scholarly journals Survival Sounds in Insects: Diversity, Function, and Evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie L. Low ◽  
Mairelys Naranjo ◽  
Jayne E. Yack
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Signal Characteristics ◽  
Insect Defense ◽  
Comparative Phylogenetics ◽  
Forced Air ◽  
Intended Receiver ◽  
Tiger Moths

Insect defense sounds have been reported for centuries. Yet, aside from the well-studied anti-bat sounds of tiger moths, little is understood about the occurrence, function, and evolution of these sounds. We define a defense sound as an acoustic signal (air- or solid-borne vibration) produced in response to attack or threat of attack by a predator or parasitoid and that promotes survival. Defense sounds have been described in 12 insect orders, across different developmental stages, and between sexes. The mechanisms of defensive sound production include stridulation, percussion, tymbalation, tremulation, and forced air. Signal characteristics vary between species, and we discuss how morphology, the intended receiver, and specific functions of the sounds could explain this variation. Sounds can be directed at predators or non-predators, and proposed functions include startle, aposematism, jamming, and alarm, although experimental evidence for these hypotheses remains scant for many insects. The evolutionary origins of defense sounds in insects have not been rigorously investigated using phylogenetic methodology, but in most cases it is hypothesized that they evolved from incidental sounds associated with non-signaling behaviors such as flight or ventilatory movements. Compared to our understanding of visual defenses in insects, sonic defenses are poorly understood. We recommend that future investigations focus on testing hypotheses explaining the functions and evolution of these survival sounds using predator-prey experiments and comparative phylogenetics.

scholarly journals Tiger moths and the threat of bats: decision-making based on the activity of a single sensory neuron

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Ratcliffe ◽  
James H. Fullard ◽  
Benjamin J. Arthur ◽  
Ronald R. Hoy
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Auditory Neuron ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Echolocation Calls ◽  
Tiger Moth ◽  
Prey Interaction ◽  
The Face ◽  
Tiger Moths ◽  
And Function

Echolocating bats and eared moths are a model system of predator–prey interaction within an almost exclusively auditory world. Through selective pressures from aerial-hawking bats, noctuoid moths have evolved simple ears that contain one to two auditory neurons and function to detect bat echolocation calls and initiate defensive flight behaviours. Among these moths, some chemically defended and mimetic tiger moths also produce ultrasonic clicks in response to bat echolocation calls; these defensive signals are effective warning signals and may interfere with bats' ability to process echoic information. Here, we demonstrate that the activity of a single auditory neuron (the A1 cell) provides sufficient information for the toxic dogbane tiger moth, Cycnia tenera , to decide when to initiate defensive sound production in the face of bats. Thus, despite previous suggestions to the contrary, these moths' only other auditory neuron, the less sensitive A2 cell, is not necessary for initiating sound production. However, we found a positive linear relationship between combined A1 and A2 activity and the number of clicks the dogbane tiger moth produces.

scholarly journals Evolutionary transition in accessible chromatin landscapes during vertebrate embryogenesis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiro Uesaka ◽  
Shigeru Kuratani ◽  
Hiroyuki Takeda ◽  
Naoki Irie
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Gene Expression Profiles ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Regulatory Regions ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Hourglass Model ◽  
Accessible Chromatin

The relationship between development and evolution is a central topic in evolutionary biology1,2. Recent transcriptome-based studies support the developmental hourglass model, which predicts that the animal embryogenetic program is most strongly conserved at mid-embryonic stages3-9. This model does not necessarily contradict the classical hypothesis10,11 that animal development recapitulates its evolutionary history after the mid-embryonic stages2,12. However, to date there is no molecular evidence supporting the hypothesis that gene-expression profiles that are more evolutionarily derived appear sequentially in late development. Here, by estimating activated genomic regions and their evolutionary origins, we show that the recapitulative pattern appears during late embryonic stages. We made a genome-wide assessment of accessible chromatin regions throughout embryogenesis in three vertebrate species (mouse, chicken, and medaka) and determined the phylogenetic range at which these regions were shared. In all three species, sequential activation of putative regulatory regions that were more derived occurred later in embryogenesis, whereas ancestral ones tended to be activated early. Our results clarify the chronologic changes in accessible chromatin landscapes and reveal a phylogenetic hierarchy in the evolutionary origins of putative regulatory regions that parallels developmental stages of activation. This relationship may explain, at least in part, the background for morphological observations of recapitulative events during embryogenesis.

scholarly journals A phylogenomic analysis of lichen-feeding tiger moths uncovers evolutionary origins of host chemical sequestration

2018 ◽  
Vol 121 ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare H. Scott Chialvo ◽  
Pablo Chialvo ◽  
Jeffrey D. Holland ◽  
Timothy J. Anderson ◽  
Jesse W. Breinholt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenomic Analysis ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Chemical Sequestration ◽  
Tiger Moths

scholarly journals Rhythmic swaying induced by sound in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 936-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Hattori ◽  
Masaki Tomonaga
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Rhythmic Movement ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Rhythmic Movements ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Physiological Properties ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Early Developmental

Music and dance are universal across human culture and have an ancient history. One characteristic of music is its strong influence on movement. For example, an auditory beat induces rhythmic movement with positive emotions in humans from early developmental stages. In this study, we investigated if sound induced spontaneous rhythmic movement in chimpanzees. Three experiments showed that: 1) an auditory beat induced rhythmic swaying and other rhythmic movements, with larger responses from male chimpanzees than female chimpanzees; 2) random beat as well as regular beat induced rhythmic swaying and beat tempo affected movement periodicity in a chimpanzee in a bipedal posture; and 3) a chimpanzee showed close proximity to the sound source while hearing auditory stimuli. The finding that male chimpanzees showed a larger response to sound than female chimpanzees was consistent with previous literature about “rain dances” in the wild, where male chimpanzees engage in rhythmic displays when hearing the sound of rain starting. The fact that rhythmic swaying was induced regardless of beat regularity may be a critical difference from humans, and a further study should reveal the physiological properties of sound that induce rhythmic movements in chimpanzees. These results suggest some biological foundation for dancing existed in the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees ∼6 million years ago. As such, this study supports the evolutionary origins of musicality.

scholarly journals Chemical defense in developmental stages and adult of the sea star Echinaster (Othilia) brasiliensis

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11503
Author(s):  
Renato Crespo Pereira ◽  
Daniela Bueno Sudatti ◽  
Thaise S.G. Moreira ◽  
Carlos Renato R. Ventura
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Defense ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Prey Interaction ◽  
Specific Predator ◽  
Early Developmental

To date, evidence regarding the performance of secondary metabolites from larval stages of sea stars as an anti-predation defense relates only to a few species/specimens from a few geographic ranges. Unfortunately, this hinders a comprehensive global understanding of this inter-specific predator-prey interaction. Here, we present laboratory experimental evidence of chemical defense action in the early developmental stages and adults of the sea star Echinaster (Othilia) brasiliensis from Brazil against sympatric and allopatric invertebrate consumers. Blastulae, early and late brachiolarias of E. (O.) brasiliensis were not consumed by the sympatric and allopatric crabs Mithraculus forceps. Blastulae were also avoided by the sympatric and allopatric individuals of the anemone Anemonia sargassensis, but not the larval stages. Extracts from embryos (blastula) and brachiolarias of E. (O.) brasiliensis from one sampled population (João Fernandes beach) significantly inhibited the consumption by sympatric M. forceps, but not by allopatric crabs and A. sargassensi anemone. In this same site, extracts from adults E. (O.) brasiliensis significantly inhibited the consumption by sympatric and allopatric specimens of the crab in a range of concentrations. Whereas equivalent extract concentrations of E. (O.) brasiliensis from other population (Itaipu beach)inhibited the predation by allopatric M. forceps, while sympatric individuals of this crab avoided the only the higher level tested. Then, early stages and adult specimens of E. (O.) brasiliensis can be chemically defended against consumers, but this action is quite variable, depending on the type (anemone or crab) and the origin of the consumer (sympatric or allopatric).

scholarly journals Convergent Evolution of Wingbeat-Powered Anti-Bat Ultrasound in the Microlepidoptera

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Joseph O’Reilly ◽  
Brogan John Harris ◽  
David John Lawrence Agassiz ◽  
Marc Wilhelm Holderied
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Arms Races ◽  
Insectivorous Bats ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Active Structures ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Coevolutionary Arms Race

Bats and moths provide a textbook example of predator-prey evolutionary arms races, demonstrating adaptations, and counter adaptations on both sides. The evolutionary responses of moths to the biosonar-led hunting strategies of insectivorous bats include convergently evolved hearing structures tuned to detect bat echolocation frequencies. These allow many moths to detect hunting bats and manoeuvre to safety, or in the case of some taxa, respond by emitting sounds which startle bats, jam their biosonar, and/or warn them of distastefulness. Until now, research has focused on the larger macrolepidoptera, but the recent discovery of wingbeat-powered anti-bat sounds in a genus of deaf microlepidoptera (Yponomeuta), suggests that the speciose but understudied microlepidoptera possess further and more widespread anti-bat defences. Here we demonstrate that wingbeat-powered ultrasound production, likely providing an anti-bat function, appears to indeed be spread widely in the microlepidoptera; showing that acoustically active structures (aeroelastic tymbals, ATs) have evolved in at least three, and likely four different regions of the wing. Two of these tymbals are found in multiple microlepidopteran superfamilies, and remarkably, three were found in a single subfamily. We document and characterise sound production from four microlepidopteran taxa previously considered silent. Our findings demonstrate that the microlepidoptera contribute their own unwritten chapters to the textbook bat-moth coevolutionary arms race.

scholarly journals Nepenthes × ventrata Transcriptome Profiling Reveals a Similarity Between the Evolutionary Origins of Carnivorous Traps and Floral Organs

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna V. Shchennikova ◽  
Alexey V. Beletsky ◽  
Mikhail A. Filyushin ◽  
Maria A. Slugina ◽  
Eugeny V. Gruzdev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Transcriptome Profiling ◽  
Mads Box ◽  
Mads Box Genes ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Novel Structure ◽  
Genes Encoding

The emergence of the carnivory syndrome and traps in plants is one of the most intriguing questions in evolutionary biology. In the present study, we addressed it by comparative transcriptomics analysis of leaves and leaf-derived pitcher traps from a predatory plant Nepenthes ventricosa × Nepenthes alata. Pitchers were collected at three stages of development and a total of 12 transcriptomes were sequenced and assembled de novo. In comparison with leaves, pitchers at all developmental stages were found to be highly enriched with upregulated genes involved in stress response, specification of shoot apical meristem, biosynthesis of sucrose, wax/cutin, anthocyanins, and alkaloids, genes encoding digestive enzymes (proteases and oligosaccharide hydrolases), and flowering-related MADS-box genes. At the same time, photosynthesis-related genes in pitchers were transcriptionally downregulated. As the MADS-box genes are thought to be associated with the origin of flower organs from leaves, we suggest that Nepenthes species could have employed a similar pathway involving highly conserved MADS-domain transcription factors to develop a novel structure, pitcher-like trap, for capture and digestion of animal prey during the evolutionary transition to carnivory. The data obtained should clarify the molecular mechanisms of trap initiation and development and may contribute to solving the problem of its emergence in plants.

Ritualization and social communication in Rhesus monkeys

1966 ◽  
Vol 251 (772) ◽  
pp. 285-294 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Penile Erection ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Evolutionary Time ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Lower Vertebrates ◽  
The Comparative Study

The concept of ritualization, as used in the study of the signal movements of lower vertebrates, refers primarily to the evolutionary changes which such movements have undergone in adaptation to their function in communication. In this context, the term is thus used in reference only to movements which have such a function, and only when there is evidence that the resultant signal has undergone changes which make it more effective in that role. Many movements which influence the behaviour of others (e.g. penile erection, eating and drinking in rhesus monkeys, according to Altman 1962) have apparently not been ritualized, though homologous movements in other species may have been (e.g. penile erection in squirrel monkeys (Ploog & Maclean 1963)). The changes involved have almost invariably been evolutionary ones, and thus reference to ritualization implies evidence that the properties of the signal have changed on an evolutionary time scale. This usually comes from the comparative study of contemporary closely related species. Just as the comparison, between related species, of morphological structures may suggest not only homologies but also views as to the evolutionary origins of the homologous structures, so also does comparison of patterns of behaviour. In addition, just as comparison within a species of related structures, such as the segmental limbs of a crustacean, or of different developmental stages of the same structure, can provide evidence of the course of evolution, so also can comparison of related movement patterns (e.g. Lorenz 1935, 1941; Tinbergen 1952, 1959, 1962).

Negligible energetic cost of sonar jamming in a bat–moth interaction

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-335
Author(s):  
A.J. Corcoran ◽  
H.A. Woods
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Resting Metabolic Rate ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Metabolic Power ◽  
Model Species ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Acoustic Signaling ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Cost

Energetic cost can constrain how frequently animals exhibit behaviors. The energetic cost of acoustic signaling for communication has been the subject of numerous studies; however, the cost of acoustic signaling for predator defense has not been addressed. We studied the energetic cost and efficiency of sound production for the clicks produced by the moth Bertholdia trigona (Grote, 1879) (Grote’s bertholdia) to jam the sonar of predatory bats. This moth is an excellent model species because of its extraordinary ability to produce sound—it clicks at the highest known rate of any moth, up to 4500 clicks·s–1. We measured the metabolic cost of clicking, resting, and flying from moths suspended in a respirometry chamber. Clicking was provoked by playing back an echolocation attack sequence. The cost of sound production for B. trigona was low (66% of resting metabolic rate) and the acoustic efficiency, or the percentage of metabolic power that is converted into sound, was moderately high (0.30% ± 0.15%) compared with other species. We discuss mechanisms that allow B. trigona to achieve their extraordinary clicking rates and high acoustic efficiency. Clicking for jamming bat sonar incurs negligible energetic cost to moths despite being the most effective known anti-bat defense. These results have implications for both the ecology of predator–prey interactions and the evolution of jamming signals.

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