Colonization of a novel host plant reduces phenotypic variation

AbstractUnderstanding the evolutionary potential of populations –evolvability– is key to predicting their ability to cope with novel environments. Despite growing evidence that evolvability determines the tempo and mode of adaptation, it remains unclear how adaptations to novel environments influence evolvability in turn. Here we address the interplay between adaptation and evolvability in the peacock flyTephritis conura, which recently underwent an adaptive change in the length of female ovipositor following a host shift. By comparing evolvability in various morphological traits including female ovipositor length between ancestral and derived host races, we found that evolvability is decreased in females of the derived host race compared to the ancestral host race. We found a correlation between evolvability and divergence between populations in both sexes, indicating that the overall pattern of evolvability has not been disrupted by the host shift despite the reduction in females of the derived host race. Exploration of the pattern of phenotypic integration further revealed that the ovipositor length constitutes a module that is separated from other measured traits. These results suggest that adaptation to novel environments can affect evolvability, and that modularity helps minimizing detrimental effects that adaptations may cause to other correlated traits.