Ecological, physiological, and evolutionary drivers of stoichiometry in insects
- 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- 2Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- 3Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Abstract
The elemental composition of organisms links physiology to biogeochemical cycles, yet the relative contributions of evolutionary divergence, ecology, and allometry to stoichiometric variation remain incompletely resolved. Here, we integrate a global insect stoichiometric database spanning 223 species with a comprehensive phylogenetic backbone to evaluate the relative importance of hypothesized ecophysiological drivers of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry within a multivariate framework. We found a strong phylogenetic signal in stoichiometric ratios and in P and N content, with evolutionary divergence (phylogenetic structure) accounting for approximately half of the explained variation in P-based ratios, exceeding the contribution of any individual ecological predictor. Phylogenetically corrected models recover trophic enrichment across successive trophic levels, consistent with previously documented patterns, and positive scaling between body mass and both C:P and N:P, in line with the general predictions of the Growth Rate Hypothesis. Temperature was the strongest ecological predictor of insect stoichiometry, with positive effects on C:P and N:P ratios and a negative effect on C:N, highlighting the thermal underpinnings of previously observed geographic patterns. Finally, our models recover higher P and lower C in terrestrial insects relative to their aquatic counterparts, contrary to classic expectations that invoke differences in structural constraints and autotrophic composition across habitats. Together, our work shows that variation in insect stoichiometry emerges from the interacting influences of evolutionary divergence and ecological and physiological variation, which can be disentangled through appropriately scaled, phylogenetically informed analyses.
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BibTeX
@article{laborieux2026ecological,
title = {{Ecological, physiological, and evolutionary drivers of stoichiometry in insects}},
author = {Léo Laborieux and Richard J. Knecht and William F. Fagan and Nathan J. Sanders and Anshuman Swain},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2537858123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2537858123},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ecological, physiological, and evolutionary drivers of stoichiometry in insects
AU - Léo Laborieux
AU - Richard J. Knecht
AU - William F. Fagan
AU - Nathan J. Sanders
AU - Anshuman Swain
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2537858123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2537858123
AB - The elemental composition of organisms links physiology to biogeochemical cycles, yet the relative contributions of evolutionary divergence, ecology, and allometry to stoichiometric variation remain incompletely resolved. Here, we integrate a global insect stoichiometric database spanning 223 species with a comprehensive phylogenetic backbone to evaluate the relative importance of hypothesized ecophysiological drivers of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry within a multivariate framework. We found a strong phylogenetic signal in stoichiometric ratios and in P and N content, with evolutionary divergence (phylogenetic structure) accounting for approximately half of the explained variation in P-based ratios, exceeding the contribution of any individual ecological predictor. Phylogenetically corrected models recover trophic enrichment across successive trophic levels, consistent with previously documented patterns, and positive scaling between body mass and both C:P and N:P, in line with the general predictions of the Growth Rate Hypothesis. Temperature was the strongest ecological predictor of insect stoichiometry, with positive effects on C:P and N:P ratios and a negative effect on C:N, highlighting the thermal underpinnings of previously observed geographic patterns. Finally, our models recover higher P and lower C in terrestrial insects relative to their aquatic counterparts, contrary to classic expectations that invoke differences in structural constraints and autotrophic composition across habitats. Together, our work shows that variation in insect stoichiometry emerges from the interacting influences of evolutionary divergence and ecological and physiological variation, which can be disentangled through appropriately scaled, phylogenetically informed analyses.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -