Outline and landmark based geometric morphometric analysis in describing sexual dimorphism in wings of the white stem borer (Schirpophaga innotata Walker)

Many studies about wing morphology have been conducted in the field of entomology that aims to clarify the relationship in closelyrelated taxa and to identify different population within and between species. However, less has been reported that exploit wing shape morphologyto discriminate female and male population within species. Differences in wing morphology between sexes of the same species of insectsoften reflect disparity in flight performance and flight range which might be of considerable significance in the monitoring and control of pestspecies. This study was conducted to determine differences in flight morphology between sexes of the white stem borer (Schirpophaga innotaWalker) by looking at variation in the shapes of the entire wing and its compartments using the method of geometric morphometrics. The resultsshowed considerable variation in the forewings and hindwings between female and male specimen as shown in relative warp analysis.Discriminant function analysis and MANOVA also showed statistically significant wing shape variation between sexes demonstrating the presenceof sexual dimorphism within the species of white stem borers.