Allometric growth in Anacroneuria Klapálek 1909 nymphs (Plecoptera Perlidae)

Changes in the form of an organism are often simple automatic consequences of differences in the intrinsic growth rate of different body parts. Allometry has attracted growing interest in recent years, in part because the study of growth patterns illuminates not only metric relationships but also important biological processes. In this study we examined differences in the ratios among total body length, abdomen length and head capsule width in Anacroneuria Klapálek 1909 nymphs (Plecoptera Perlidae). While the relationship between body length and head capsule width is linear and isometric, the relationship between body and abdomen lengths is exponential and allometric: larger nymphs have relatively larger abdomens. We hypothesize that energetic and reproductive constraints are the basis of this allometric development.