scholarly journals Coloration using higher order optical interference in the wing pattern of the Madagascan sunset moth

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (21) ◽  
pp. 457-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Yoshioka ◽  
T Nakano ◽  
Y Nozue ◽  
S Kinoshita

Colour patterns of animals' bodies are usually produced by the spatial distribution of pigments with different colours. However, some animals use the spatial variation of colour-producing microstructures. We have studied one distinctive example of such structurally produced colour patterns, the wing of the Madagascan sunset moth, to clarify the physical rules that underlie the colour variation. It is known that the iridescent wing scale of the sunset moth has the alternate air–cuticle multilayer structure that causes optical interference. The microscopic and optical investigations of various parts of the wing have confirmed that the thickness of the cuticle layers within the scale largely varies to produce the colour pattern. However, it varies in very different ways between the dorsal and ventral sides of the hind wing; the thickness gradually varies on the dorsal side from scale to scale, while the abrupt changes are found on the ventral side to form distinctive borders between differently coloured areas. It is also revealed that an unusual coloration mechanism is involved in the green part of the ventral hind wing: the colour is caused by higher order optical interference of the highly non-ideal multilayer structure. The physical mechanism of the colour pattern formation is briefly discussed with the several mathematical models proposed so far.

Development ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-203
Author(s):  
H. F. Nijhout

Cautery of the dorsal hind wing in the butterfly, Precis coenia, induces the formation of a concentric colour pattern around the site of injury. The induced pattern is identical in pigmentation to the eyespots that normally develop on this wing surface. This response to cautery also occurs, though much less dramatically, on the ventral forewing. In addition to the peculiar response to cautery, the dorsal hindwing of Precis also develops a series of unique pattern aberrations in response to coldshock. These consist of irregular elongation of the anterior eyespot along the proximodistal axis of the wing. In the most dramatic aberrations the eyespot field covers the entire anterior half of the wing surface. An analysis is presented that attempts to reconcile the effects of cautery on the Precis hindwing with the very different morphological effects of cautery on the colour pattern of Ephestia kühniella, described by Kühn & Von Engelhardt. Computer simulations reveal that the finding presented in this paper, as well as the classical work on Ephestia, can both be explained by assuming that the site of cautery becomes a sink for one of the morphogens involved in colour pattern determination. The experimental findings furthermore indicate that minor perturbations of the wing epidermis can evoke the physiological conditions that attend normal eyespot determination. It is shown that this interpretation also helps to explain the unusual pattern modifications following coldshock.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Llaurens ◽  
Y Le Poul ◽  
A Puissant ◽  
C Noûs ◽  
P Blandin ◽  
...  

AbstractSpecies interactions such as mimicry can promote trait convergence but disentangling this effect from those of shared ecology, evolutionary history and niche conservatism is often challenging. Here by focusing on wing color pattern variation within and between three butterfly species living in sympatry in a large proportion of their range, we tested the effect of species interactions on trait diversification. These butterflies display a conspicuous iridescent blue coloration on the dorsal side of their wings and a cryptic brownish colour on the ventral side. Combined with an erratic and fast flight, these color patterns increase the difficulty of capture by predators and contribute to the high escape abilities of these butterflies. We hypothesize that, beyond their direct contribution to predator escape, these wing patterns can be used as signals of escape abilities by predators, resulting in positive frequency-dependent selection favouring convergence in wing pattern in sympatry. To test this hypothesis, we quantified dorsal wing pattern variations of 723 butterflies from the three species sampled throughout their distribution, including sympatric and allopatric situations and compared the phenotypic distances between species, sex and localities. We detected a significant effect of localities on colour pattern, and higher inter-specific resemblance in sympatry as compared to allopatry, consistent with the hypothesis of local convergence of wing patterns. Our results provide some support to the existence of escape mimicry in the wild and stress the importance of estimating trait variation within species to understand trait variation between species, and to a larger extent, trait diversification at the macro-evolutionary scale.


Author(s):  
Danika L. Bannasch ◽  
Christopher B. Kaelin ◽  
Anna Letko ◽  
Robert Loechel ◽  
Petra Hug ◽  
...  

