Breeding Behaviour and Oviposition in Hetaerina americana (Fabricius) and H. titia (Drury) (Odonata: Agriidae)

1961 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Species Recognition ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Body Coloration ◽  
Ischnura Elegans ◽  
Wing Patterns ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
Abdominal Appendages ◽  
Calopteryx Splendens ◽  
Wing Coloration

The objective of this study is to describe the copulatory and ovipositional behaviour of Hetaerina americana and H. titia, and to depict any differences in such behaviour as may exist between these two species. It is quite important in such studies to understand the mechanisms which assure conspecific mating. Both americana and titia are found breeding together on many of the streams of central Texas. Williamson (1906) pointed out that species in which the abdominal appendages were very similar often had sexually dimorphic and/or specifically distinct wing coloration, while species with clear wings had quite distinct abdominal appendages. These different wing patterns were suggested as functioning in species recognition for conspecific mating. Buchholtz (1951, 1955) experimentally verified that the females of Calopteryx splendens recognize and respond to males of their own species through a set of optical stimuli including the color pattern of the wing. Loibl (1958) and Krieger and Krieger-Lobl (1958) experimentally demonstrated that in Lestes dryas, L. sponsa, Ischnura elegans and I. pumila, all of which have clear, colorless wings, the species recognition factors are the shape of the abdominal appendages and body coloration. Williamson's early inferences appear to have been well documented.

Hemibates koningsi spec. nov: a new deep-water cichlid (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4312 (1) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
FREDERIC DIETER BENEDIKT SCHEDEL ◽  
ULRICH KURT SCHLIEWEN
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Variable Number ◽  
Gill Rakers ◽  
Body Coloration ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Vertical Bars ◽  
Pharyngeal Jaw

Hemibates koningsi, new species, is described from southern Lake Tanganyika (Republic of Zambia) as the second species of Hemibates Regan, 1920. Males of the new species are easily distinguished from H. stenosoma (Boulenger, 1901) based on their adult color pattern, i.e. black vertical bars on the anterior flanks part and posterior horizontal bands on a silvery-whitish body coloration vs. an anterior flank color pattern of black blotches of variable number, size and shape and posterior horizontal bands. Males and females of the new species are further distinguished by their longer lower pharyngeal jaw (37.6–38.2% HL vs. 27.8–32.5% HL) with a characteristically curved keel, which is straight or only slightly curved towards the tips in H. stenosoma. The new species has on average fewer gill rakers on the first gill arch than its only congener (33–37 vs 35–43). 

scholarly journals A new species of Stegonotus (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the remnant coastal forests of southern Timor-Leste

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5027 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-514
Author(s):  
HINRICH KAISER ◽  
CHRISTINE M. KAISER ◽  
SVEN MECKE ◽  
MARK O’SHEA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Coastal Forests ◽  
Lateral Direction ◽  
Body Coloration ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
Scale Ratio ◽  
Color Gradients ◽  
Brown Body ◽  
A New Species

During the first amphibian and reptile survey of Timor-Leste, we discovered a population of groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus, in the last remnant of lowland coastal forest along the country’s southern coast, which represents a new species. This sexually dimorphic species can be differentiated from all other Wallacean Stegonotus by a combination of 17-17-15 dorsals, ventrals (female 206; males 197–207), paired subcaudals (female 61; males 71–75), the “gull wing +” condition of the rostral, large squared prefrontals that each are 2.5 times the area of the internasals and two-thirds the size of the frontal, a snout-scale ratio of near 0.4 and a frontal-parietal suture ratio of ≤ 1.0, a labial scale formula of 73+4 | 94, five gulars separating the posterior genial and the anteriormost ventral, and an overall brown body coloration that lightens progressively from the vertebral scale row in a dorsal–lateral direction and features color gradients of dark brown posterior edges to lighter brown anterior edges on individual scales. The species is most similar in overall morphology to S. modestus from the central Moluccas and to S. lividus, a species known only from tiny Semau Island that lies off the western end of Timor Island, in close proximity to Kupang, the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.  

