Surface area-volume ratios in insects

作     者：Sara Kuhsel Adrian Bruckner Sebastian Schmelzle Michael Heethoff Nico Bluthgen 

作者机构：Department of Biology Technische Universitat Darmstadt Schnittspahnstrasse 3 D-64287 Darmstadt Germany 

出 版 物：《Insect Science》 (昆虫科学（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2017年第24卷第5期

页      面：829-841页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 0830[工学-环境科学与工程（可授工学、理学、农学学位）] 081702[工学-化学工艺] 07[理学] 08[工学] 0817[工学-化学工程与技术] 0904[农学-植物保护] 0901[农学-作物学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：funded by the DFG Priority Program 1374 “Infrastructure-Biodiversity-Exploratories” supported by a scholarship for undergraduate students provided by the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) the BMBF-project ASTOR 

主　　题：body size body shape 3D surface imaging sphericity structured light water loss 

摘      要：Body mass, volume and surface area are important for many aspects of the physiology and performance of species. Whereas body mass scaling received a lot of attention in the literature, surface areas of animals have not been measured explicitly in this context. We quantified surface area-volume （SA/V） ratios for the first time using 3D surface models based on a structured light scanning method for 126 species of pollinating insects from 4 orders （Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera）. Water loss of 67 species was measured gravimetrically at very dry conditions for 2 h at 15 and 30 ℃ to demonstrate the applicability of the new 3D surface measurements and relevance for predicting the performance of insects. Quantified SA/V ratios significantly explained the variation in water loss across species, both directly or after accounting for isometric scaling （residuals of the SA/V - mass2/3 relationship）. Small insects with a proportionally larger surface area had the highest water loss rates. Surface scans of insects to quantify allometric SA/Vratios thus provide a promising method to predict physiological responses, improving the potential of body mass isometry alone that assume geometric similarity.