Control of Fecundity in Pieris rapae. IV. Patterns of Variation and Their Ecological Consequences

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Abstract
(1) This paper matches the genetic variation with a natural population to its ecological consequences. (2) Selection experiments show that the variation affecting development and growth is not random. Instead, individual genotypes vary only within fixed patterns. So there is a level of population organization which transcends the individual. (3) The patterns of variation match the ecological requirements of the local population. (4) There is only one pattern of variation for larval development, although two are possible. The amount of variation is greatest at low field temperatures, when larval survival is unpredictable. In consequence, some larvae always survive. (5) There is only one pattern of variation for pupal weight (and consequently for adult size and fecundity) at constant larval timing, although two are possible. This variation is an essential part of the mechanism which controls average fecundity.