scholarly journals Genetic Basis of Melanin Pigmentation in Butterfly Wings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
Arnaud Martin ◽  
Michael W. Perry ◽  
Karin R.L. van der Burg ◽  
Yuji Matsuoka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Wing Pattern ◽  
Butterfly Wing ◽  
Melanin Pigmentation ◽  
Evolution And Development ◽  
Wing Patterns ◽  
Pattern Development ◽  
Different Color ◽  
Melanin Pathway

AbstractDespite the variety, prominence, and adaptive significance of butterfly wing patterns surprisingly little known about the genetic basis of wing color diversity. Even though there is intense interest in wing pattern evolution and development, the technical challenge of genetically manipulating butterflies has slowed efforts to functionally characterize color pattern development genes. To identify candidate wing pigmentation genes we used RNA-seq to characterize transcription across multiple stages of butterfly wing development, and between different color pattern elements, in the painted lady butterfly Vanessa cardui. This allowed us to pinpoint genes specifically associated with red and black pigment patterns. To test the functions of a subset of genes associated with presumptive melanin pigmentation we used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in four different butterfly genera. pale, Ddc, and yellow knockouts displayed reduction of melanin pigmentation, consistent with previous findings in other insects. Interestingly, however, yellow-d, ebony, and black knockouts revealed that these genes have localized effects on tuning the color of red, brown, and ochre pattern elements. These results point to previously undescribed mechanisms for modulating the color of specific wing pattern elements in butterflies, and provide an expanded portrait of the insect melanin pathway.

A polychromatic new species of Apiomerus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) from Central America

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2522 (1) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIMITRI FORERO ◽  
LILY BERNIKER ◽  
SIGURD SZERLIP
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Central America ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Color Variation ◽  
Female Genitalia ◽  
Species Limits ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Range Of Variation

Apiomerus barrocoloradoi sp. nov. is described from Costa Rica and Panama. This new species is highly polychromatic, a judgment based on specimens of the same locality. Dorsal habitus images documenting the range of variation of the color pattern are provided. Male and female genitalia are documented in detail to provide unambiguous characters for species recognition. Color variation is discussed with regard to traditional species limits.

Symmetry systems and compartments in Lepidopteran wings: the evolution of a patterning mechanism

Development ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 1994 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 225-233
Author(s):  
H. Frederik Nijhout
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Formation ◽  
System Development ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Developmental System ◽  
Wing Patterns ◽  
Pattern Development ◽  
Wing Veins ◽  
Ripple Patterns ◽  
Well Differentiated

The wing patterns of butterflies are made up of an array of discrete pattern elements. Wing patterns evolve through changes in the size, shape and color of these pattern elements. The pattern elements are arranged in several parallel symmetry systems that develop independently from one another. The wing is further compartmentalized for color pattern formation by the wing veins. Pattern development in these compartments is largely independent from that in adjacent compartments. This two-fold compartmentalization of the color pattern (by symmetry systems and wing veins) has resulted in an extremely flexible developmental system that allows each pattern element to vary and evolve independently, without the burden of correlated evolution in other elements. The lack of developmental constraints on pattern evolution may explain why butterflies have diverged so dramatically in their color patterns, and why accurate mimicry has evolved so frequently. This flexible developmental system appears to have evolved from the convergence of two ancient patterning systems that the butterflies inherited from their ancestors. Mapping of various pattern types onto a phylogeny of the Lepidoptera indicates that symmetry systems evolved in several steps from simple spotting patterns. Initially all such patterns were developmentally identical but each became individuated in the immediate ancestors of the butterflies. Compartmentalization by wing veins is found in all Lepidoptera and their sister group the Trichoptera, but affects primarily the ripple patterns that form the background upon which spotting patterns and symmetry systems develop. These background pattern are determined earlier in ontogeny than are the symmetry systems, and the compartmentalization mechanism is presumably no longer active when the latter develop. It appears that both individuation of symmetry systems and compartmentalization by the wing veins began at or near the wing margin. Only the butterflies and their immediate ancestors evolved a pattern formation mechanism that combines the development of a regular array of well-differentiated symmetry systems with the mechanism that compartmentalizes the wing with respect to color pattern formation. The result was an uncoupling of symmetry system development in each wing cell. This, together with the individuation of symmetry systems, yielded an essentially mosaic developmental system of unprecedented permutational flexibility that enabled the great radiation of butterfly wing patterns.

