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196 results for “cuticular”
Data from: Divergence in cuticular wax profiles generates partial behavioural isolation between leaf beetle populations with different dispersal traits
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Environmental decomposition of olefinic cuticular hydrocarbons of Periplaneta americana generates a volatile pheromone that guides social behaviour
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Data from: Acclimation in ants: Interference of communication and waterproofing through cuticular hydrocarbons in a multifunctional trait
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Do favored cuticular hydrocarbon profiles signal fertility? Analysis of Gryllus firmus and Gryllus pennsylvanicus
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Disentangling the assembly mechanisms of ant cuticular bacterial communities of two Amazonian ant species sharing a common arboreal nest
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119 chromatograms (GC-FID) of the cuticular hydrocarbons of four Polistes paper wasp species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae)
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The effect of diet on colony recognition and cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile
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The role of body size and cuticular hydrocarbons in the desiccation resistance of invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile)
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Data from: Desiccation resistance and micro-climate adaptation: cuticular hydrocarbon signatures of different Argentine ant supercolonies across California
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Data from: Genetic and genomic architecture of species-specific cuticular hydrocarbon variation in parasitoid wasps
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Ant cuticular hydrocarbons are heritable and associated with variation in colony productivity
<p>In social insects, cuticular hydrocarbons function in nestmate recognition and also provide a waxy barrier against desiccation, but basic evolutionary features, including the heritability of hydrocarbon profiles and how they are shaped by natural selection are largely unknown. We used a new pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) laboratory mapping population to estimate the heritability of individual cuticular hydrocarbons, genetic correlations between hydrocarbons, and fitness consequences of phenotypic variation in the hydrocarbons. Individual hydrocarbons had low to moderate estimated heritability, indicating that some compounds provide more information about genetic relatedness and can also better respond to natural selection. Strong genetic correlations between compounds are likely to constrain independent evolutionary trajectories, which is expected given that many hydrocarbons share biosynthetic pathways. Variation in cuticular hydrocarbons was associated with variation in colony productivity, with some hydrocarbons experiencing strong directional selection. Altogether, this study builds on our knowledge of the genetic architecture of the social insect hydrocarbon profile and indicates that hydrocarbon variation is shaped by natural selection. </p>
Ant-hemipteran mutualism: parasitic wasps use cuticular hydrocarbons of ants to avoid them
<p>One of the most studied and best-known mutualistic relationships between insects is that between ants and phloem-feeding insects. Ants feed on honeydew excreted by phloem-feeding insects and, in exchange, attack the phloem feeders' natural enemies, including parasitic wasps. However, parasitic wasps are under selection to exploit information on hazards and avoid them. Here, we tested whether parasitic wasps detect the previous presence of ants attending colonies of phloem feeders. Behavioural assays demonstrate that wasps left colonies previously attended by ants more frequently than control colonies. This behaviour has a cost for the parasitic wasp as females inserted their ovipositor in fewer hosts per colony. In a further bioassay, wasps spent less time on papers impregnated with extracts of the ant cues than on control papers. GC/MS analyses demonstrated that ants left a blend of cuticular hydrocarbons when they attended colonies of phloem feeders. These cuticular hydrocarbons are deposited passively when ants search for food. Overall, these results suggest, for the first time, that parasitic wasps of honeydew producers detect the previous presence of mutualistic ants through contact infochemicals. We anticipate such interactions to be widespread and to have implications in numerous ecosystems, as phloem feeders are usually tended by ants.</p>
Data from: Comparative analysis of DNA extraction methods to study the body surface microbiota of insects: a case study with ant cuticular bacteria
High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene has considerably helped revealing the essential role of bacteria living on insect cuticles in the ecophysiology and behavior of their hosts. However, our understanding of host-cuticular microbiota feedbacks remains hampered by the difficulties to working with low bacterial DNA quantities as in individual insect cuticle samples, which are more prone to molecular biases and contaminations. Herein, we conducted a methodological benchmark on the cuticular bacterial loads retrieved from two Neotropical ant species of different body size and ecology: Atta cephalotes (~15 mm) and Pseudomyrmex penetrator (~5 mm). We evaluated the richness and composition of the cuticular microbiota, as well as the amount of biases and contamination produced by four DNA extraction protocols. We also addressed how bacterial communities' characteristics would be affected by the number of individuals or individual body size used for DNA extraction. Most extraction methods yielded similar results in term of bacterial diversity and composition for A. cephalotes (~15 mm). In contrast, greater amounts of artifactual sequences and contaminations, as well as noticeable differences in bacterial communities' characteristics were observed between the extraction methods for P. penetrator (~5 mm). We also found that large (~15 mm) and small (~5 mm) A. cephalotes individuals harbor different bacterial communities. Our benchmark hence suggests that cuticular microbiota of single insect individuals can be reliably retrieved provided that blank controls, appropriate data cleaning, and standardization of individual body size are considered in the experiment.