AbstractDistinctive colour patterns in dogs are an integral component of canine diversity. Colour pattern differences are thought to have arisen from mutation and artificial selection during and after domestication from wolves but important gaps remain in understanding how these patterns evolved and are genetically controlled. In other mammals, variation at the ASIP gene controls both the temporal and spatial distribution of yellow and black pigments. Here, we identify independent regulatory modules for ventral and hair cycle ASIP expression, and we characterize their action and evolutionary origin. Structural variants define multiple alleles for each regulatory module and are combined in different ways to explain five distinctive dog colour patterns. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the haplotype combination for one of these patterns is shared with Arctic white wolves and that its hair cycle-specific module probably originated from an extinct canid that diverged from grey wolves more than 2 million years ago. Natural selection for a lighter coat during the Pleistocene provided the genetic framework for widespread colour variation in dogs and wolves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Yang ◽  
Zhiyun Feng ◽  
Nian Chen ◽  
Zhenhua Hong ◽  
Yongyu Zheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives To investigate the role of gravity in the sedimentation of lumbar spine nerve roots using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of various body positions. Methods A total of 56 patients, who suffered from back pain and underwent conventional supine lumbar spine MR imaging, were selected from sanmen hospital database. All the patients were called back to our hospital to perform MR imaging in prone position or lateral position. Furthermore, the sedimentation sign (SedSign) was determined based on the suspension of the nerve roots in the dural sac on cross-sectional MR images, and 31 cases were rated as positive and another 25 cases were negative. Results The mean age of negative SedSign group was significantly younger than that of positive SedSign group (51.7 ± 8.7 vs 68.4 ± 10.5, P < 0.05). The constitutions of clinical diagnosis were significantly different between patients with a positive SedSign and those with a negative SedSign (P < 0.001). Overall, nerve roots of the vast majority of patients (48/56, 85.7%) subsided to the ventral side of the dural sac on the prone MR images, although that of 8 (14.3%) patients remain stay in the dorsal side of dural sac. Nerve roots of only one patient with negative SedSign did not settle to the ventral dural sac, while this phenomenon occurred in 7 patients in positive SedSign group (4% vs 22.6%, P < 0.001). In addition, the nerve roots of all the five patients subsided to the left side of dural sac on lateral position MR images. Conclusions The nerve roots sedimentation followed the direction of gravity. Positive SedSign may be a MR sign of lumbar pathology involved the spinal canal.


Crustaceana ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (7) ◽  
pp. 799-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiro Yoshikawa ◽  
Kazuho Ikeo ◽  
Junichi Imoto ◽  
Wachirah Jaingam ◽  
Lily Surayya Eka Putri ◽  
...  

Abstract Species of hermit crabs in the genus Clibanarius Dana, 1852 have adapted to various environments in the intertidal areas, including hard substrates and soft sediments. These species often bear a close morphological resemblance to each other, therefore, the colouration on the pereopods can be one of the reliable characteristics to distinguish the species. However, the evolutionary relationships among species with different colour patterns and relationships between colour patterns and habitat adaptation have not previously been investigated. Therefore, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships among 19 species of Clibanarius based on mitochondrial [12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase I] and nuclear [histone H3] DNA markers. The results suggest that the striped and solid colour elements have evolved multiple times independently, with the ancestral colour pattern potentially being scattered, bright colour spots with a bright colour band. Our findings also suggest that evolutionary adaptation from hard substrates to mudflats and soft sediments may have occurred at least twice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 210308
Author(s):  
Collette Cook ◽  
Erin C. Powell ◽  
Kevin J. McGraw ◽  
Lisa A. Taylor

To avoid predation, many animals mimic behaviours and/or coloration of dangerous prey. Here we examine potential sex-specific mimicry in the jumping spider Habronattus pyrrithrix . Previous work proposed that males' conspicuous dorsal coloration paired with characteristic leg-waving (i.e. false antennation) imperfectly mimics hymenopteran insects (e.g. wasps and bees), affording protection to males during mate-searching and courtship. By contrast, less active females are cryptic and display less leg-waving. Here we test the hypothesis that sexually dimorphic dorsal colour patterns in H. pyrrithrix are most effective when paired with sex-specific behaviours. We manipulated spider dorsal coloration with makeup to model the opposite sex and exposed them to a larger salticid predator ( Phidippus californicus ). We predicted that males painted like females should suffer higher predation rates than sham-control males. Likewise, females painted like males should suffer higher predation rates than sham-control females. Contrary to expectations, spiders with male-like coloration were attacked more than those with female-like coloration, regardless of their actual sex. Moreover, males were more likely to be captured, and were captured sooner, than females (regardless of colour pattern). With these unexpected negative results, we discuss alternative functional hypotheses for H. pyrrithrix colours, as well as the evolution of defensive coloration generally.


2009 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. SAWALHA ◽  
L. BELL ◽  
S. BROTHERSTONE ◽  
I. WHITE ◽  
A. J. WILSON ◽  
...  

SummarySusceptibility to scrapie is known to be associated with polymorphisms at the prion protein (PrP) gene, and this association is the basis of current selective programmes implemented to control scrapie in many countries. However, these programmes might have unintended consequences for other traits that might be associated withPrPgenotype. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship betweenPrPgenotype and coat colour characteristics in two UK native sheep breeds valued for their distinctive coat colour patterns. Coat colour pattern, darkness and spotting andPrPgenotype records were available for 11 674 Badgerfaced Welsh Mountain and 2338 Shetland sheep. The data were analysed with a log–linear model using maximum likelihood. Results showed a strong significant association ofPrPgenotype with coat colour pattern in Badgerfaced Welsh Mountain and Shetland sheep and with the presence of white spotting in Shetland sheep. Animals with the ARR/ARR genotype (the most scrapie resistant) had higher odds of having a light dorsum and a dark abdomen than the reverse pattern. The implication of these associations is that selection to increase resistance to scrapie based only onPrPgenotype could result in change in morphological diversity and affect other associated traits such as fitness.


