Analysis of modularity and integration suggests evolution of dragonfly wing venation mainly in response to functional demands

Insect wings show a high variability in wing venation. Selection for function, developmental pathways and phylogeny likely influenced wing vein diversification, however, quantitative data to estimate these influences and their interplay are missing. Here, it is tested how dragonfly wing vein configuration is influenced by functional demands, development, phylogeny and allometry using the concepts of modularity and integration. In an evolutionary context, modules are sets of characters that evolve in relative independence to other characters, while integration refers to a high degree of association between subparts of a structure. Results show allometric and phylogenetic signal in the wing shape variation, however, patterns of integration and modularity are not influenced by these two factors. Overall, dragonfly wings are highly integrated structures with almost no modular signal. Configuration changes in one wing vein or wing area thus influence wing shape as a whole. Moreover, the fore- and hindwings correlate with each other in their evolutionary shape variation supporting biomechanical data of wing interdependence. Despite the overall high degree of evolutionary integration, functional hypotheses of modularity could be confirmed for two wing areas, the arculus–triangle complex at the base of the wing which is responsible for passive wing folding especially during flapping flight and the location of the pterostigma, a coloured wing cell which is more heavy that other wing cells and passively regulates wing pitch as well as critical flight speeds during gliding. Although evolving as distinct modules, these specific vein regions also show high integration and evolve at the same rates like the whole wing which suggests an influence of these structures on the shape evolution of the rest of the wing. Their biomechanical role as passive regulators of wing corrugation and wing pitch suggests that these structures decisively influenced the evolution of advanced modern flight styles and explains their retention once they had evolved early within the lineage Odonatoptera.