Adaptations: Mating and Defense in Insects
Take the Bombardier beetle. It has a defense in place that allows them to spray an acid on its attacker. Most research has been done externally to the beetle, until recently when MIT decided to further their research and found out what actually happens. We know the chemicals are created and heated inside the insect’s body before they release them. The spray is known as benzoquinone, which is heated and created by two chemicals combined in the beetles hindquarters. One of the chemicals causes the heat and also causes the pressure rise and causing the spray. The chemicals are controlled by passive valves, which are also key to how the beetle survives, and it releases the chemicals as self defense when the beetle is under attack. Once the liquids are released into the chamber it expands forcing the valve to shut and the only other place for the chemicals to go is out. The spray is pulsed out allow the chamber to cool down so the beetle doesn’t over heat. The beetle can effectively defend itself without inflicting damage on itself. This is essentially like pepper spray for beetles, which is super crazy. Check out this video from MIT! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgqF-ND2XcY
Another way insects can use their adaptations is to attract a mate. Mainly, this is seen in forms of color, size, sound, and chemical detection. Fireflies use their bright bioluminescence to attract a mate, while butterflies and moths rely mainly on pheromones. Stalk-eyed flies, members of the Order Diptera and Family Diopsidae, however, are a little bit different. These insects, we talked about in the beginning of the semester. The males use their eyes that protrude on horizontal stalks from their heads to attract females, this is known as hypercephaly. The stalks can be functional or ornate. Males with longer stalks usually have a better time attracting a mate. Why? Researchers say that females associate longer stalks with a higher quality male because they have good genes and have grown up in good environments. These males will most likely produce the most plentiful and healthy offspring.
These flies aggregate during dusk to mate. This is known as lekking behavior. Male flies often are very aggressive and will fight for a mate, or even territory. Neuroscientists wanted to look into the varying effects of serotonin on aggression within male stalk-eyed flies. Aggression can be seen as rearing up the front legs or even full-on attacking the other male. Serotonin is said to heighten the aggressive nature of the flies. I personally think these guys are like the hammerhead sharks of the insect world.
Insects have had millions of years
to adapt to their environment. Some do so by enhancing their defenses through
stingers like wasps and bees. Others do so by increasing their chances of
finding a mate by evolution through color, size, shape, and many other
contributing factors.
Although there are many other ways that insects have adapted to their environments in
order to survive, such as mimicry and mind control, the two main examples we
will be looking at is adaptive reproductive and defense strategies and how
those adaptations have been able to increase the survival of the insect.
Take the Bombardier beetle. It has a defense in place that allows them to spray an acid on its attacker. Most research has been done externally to the beetle, until recently when MIT decided to further their research and found out what actually happens. We know the chemicals are created and heated inside the insect’s body before they release them. The spray is known as benzoquinone, which is heated and created by two chemicals combined in the beetles hindquarters. One of the chemicals causes the heat and also causes the pressure rise and causing the spray. The chemicals are controlled by passive valves, which are also key to how the beetle survives, and it releases the chemicals as self defense when the beetle is under attack. Once the liquids are released into the chamber it expands forcing the valve to shut and the only other place for the chemicals to go is out. The spray is pulsed out allow the chamber to cool down so the beetle doesn’t over heat. The beetle can effectively defend itself without inflicting damage on itself. This is essentially like pepper spray for beetles, which is super crazy. Check out this video from MIT! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgqF-ND2XcY
Another way insects can use their adaptations is to attract a mate. Mainly, this is seen in forms of color, size, sound, and chemical detection. Fireflies use their bright bioluminescence to attract a mate, while butterflies and moths rely mainly on pheromones. Stalk-eyed flies, members of the Order Diptera and Family Diopsidae, however, are a little bit different. These insects, we talked about in the beginning of the semester. The males use their eyes that protrude on horizontal stalks from their heads to attract females, this is known as hypercephaly. The stalks can be functional or ornate. Males with longer stalks usually have a better time attracting a mate. Why? Researchers say that females associate longer stalks with a higher quality male because they have good genes and have grown up in good environments. These males will most likely produce the most plentiful and healthy offspring.
These flies aggregate during dusk to mate. This is known as lekking behavior. Male flies often are very aggressive and will fight for a mate, or even territory. Neuroscientists wanted to look into the varying effects of serotonin on aggression within male stalk-eyed flies. Aggression can be seen as rearing up the front legs or even full-on attacking the other male. Serotonin is said to heighten the aggressive nature of the flies. I personally think these guys are like the hammerhead sharks of the insect world.
Bree, Regina, Malik
Sources:
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=stalk+eyed+flies&fr=mcafee&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmartygumblesworth.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fstalkeye1.jpg#id=0&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmartygumblesworth.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fstalkeye1.jpg&action=click
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17295307
http://datanuggets.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bubaketal2014BBR.pdf
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