DOES SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM VARY WITH FEMALE LENGTH IN FOREST MILLIPEDES CENTROBOLUS COOK, 1897?

Author Name: Mark Cooper

Volume/Issue: 02/12

Country: South Africa

DOI NO.: 08.2020-25662434 DOI Link: https://www.doi-ds.org/doilink/05.2022-69939779/UIJIR

Affiliation:

School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study were to determine what happened to Rensch’s Rule if Sexual Size Dimorphism (SSD) and body size changed with a morphological character. The female length was correlated with SSD in the volume of the forest millipede genus Centrobolus. There was a significant correlation between SSD in volume and female length (r=0.44, Z score=2.05, n=22, p=0.02). Morphological variance in the polygynandrous reproductive systems occurs where higher SSD equals longer females.

Key words: Dimorphic; females; gradient; length; morphology; size; species.