Divergence and constraint in the thermal sensitivity of aquatic insect swimming performance

Environmental temperature variation may play a significant role in the adaptive evolutionary divergence of ectotherm thermal performance curves (TPCs). However, divergence in TPCs may also be constrained due to various causes. Here, we measured TPCs for swimming velocity of temperate and tropical mayflies (Family: Baetidae) and their stonefly predators (Family: Perlidae) from different elevations. We predicted that differences in seasonal climatic regimes would drive divergence in TPCs between temperate and tropical species. Stable tropical temperatures should favor the evolution of “specialists” that perform well across a narrow range of temperatures. Seasonally, variable temperatures in temperate zones, however, should favor “generalists” that perform well across a broad range of temperatures. In phylogenetically paired comparisons of mayflies and stoneflies, swimming speed was generally unaffected by experimental temperature and did not differ among populations between latitudes, suggesting a maintenance of performance breadth across elevation and latitude. An exception was found between temperate and tropical mayflies at low elevation where climatic differences between latitudes are large. In addition, TPCs did not differ between mayflies and their stonefly predators, except at tropical low elevation. Our results indicate that divergence in TPCs may be constrained in aquatic insects except under the most different thermal regimes, perhaps because of trade-offs that reduce thermal sensitivity and increase performance breadth.