Data from: Coping with the climate: cuticular hydrocarbon acclimation of ants under constant and fluctuating conditions
Terrestrial arthropods achieve waterproofing by a layer of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). At the same time, CHCs also serve as communication signals. To maintain waterproofing under different climate conditions, insects adjust the chemical composition of their CHC layer, but this may affect the communication via CHC. The detailed acclimatory changes of CHCs and how these influence their physical properties are still unknown. Here, we studied acclimation in two closely related ant species with distinct CHC profiles, Myrmica rubra and Myrmica ruginodis, in response to constant or fluctuating temperature and humidity regimes. We measured how acclimation affected CHC composition and viscosity, and the ants' drought survival. In both species, CHC composition showed strong, predictable responses to temperature regimes. Warm-acclimated individuals had higher proportions of linear alkanes, and less methyl-branched or unsaturated CHCs. These changes coincided with higher solid content and viscosity of CHCs in warm-acclimated ants. Temperature fluctuation caused effects similar to constant-cool conditions in M. rubra, but led to entirely different profiles in M. ruginodis, suggesting that fluctuating and constant conditions pose very different challenges. Acclimation to dry conditions led to higher absolute amounts of CHCs, which increased the ants' drought survival, whereas temperature acclimation did not. Hence, the temperature-induced CHC changes cannot be explained by the need for waterproofing alone. While these changes could be non-adaptive, we propose that they serve to maintain a constant CHC viscosity, which may be essential for communication and other functions.
Data from: The influence of slavemaking lifestyle, caste and sex on chemical profiles in Temnothorax ants: insights into the evolution of cuticular hydrocarbons
Chemical communication is central for the formation and maintenance of insect societies. Generally, social insects only allow nest-mates into their colony, which are recognized by their cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). Social parasites, which exploit insect societies, are selected to circumvent host recognition. Here, we studied whether chemical strategies to reduce recognition evolved convergently in slavemaking ants, and whether they extend to workers, queens and males alike. We studied CHCs of three social parasites and their related hosts to investigate whether the parasitic lifestyle selects for specific chemical traits that reduce host recognition. Slavemaker profiles were characterized by shorter-chained hydrocarbons and a shift from methyl-branched alkanes to n-alkanes, presumably to reduce recognition cue quantity. These shifts were consistent across independent origins of slavery and were found in isolated ants and those emerging in their mother colony. Lifestyle influenced profiles of workers most profoundly, with little effect on virgin queen profiles. We detected an across-species caste signal, with workers, for which nest-mate recognition is particularly important, carrying more and longer-chained hydrocarbons and males exhibiting a larger fraction of n-alkanes. This comprehensive study of CHCs across castes and species reveals how lifestyle-specific selection can result in convergent evolution of chemical phenotypes.
