ER -