A new of species of the Agama lionotus Boulenger, 1896 complex (Squamata: Agamidae) from northern Kenya

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4920 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-553
Author(s):  
PATRICK K. MALONZA ◽  
STEPHEN SPAWLS ◽  
BRIAN FINCH ◽  
AARON M. BAUER
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Northern Kenya ◽  
Body Coloration ◽  
Identification Of Species ◽  
Desert Areas ◽  
High Diversity ◽  
Northern Frontier

Kenya has a high diversity of agamid lizards and the arid northern frontier area has the highest species richness. Among the Kenyan agama species, Agama lionotus has the widest distribution, occurring from sea level to inland areas in both dry and moist savanna as well as desert areas. This species mostly prefers rocky areas, both in granitic/metamorphic and volcanic rocks, although it also makes use of tree crevices as well as man-made structures. Recently in Marsabit, northern Kenya, a small-sized agama species, distinct from A. lionotus, was collected within a rocky lava desert area. This new species is characterized by its small size (mean SVL ~83 mm) as compared to typical A. lionotus (mean SVL ~120 mm). Past studies have shown the value of adult male throat coloration for the identification of species within the A. lionotus complex. Herein we also highlight female dorsal color pattern, which is a key character for distinguishing the new species from others in the group, including the similar A. hulbertorum. As in A. lionotus, displaying adult males have an orange to yellow head, a vertebral stripe, a bluish body coloration and an annulated white/blue tail. But the most diagnostic character is the coloration of females and non-displaying males, which exhibit a series of regular pairs of dark spots along the vertebrae as far posterior as the tail base. In addition, females have a pair of elongated orange or yellow marks on the shoulders and another on the dorsolateral margins of the abdomen. This study shows that more cryptic species in the Agama lionotus complex may still await discovery. The new species was found inhabiting dark desert lava rocks but should additionally be present in suitably similar sites in the northern frontier area. This underscores the need to re-examine populations of Agama lionotus from different microhabitats in this country. 

True UV color vision in a female butterfly with two UV opsins

2021 ◽  
Vol 224 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan D. Finkbeiner ◽  
Adriana D. Briscoe
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Color Discrimination ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Heliconius Melpomene ◽  
Opsin Genes ◽  
Behavioral Evidence ◽  
Blue Range ◽  
True Color ◽  
Wing Coloration ◽  
Uv Range

ABSTRACT In true color vision, animals discriminate between light wavelengths, regardless of intensity, using at least two photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivity peaks. Heliconius butterflies have duplicate UV opsin genes, which encode ultraviolet and violet photoreceptors, respectively. In Heliconius erato, only females express the ultraviolet photoreceptor, suggesting females (but not males) can discriminate between UV wavelengths. We tested the ability of H. erato, and two species lacking the violet receptor, Heliconius melpomene and Eueides isabella, to discriminate between 380 and 390 nm, and between 400 and 436 nm, after being trained to associate each stimulus with a sugar reward. We found that only H. erato females have color vision in the UV range. Across species, both sexes show color vision in the blue range. Models of H. erato color vision suggest that females have an advantage over males in discriminating the inner UV-yellow corollas of Psiguria flowers from their outer orange petals. Moreover, previous models ( McCulloch et al., 2017) suggested that H. erato males have an advantage over females in discriminating Heliconius 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-OHK) yellow wing coloration from non-3-OHK yellow wing coloration found in other heliconiines. These results provide some of the first behavioral evidence for female H. erato UV color discrimination in the context of foraging, lending support to the hypothesis ( Briscoe et al., 2010) that the duplicated UV opsin genes function together in UV color vision. Taken together, the sexually dimorphic visual system of H. erato appears to have been shaped by both sexual selection and sex-specific natural selection.