Development ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-303
Author(s):  
Hideo Yajima

The development of the internal structures was investigated by fixed sections of the ‘double cephalon’ and ‘double abdomen’ of Chironomus dorsalis. The cell proliferation that gives rise to ‘germ Anlage’ or embryonic rudiment begins, in the double cephalon, along the entire convex (ventral) side of the egg and, in the double abdomen, at both ends of the flat (dorsal) side. As a result, a single fused Anlage of the double cephalon appears along the entire convex side of the egg and two germ Anlagen of the double abdomen appear at both ends of the flat side. During the formation of the germ band, both the posteriormost part of the double cephalon which lies at the middle of the convex side of the egg and the anteriormost part of the double abdomen which is located at the middle of the convex side, fail to differentiate and later degenerate. In each of the duplicated heads of double cephalon, cephalic segments anterior to the first maxillary segment are formed, but the thoracic and abdominal segments are entirely missing. In each half of the double abdomen, eight abdominal segments posterior to the second abdominal segment are produced and the cephalic and thoracic segments are omitted altogether. The two pairs of mid-gut rudiment from both halves of the double cephalon are temporarily united but they break apart by the end of the blastokinesis. When the two pairs of mid-gut rudiment from both halves of the double abdomen meet, they remain fused with each other, being surrounded by the visceral mesodermal cells in the normal way, and develop into the mid-gut epithelium. In the double malformations, the pole cells are contained in only one member of the duplicated structures. The pole cells of the double cephalon develop into the tetra-nucleate state (Hasper's second step), but they fail to fuse to form tte gonad. In the double abdomen, the gonad develops in the one abdomen containing the pole colls and no replacement occurs in the sister abdomen without the pole cells. The embryonic envelopes of the double cephalon do no' retract into the interior of the embryo, while they do in the normal way in the double abdomen. The double cephalon can never hatch but the double abdon en can emerge.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4965 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-528
Author(s):  
MARCO CURINI-GALLETTI ◽  
ERNEST R. SCHOCKAERT

The genus Tajikacelis n. gen. is introduced for species of Archimonocelididae (Proseriata) characterized by the lack of atrial spines in the copulatory organ and by the opening of the seminal vesicles into the prostate vesicle at its ventral side. Six new species from the Pacific Ocean are ascribed to the new genus; they may be distinguished by features of the genital systems and the morphology of their copulatory stylets. T. tajikai n. sp. (type species of the new genus) and T. macrostomoides n. sp., both from eastern Australia, have a long tubular stylet. In T. macrostomoides n. sp., the stylet is more curved, bending to 180°, and has a narrower basis compared to that of T. tajikai n. sp. In T. artoisi n. sp., from Hawai’i, and T. nematoplanoides n. sp., from South Australia, the stylet is shaped as a truncated cone, with a broad, oblique proximal opening and a very short tubular part. T. artoisi n. sp. is distinct for the much stronger thickening of the dorsal side of the stylet, and for the different shape of the proximal opening. In T. acuta n. sp. and T. truncata n. sp., from West Panama, the tubular stylet is comparatively short; the two species differ for the shape of the distal opening, produced into a sharp spike in T. acuta n. sp., and square-ended in T. truncata n. sp.. Two species previously described in the genus Archimonocelis are transferred to Tajikacelis n. gen.: T. itoi Tajika, 1981 from Japan and T. keke Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1989 from Sulawesi (Indonesia). The taxonomic position of the problematic Archimonocelis glabrodorsata Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1989 from the Caribbean is discussed. The relationships of and within the genus Tajikacelis n. gen. are discussed and compared with recent results based on DNA studies. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2733 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSANA AMANDA KONOPKO ◽  
SILVIA ANA MAZZUCCONI

The egg and five instars of Trepobates are described based on examined material of T. taylori and published information of T. inermis, T. knighti, T. panamensis, T. pictus, T. subnitidus and T. trepidus. The characters most useful in identifying nymphs I– V of Trepobates are: the width of the head; the lengths of the antennae, femora 1–3, tibiae 2–3 and tarsus 2–3; the Y-shaped ecdysial line of the head; the colour patterns of the proand mesonotum; and the urosternites VIII and IX. A key to the five nymphal instars of Trepobates is provided. The five instars of T. taylori are described and illustrated for the first time, with emphasis on the morphometry and colour pattern of selected structures, and chaetotaxy of the antennae; the egg is figured and redescribed. The characters useful in identifying nymphs I–V of this species are: the colour pattern of the head; the chaetotaxy of the antennal segment I; the lengths of the antennal segment III and mesonotum; and the width of the pronotum. Differences between sexes in nymphs IV and V are presented.


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