Data from: Replicated evolutionary divergence in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of male crickets associated with the loss of song in the Hawaiian archipelago
Female choice based on male secondary sexual traits is well documented, although the extent to which this selection can drive an evolutionary divergence in male traits among populations is less clear. Male field crickets Teleogryllus oceanicus attract females using a calling song and once contacted switch to courtship song to persuade them to mate. These crickets also secrete onto their cuticle a cocktail of long-chained fatty acids or cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). Females choose among potential mates based on the structure of male acoustic signals and on the composition of male CHC profiles. Here, we utilize two naturally occurring mutations that have arisen independently on two Hawaiian islands and render the male silent to ask whether the evolutionary loss of acoustic signalling can drive an evolutionary divergence in the alternative signalling modality, male CHC profiles. QST-FST comparisons revealed strong patterns of CHC divergence among three populations of crickets on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai. Contrasts between wild-type and flatwing males on the islands of Oahu and Kauai indicated that variation in male CHC profiles within populations is associated with the loss of acoustic signalling; flatwing males had a relatively low abundance of long-chained CHCs relative to the short-chained CHCs that females find attractive. Given their dual functions in desiccation resistance and sexual signalling, insect CHCs may be particularly important traits for reproductive isolation and ultimately speciation.
Data from: Cuticular hydrocarbons as potential mediators of cryptic species divergence in a mutualistic ant association
Upon advances in sequencing techniques, more and more morphologically identical organisms are identified as cryptic species. Often, mutualistic interactions are proposed as drivers of diversification. Species of the Neotropical parabiotic ant association between Crematogaster levior and Camponotus femoratus are known for highly diverse cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles, which in insects serve as desiccation barrier but also as communication cues. In the present study we investigated the association of the ants' CHC profiles to genotypes and morphological traits, and discovered cryptic species pairs in both genera. To assess putative niche differentiation between the cryptic species, we conducted an environmental association study that included various climate variables, canopy cover, and mutualistic plant species. Although mostly sympatric, the two Camponotus species seem to prefer different climate niches. However in the two Crematogaster species, we could not detect any differences in niche preference. The strong differentiation in the CHC profiles may thus suggest either a possible role during speciation itself by inducing assortative mating, or by reinforcing sexual selection after the speciation event. We did not detect any further niche differences in the environmental parameters tested. Thus, it remains open how the cryptic species avoid competitive exclusion, with scope for further investigations.
FIGURE 3. Cuticular structure under higher magnifications. A in Considerations on the genus Gordius (Nematomorpha, horsehair worms), with the description of seven new species
FIGURE 3. Cuticular structure under higher magnifications. A. Irregular meshwork of fibres in G. aquaticus from Slovenia (SR 699). B–D. Fine processes and ridges on the otherwise smooth cuticular surface of undetermined Gordius specimens from Germany (B; SR 1265), Swizerland (C; SR 1398) and the Pyrenees (D; SR 1405). E. Tubular structures on the cuticle of an undetermined Gordius specimen from Korea (SR 240). F. Inconspicuous polygonal pattern on the cuticle of SR 1265.
FIGURE 4. Cuticular structures and artifacts. A in Considerations on the genus Gordius (Nematomorpha, horsehair worms), with the description of seven new species
FIGURE 4. Cuticular structures and artifacts. A. Scars on the surface of G. aquaticus from Germany (SR 952). B. The mixture of smooth and otherwise structured surface may be due to erostion (undetermined Gordius specimen from Italy; SR 1367). C. Cuticular surface structure in an undetermined Gordius specimen from Germany; SR 1031). D. Smooth and rough structure of the cuticle in G. z w i c k i sp. nov. (holotype ZMH V13275). E. Cross section of the cuticle (cut) with layers of fibres. Below cuticle are epidermis (epi), longitudinal musculature (mus) and parenchyme (par) (G. helveticus sp. nov., paratype ZMH V13277). F. "Rhomboidal pattern" on the cuticle created by the underlying arrangement of cuticular fibres (G. aquaticus from Germany, SR 995).
FIGURES 38–43 in Two new species of Eupholus Boisduval (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae), with observations on coloured cuticular exudates in weevils
FIGURES 38–43. Base of left elytron of Eupholini with red coloration; overview (left); detail (right): (38–39) Rhinoscapha tricolor; note white scales with red incrustations; (40–41) Eupholus fleurenti; note ferrugineous scales; (42–43) Leptopius cf. areolatus; note incrustation of red substance in centre of strial punctures partly covering white scales.
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