Genomic architecture of a genetically assimilated seasonal color pattern

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6517) ◽  
pp. 721-725
Author(s):  
Karin R. L. van der Burg ◽  
James J. Lewis ◽  
Benjamin J. Brack ◽  
Richard A. Fandino ◽  
Anyi Mazo-Vargas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Chromatin Accessibility ◽  
Junonia Coenia ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Genetic Trait ◽  
Transduction Mechanisms ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Cue Detection ◽  
Wing Coloration

Developmental plasticity allows genomes to encode multiple distinct phenotypes that can be differentially manifested in response to environmental cues. Alternative plastic phenotypes can be selected through a process called genetic assimilation, although the mechanisms are still poorly understood. We assimilated a seasonal wing color phenotype in a naturally plastic population of butterflies (Junonia coenia) and characterized three responsible genes. Endocrine assays and chromatin accessibility and conformation analyses showed that the transition of wing coloration from an environmentally determined trait to a predominantly genetic trait occurred through selection for regulatory alleles of downstream wing-patterning genes. This mode of genetic evolution is likely favored by selection because it allows tissue- and trait-specific tuning of reaction norms without affecting core cue detection or transduction mechanisms.

Cricetus cricetus (Rodentia: Cricetidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (988) ◽  
pp. 10-26
Author(s):  
Boris Kryštufek ◽  
Ilse E Hoffmann ◽  
Nedko Nedyalkov ◽  
Alexandr Pozdnyakov ◽  
Vladimir Vohralík
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Cricetus Cricetus ◽  
Bern Convention ◽  
The Common ◽  
Low Altitude ◽  
The 1960S

Abstract Cricetus cricetus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a medium-sized cricetid commonly called the common hamster. A sexually dimorphic rodent of unique coloration with robust body, blunt head, short legs, and rudimentary tail, it is the largest hamster and the only species in the genus Cricetus. It is easily recognizable by a color pattern of contrasting dark and light areas. Because its distribution extends from northwestern Europe to eastern China across 5,500 km of low altitude agricultural land, steppe, and forest steppe, the frequently used term European hamster is misleading. Both geographic range and relative abundance started declining in the 1960s on the western edge of its distribution, and now C. cricetus is protected by the Bern Convention and the Fauna-Flora-Habitats Directives.

scholarly journals The movement of “false antennae” in butterflies with “false head” wing patterns

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 758-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania G. López-Palafox ◽  
Armando Luis-MartÍnez ◽  
Carlos Cordero
Keyword(s):  
Sagittal Plane ◽  
Hind Wing ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Substantial Proportion ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Wing Patterns ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses ◽  
Close Range ◽  
Antennal Movement

Abstract In many butterfly species of the family Lycaenidae, the morphology and color pattern of the hind wings, together with certain behaviors, suggests the presence of a false head (FH) at the posterior end of the perching individual. This FH is considered an adaptation to escape from visually oriented predators. A frequent component of the FH are the tails that presumably resemble the antennae, and the typical hind wings back-and-forth movement along the sagittal plane (HWM) performed while perching apparently move the tails in a way that mimics antennal movement. By exposing 33 individuals from 18 species of Lycaenidae to a stuffed insectivorous bird, we tested two alternative hypotheses regarding HWM. The first hypothesis proposes that, when the butterfly is observed at close range, the HWM distorts the shape of the false head thus reducing its deceiving effect and, therefore, selection will favor butterflies that stop moving their wings when a predator is close by; the second hypothesis says that an increase in the frequency of HWM improves its deflective effect when the butterfly confronts a predator at close range. Our results tend to support the second hypothesis because half of the butterflies started to move their hind wings or increased the rate of HWM when exposed to the stuffed bird; however a substantial proportion of butterflies (30%) stopped moving their hind wings or decreased the rate of HWM as expected from the first hypothesis. Our observations also showed that there is great variation in the rates of HWM, and demonstrated the existence of alternative ways of producing “vivid” movement of the hind wing tails (the “false antennae”) in the absence of HWM.

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