Length-weight relationships of moths along the elevational gradient of three mountains across southern South Korea

Abstract

Organism size significantly influences various aspects of physiology and ecology. In insects, body size can be assessed using parameters such as wing length, thorax width, abdomen length, and body weight. Among Lepidoptera, wing length is a commonly used metric for measuring body size, although obtaining data on body weight can be challenging. The relationship between wing length and body weight of moths was examined based on the samples collected from three mountain areas in southern Korea, Mt. Hallasan (HL), Mt. Jirisan (JR), and Mt. Seungdalsan (MN) from June to October 2020. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between wing length and body weight and whether this relationship varied at the moth families and study sites. In addition, we investigated whether the body size depended on the elevation. We collected a total of 366 species and 1,356 individual moths across 17 families. The regression power for the combined taxa across all areas was 3.05 (±0.05 S.E.) and the regression power was high on the island mountain and this increased as the elevation rose. No significant association across the three mountains between body size and elevation, while the species-rich families such as Geometridae, Noctuidae, and Notodondidae showed different relationships across mountains.