Developmental instability in sexually reproducing and parthenogenetic populations of Bacillus rossius rossius and Bacillus rossius redtenbacheri

Developmental instability, estimated by fluctuating asymmetry and morphological variance, was investigated in sexually reproducing and parthenogenetic populations of Bacillus rossius rossius and Bacillus rossius redtenbacheri. Fluctuating asymmetry was significantly higher in parthenogenetic females than amphigonic females in both sub-species. It was also higher in males and parthenogenetic females of the sub-species redtenbacheri than in males and parthenogenetic females of the sub-species rossius. When we compared fluctuating asymmetry between males and females in amphigonic populations within each sub-species, we found no significant differences with one exception: the antenna showed higher fluctuating asymmetry in males than in females in both sub-species. There was a higher morphological variance in parthenogenetic females of the sub-species rossius than in parthenogenetic females of the subspecies redtenbacheri, whereas no significant differences were found between the amphigonic females of the two sub-species. In both sub-species, there was evidence for higher morphological variance in amphigonic than parthenogenetic females. When Lerner's conjecture was tested, fluctuating asymmetry was not significantly higher in individuals with a body size more than one standard deviation from the mean of the size distribution.