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Current Biology : CB Jul 2018Compared to other arthropods, such as crustaceans or insects, the term 'chelicerate' often does not evoke a similar sense of recognition or familiarity. Yet the...
Compared to other arthropods, such as crustaceans or insects, the term 'chelicerate' often does not evoke a similar sense of recognition or familiarity. Yet the subphylum Chelicerata has been encountered by every living person today, frequently to the effect of fear, awe, or outright revulsion. Chelicerates include such familiar groups as spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks, as well as an array of bizarre and unfamiliar forms, such as vinegaroons, camel spiders, and hooded tick spiders (Figure 1).
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Behavior, Animal; Biodiversity; Life History Traits; Phylogeny
PubMed: 30040933
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.036 -
Development (Cambridge, England) Sep 2019There is now compelling evidence that many arthropods pattern their segments using a clock-and-wavefront mechanism, analogous to that operating during vertebrate... (Review)
Review
There is now compelling evidence that many arthropods pattern their segments using a clock-and-wavefront mechanism, analogous to that operating during vertebrate somitogenesis. In this Review, we discuss how the arthropod segmentation clock generates a repeating sequence of pair-rule gene expression, and how this is converted into a segment-polarity pattern by 'timing factor' wavefronts associated with axial extension. We argue that the gene regulatory network that patterns segments may be relatively conserved, although the timing of segmentation varies widely, and double-segment periodicity appears to have evolved at least twice. Finally, we describe how the repeated evolution of a simultaneous (-like) mode of segmentation within holometabolan insects can be explained by heterochronic shifts in timing factor expression plus extensive pre-patterning of the pair-rule genes.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biological Evolution; Body Patterning; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 31554626
DOI: 10.1242/dev.170480 -
Cell May 2017The phytobiome is composed of plants, their environment, and diverse interacting microscopic and macroscopic organisms, which together influence plant health and... (Review)
Review
The phytobiome is composed of plants, their environment, and diverse interacting microscopic and macroscopic organisms, which together influence plant health and productivity. These organisms form complex networks that are established and regulated through nutrient cycling, competition, antagonism, and chemical communication mediated by a diverse array of signaling molecules. Integration of knowledge of signaling mechanisms with that of phytobiome members and their networks will lead to a new understanding of the fate and significance of these signals at the ecosystem level. Such an understanding could lead to new biological, chemical, and breeding strategies to improve crop health and productivity.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Ecosystem; Eukaryota; Nematoda; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 28475891
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.04.025 -
Learning & Behavior Sep 2020Effective communication is essential in animal life to allow fundamental behavioral processes and survival. Communicating by surface-borne vibrations is likely the most... (Review)
Review
Effective communication is essential in animal life to allow fundamental behavioral processes and survival. Communicating by surface-borne vibrations is likely the most ancient mode of getting and exchanging information in both invertebrates and vertebrates. In this review, we concentrate on the use of vibrational communication in arthropods as a form of intraspecific and interspecific signaling, with a focus on the newest discoveries from our research group in terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea), a taxon never investigated before in this context. After getting little attention in the past, biotremology is now an emerging field of study in animal communication, and it is receiving increased interest from the scientific community dealing with these behavioral processes. In what follows, we illustrate the general principles and mechanisms on which biotremology is based, using definitions, examples, and insights from the literature in arthropods. Vibrational communication in arthropods has mainly been studied in insects and arachnids. For these taxa, much evidence of its use as a source of information from the surrounding environment exists, as well as its involvement in many behavioral roles, such as courtship and mating, conspecific recognition, competition, foraging, parental care, and danger perception. Recently, and for the first time, communication through surface-borne waves has been studied in terrestrial isopods, using a common Mediterranean species of the Armadillidae family as a pilot species, Armadillo officinalis Duméril, 1816. Mainly, for this species, we describe typical behavioral processes, such as turn alternation, aggregation, and stridulation, where vibrational communication appears to be involved.
Topics: Animal Communication; Animals; Arthropods; Insecta; Isopoda; Vibration
PubMed: 32632754
DOI: 10.3758/s13420-020-00428-3 -
Journal of Comparative Physiology. A,... Mar 2023Representatives of arthropods, the largest animal phylum, occupy terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal, and subterranean niches. Their evolutionary success depends on specific...
Representatives of arthropods, the largest animal phylum, occupy terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal, and subterranean niches. Their evolutionary success depends on specific morphological and biomechanical adaptations related to their materials and structures. Biologists and engineers have become increasingly interested in exploring these natural solutions to understand relationships between structures, materials, and their functions in living organisms. The aim of this special issue is to present the state-of-the-art research in this interdisciplinary field using modern methodology, such as imaging techniques, mechanical testing, movement capture, and numerical modeling. It contains nine original research reports covering diverse topics, including flight, locomotion, and attachment of the arthropods. The research achievements are essential not only to understand ecological adaptations, and evolutionary and behavioral traits, but also to drive prominent advances for engineering from exploitation of numerous biomimetic ideas.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biomechanical Phenomena; Locomotion; Biological Evolution; Acclimatization
PubMed: 36813948
DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01621-1 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Oct 2022Colour constancy is the ability to recognize the colour of objects despite spectral changes in the natural illumination. As such, this phenomenon is important for most... (Review)
Review
Colour constancy is the ability to recognize the colour of objects despite spectral changes in the natural illumination. As such, this phenomenon is important for most organisms with good colour vision, and it has been intensively studied in humans and primates. Colour constancy is also documented for several species of insects, which is not surprising given the ecological importance of colour vision. But how do insects, with their small brains, solve the complex problem of colour vision and colour constancy? In an interspecies approach, this review reports on behavioural studies on colour constancy in bees, butterflies, moths and humans, corresponding computational models and possible neurophysiological correlates. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
Topics: Animals; Bees; Butterflies; Color; Color Perception; Color Vision; Humans; Insecta
PubMed: 36058239
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0286 -
Viruses Mar 2022Arthropod-borne viruses (Arbovirus) is an ecological term defining viruses that are maintained in nature through biological transmission between a susceptible vertebrate...
