Body size variation and sexual size dimorphism in Pterostichus montanus Motsch. (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in altitude gradient
R. A. SUKHODOLSKAYA1, T. L. ANANINA2,3, A. A. SAVELIEV4
1The Institute of Problems in Ecology and Mineral Wealth, Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, Kazan, Russia
2FGBU Zapovednoe Podlemorye, Ulan-Ude, Russia
3Institute of General and Experimental Biology of SB RAS, Ulan-Ude, Russia
4Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia
Keywords: body size variation, sexual size dimorphism, altitude gradient, ground beetles, Pterostichus montanus, RMA II
Abstract
We sampled ground beetles Pterostichus montanus in 1988-2014 at different altitude plots of Barguzin ridge (N 54°30′; E 109°50′) - the coast (500 m a. s. l.), low mountains - 720 m, middle mountains - 1004 m and high mountains - 1667 m. Morphological measurements included six traits - the length and the width of elytra, pronotum and head in males and females separately. Sample size was 968 individuals. Altitude and sex affected significantly beetles size: the latter was smallest at the coast, at the other altitudes beetles did not differ in size. Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was female-biased and its value was the highest in elytra and head width. Mean values of SSD by all six traits were the lowest on the low mountains populations. Reduced regression models coefficients were positive in all cases. Then body size variation in males and females had similar direction at all altitudes. But Intercepts were negative in majority of cases and linear regression coefficients more than 1. Thus, males were more sensitive to environment impact practically by all traits.
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