Isotopic fractionation with morphological change and sexual specificity in the lappet mothEuthrix potatoria

Abstract

The δ15N values of adult holometabolous insects exceed those of larvae, but otherwise little information on terrestrial invertebrates has been obtained in food-web analyses using stable isotope ratios (δ15N, δ13C). Changes in δ13C during metamorphosis and differences between males and females have not been examined. We collected the larvae and cocoons of Euthrix potatoria (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) in the field and used them to assess the species’ isotopic fractionation. Each emerged moth was divided into five body parts. We conducted stable N and C isotope analyses for each body part, as well as for cocoons and exuviae, and also compared stable isotope ratios between sexes. We confirmed δ15N enrichment through metamorphosis and estimated that δ15N enrichment is accomplished by the relative concentration of 15N due to the excretion of copious meconium, which contains abundant 14N. We also observed changes in δ13C values through metamorphosis. Both isotope values tended to change more in males than in females. The proportion of the whole-adult weight represented by meconium was higher in males than in females, suggesting that high meconium secretion in males contributes to the sexual difference in δ15N. These phenomena may be common in Holometabola, which require a pupal stage. For more accurate food-web assessments, it is important to consider stable isotope changes during different life cycles, as well as sexual differences.