Arthropod-borne viruses (Arbovirus) is an ecological term defining viruses that are maintained in nature through biological transmission between a susceptible vertebrate host and a hematophagous arthropod such as a mosquito [...].
Topics: Animals; Arbovirus Infections; Arboviruses; Arthropods; Culicidae; Vertebrates
PubMed: 35337052
DOI: 10.3390/v14030645 -
The Plant Journal : For Cell and... Feb 2018Herbivorous arthropods have interacted with plants for millions of years. During feeding they release chemical cues that allow plants to detect the attack and mount an... (Review)
Review
Herbivorous arthropods have interacted with plants for millions of years. During feeding they release chemical cues that allow plants to detect the attack and mount an efficient defense response. A signaling cascade triggers the expression of hundreds of genes, which encode defensive proteins and enzymes for synthesis of toxic metabolites. This direct defense is often complemented by emission of volatiles that attract beneficial parasitoids. In return, arthropods have evolved strategies to interfere with plant defenses, either by producing effectors to inhibit detection and downstream signaling steps, or by adapting to their detrimental effect. In this review, we address the current knowledge on the molecular and chemical dialog between plants and herbivores, with an emphasis on co-evolutionary aspects.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biological Evolution; Herbivory; Insecta; Phytoplasma; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plant Proteins; Plants; Receptors, Pattern Recognition
PubMed: 29160609
DOI: 10.1111/tpj.13773 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Oct 2022Insects are an astonishingly successful and diverse group, occupying the gamut of habitats and lifestyle niches. They represent the vast majority of described species... (Review)
Review
Insects are an astonishingly successful and diverse group, occupying the gamut of habitats and lifestyle niches. They represent the vast majority of described species and total terrestrial animal biomass on the planet. Their success is in part owed to their sophisticated visual systems, including colour vision, which drive a variety of complex behaviours. However, the majority of research on insect vision has focused on only a few model organisms including flies, honeybees and butterflies. Especially understudied are phytophagous insects, such as diminutive thrips (Thysanoptera), in spite of their damage to agriculture. Thrips display robust yet variable colour-specific responses despite their miniaturized eyes, but little is known about the physiological and ecological basis of their visual systems. Here, we review the known visual behavioural information about thrips and the few physiological studies regarding their eyes. Eye structure, spectral sensitivity, opsin genes and the presence of putative colour filters in certain ommatidia strongly imply dynamic visual capabilities. Finally, we discuss the major gaps in knowledge that remain for a better understanding of the visual system of thrips and why bridging these gaps is important for expanding new possibilities for applied pest management strategies for these tiny insects. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
Topics: Animals; Butterflies; Color Vision; Diptera; Insecta; Thysanoptera
PubMed: 36058245
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0282 -
Current Biology : CB Oct 2021Insects comprise over half of all described animal species. Together with the Protura (coneheads), Collembola (springtails) and Diplura (two-pronged bristletails),... (Review)
Review
Insects comprise over half of all described animal species. Together with the Protura (coneheads), Collembola (springtails) and Diplura (two-pronged bristletails), insects form the Hexapoda, a terrestrial arthropod lineage characterised by possessing six legs. Exponential growth of genome-scale data for the hexapods has substantially altered our understanding of the origin and evolution of insect biodiversity. Phylogenomics has provided a new framework for reconstructing insect evolutionary history, resolving their position among the arthropods and some long-standing internal controversies such as the placement of the termites, twisted-winged insects, lice and fleas. However, despite the greatly increased size of phylogenomic datasets, contentious relationships among key insect clades remain unresolved. Further advances in insect phylogeny cannot rely on increased depth and breadth of genome and taxon sequencing. Improved modelling of the substitution process is fundamental to countering tree-reconstruction artefacts, while gene content, modelling of duplications and deletions, and comparative morphology all provide complementary lines of evidence to test hypotheses emerging from the analysis of sequence data. Finally, the integration of molecular and morphological data is key to the incorporation of fossil species within insect phylogeny. The emerging integrated framework of insect evolution will help explain the origins of insect megadiversity in terms of the evolution of their body plan, species diversity and ecology. Future studies of insect phylogeny should build upon an experimental, hypothesis-driven approach where the robustness of hypotheses generated is tested against increasingly realistic evolutionary models as well as complementary sources of phylogenetic evidence.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biodiversity; Evolution, Molecular; Fossils; Insecta; Phylogeny
PubMed: 34637741
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.057