Evolutionary ecology of insect egg coloration: a review

Guerra-Grenier, Eric

doi:10.1007/s10682-018-09967-8

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Embryonic coloration in insects, unlike adult coloration, has received very little attention (22). Here, we present an extraocular coloration that is specific to the body of the embryo and absent from postembryonic stages in the semiaquatic bugs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evolution of novel color-related phenotypes is usually explained by the recruitment of such networks into new developmental contexts. Whether this recruitment happens through several independent cooptions of single genes or through one major event involving an entire gene network is unclear (17–22). It is therefore important to broaden our sampling of traits and lineages to better understand the mechanisms underlying the emergence and diversification of novel phenotypes.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Cooption of the pteridine biosynthesis pathway underlies the diversification of embryonic colors in water striders

Vargas-Lowman

Armisén

Floriano

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Naturalists have been fascinated for centuries by animal colors and color patterns. While widely studied at the adult stage, we know little about color patterns in the embryo. Here, we study a trait consisting of coloration that is specific to the embryo and absent from postembryonic stages in water striders (Gerromorpha). By combining developmental genetics with chemical and phylogenetic analyses across a broad sample of species, we uncovered the mechanisms underlying the emergence and diversification of embryonic colors in this group of insects. We show that the pteridine biosynthesis pathway, which ancestrally produces red pigment in the eyes, has been recruited during embryogenesis in various extraocular tissues including antennae and legs. In addition, we discovered that this cooption is common to all water striders and initially resulted in the production of yellow extraocular color. Subsequently, 6 lineages evolved bright red color and 2 lineages lost the color independently. Despite the high diversity in colors and color patterns, we show that the underlying biosynthesis pathway remained stable throughout the 200 million years of Gerromorpha evolutionary time. Finally, we identified erythropterin and xanthopterin as the pigments responsible for these colors in the embryo of various species. These findings demonstrate how traits can emerge through the activation of a biosynthesis pathway in new developmental contexts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooption of the pteridine biosynthesis pathway underlies the diversification of embryonic colors in water striders

Vargas-Lowman

Armisén

Floriano

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…conspicuous body coloration), allowing predators to learn to avoid defended prey when exposed to the signals through associative learning: a phenomenon called "aposematism" (Poulton 1890;Skelhorn et al 2016). Although usually studied in active life stages, chemical defenses in insects are also known to occur in eggs (Guerra-Grenier 2019). In their thorough book chapter on the subject, Blum and Hilker (2002) distinguish between two types of chemical protection in insect eggs: the defensive compounds can either be produced autogenously by the parents (intrinsic origin) or can be sequestered from the parents' diet (extrinsic origin), then transferred to the eggs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical defense and tonic immobility in early life stages of the Harlequin cabbage bug, Murgantia histrionica (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Guerra-Grenier

Arnason

et al. 2021

Evol Ecol

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Antipredation strategies contribute to the lifetime reproductive success of organisms, particularly in more vulnerable life stages that look to survive until reproduction. In insects, eggs and larval stages are often immobile or unable to rapidly flee and hide from predators. Understanding what alternative antipredation strategies they use, but also how these change over development time, is required to fully appreciate how species adapt to biotic threats. Murgantia histrionica is a stink bug, conspicuously colored from egg to adult, known to sequester defensive glucosinolates from its cruciferous hosts as adults. We sought to assess whether this chemical defense is also present in its eggs and early nymphal instars and quantified how it fluctuates among life stages. In parallel, we looked at an alternative antipredation strategy, described for the first time in this species: tonic immobility (i.e., death feigning). We also qualitatively investigated ultraviolet reflectance in eggs and adults as a proxy of conspicuousness against UV-absorbing leaves. Our results show that the eggs are significantly more chemically defended than the first two but not third mobile life stages, yet compound concentrations do not statistically differ across nymphal instars. Tonic immobility is favored by hatchlings, but less so by subsequent instars. Eggs also had obvious ultraviolet reflectance, suggesting that they would contrast against a leaf substrate and, considering their chemical load, that they may be aposematic. We argue that there are two possible interpretations of our results. One is that, throughout ontogeny, tonic immobility is a useful defensive strategy until adequate chemical protection is achieved over an extended feeding period. The other is that both aposematism and tonic immobility are used by this species, but variation in strategy use throughout ontogeny is decoupled.

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“…conspicuous body coloration), allowing predators to learn to avoid defended prey when exposed to the signals through associative learning: a phenomenon called aposematism (Poulton 1890;Skelhorn et al 2016). Although usually studied in active life stages, chemical defenses in insects are also known to occur in eggs (Guerra-Grenier 2019). In their thorough book chapter on the subject, Blum and Hilker (2002) distinguish between two types of chemical protection in insect eggs: the defensive compounds can either be produced autogenously by the parents (intrinsic origin) or can be sequestered from their diet (extrinsic origin), although some species are known to do both, such as Photuris fireflies (González et al 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical defense and tonic immobility in early life stages of the Harlequin cabbage bug,Murgantia histrionica(Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Guerra-Grenier

Arnason

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Antipredation strategies are important for the survival and fitness of animals, especially in more vulnerable life stages. In insects, eggs and early juvenile stages are often either immobile or unable to rapidly flee and hide when facing predators. Understanding what alternative antipredation strategies they use, but also how those change over development time, is required to fully appreciate how species have adapted to biotic threats. Murgantia histrionica is a stink bug, conspicuously colored from egg to adult, known to sequester defensive glucosinolates from its cruciferous hosts as adults. We sought to assess whether this chemical defense is also present in its eggs and early nymphal instars and quantified how it fluctuates among life stages. In parallel, we looked at an alternative antipredation strategy, described for the first time in this species: tonic immobility. Our results show that the eggs are significantly more chemically defended than the first two mobile life stages, but not than the third instar. Tonic immobility is also favored by hatchlings, but less so by subsequent instars. We argue the case that over development time, tonic immobility is a useful defensive strategy until adequate chemical protection is achieved over an extended feeding period.

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Evolutionary ecology of insect egg coloration: a review

Cited by 19 publications

References 89 publications

Cooption of the pteridine biosynthesis pathway underlies the diversification of embryonic colors in water striders

Cooption of the pteridine biosynthesis pathway underlies the diversification of embryonic colors in water striders

Chemical defense and tonic immobility in early life stages of the Harlequin cabbage bug, Murgantia histrionica (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Chemical defense and tonic immobility in early life stages of the Harlequin cabbage bug,Murgantia histrionica(Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

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