1
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Guo D, Engel MS, Shih C, Ren D. New stenurothripid thrips from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Thysanoptera, Stenurothripidae). Zookeys 2024; 1192:197-212. [PMID: 38425444 PMCID: PMC10902785 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1192.117754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Hitherto, only two species of the thysanopteran suborder Terebrantia have been reported from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Myanmar). This is here expanded through the discovery of two new genera and species, described and figured as Parallelothripsseparatusgen. et sp. nov. and Didymothripsabdominalisgen. et sp. nov., both of the family Stenurothripidae. Both taxa have key apomorphies of the Stenurothripidae, allowing for a confident assignment as to family. Both species have characteristic comb-like anteromarginal setae, which are discussed along with structural differences between the two sexes. Cycad pollen was found on the thrips' bodies, providing further evidence that Thysanoptera were pollinators of gymnosperms during the mid-Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawei Guo
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
| | - Michael S. Engel
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
| | - Chungkun Shih
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
- Departamento de Entomología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Av. Arenales 1256 Jesús María, Lima, Peru
| | - Dong Ren
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
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2
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Peris D, Condamine FL. The angiosperm radiation played a dual role in the diversification of insects and insect pollinators. Nat Commun 2024; 15:552. [PMID: 38253644 PMCID: PMC10803743 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44784-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Interactions with angiosperms have been hypothesised to play a crucial role in driving diversification among insects, with a particular emphasis on pollinator insects. However, support for coevolutionary diversification in insect-plant interactions is weak. Macroevolutionary studies of insect and plant diversities support the hypothesis that angiosperms diversified after a peak in insect diversity in the Early Cretaceous. Here, we used the family-level fossil record of insects as a whole, and insect pollinator families in particular, to estimate diversification rates and the role of angiosperms on insect macroevolutionary history using a Bayesian process-based approach. We found that angiosperms played a dual role that changed through time, mitigating insect extinction in the Cretaceous and promoting insect origination in the Cenozoic, which is also recovered for insect pollinator families only. Although insects pollinated gymnosperms before the angiosperm radiation, a radiation of new pollinator lineages began as angiosperm lineages increased, particularly significant after 50 Ma. We also found that global temperature, increases in insect diversity, and spore plants were strongly correlated with origination and extinction rates, suggesting that multiple drivers influenced insect diversification and arguing for the investigation of different explanatory variables in further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Peris
- Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC-CMCNB), 08038, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Fabien L Condamine
- CNRS, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France
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3
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Liu Q, Cai YD, Ma L, Liu H, Linghu T, Guo S, Wei S, Song F, Tian L, Cai W, Li H. Relaxed purifying selection pressure drives accelerated and dynamic gene rearrangements in thrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) mitochondrial genomes. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 253:126742. [PMID: 37689283 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023]
Abstract
Insect mitochondrial genomes (mitogenome) generally present a typical gene order, which is considered as the ancestral arrangement. All sequenced mitogenomes in the Thysanoptera display high levels of gene rearrangement. Due to limited number of thrips mitogenomes sequenced, how gene rearrangement may be shaped by evolution remain unclear. Here, we analyzed 33 thrips mitogenomes, including 14 newly sequenced. These mitogenomes were diverse in organization, nucleotides substitution and gene arrangements. We found 28 highly rearranged gene orders with the breakpoints of gene rearrangements from 25 to 33. Reconstruction of the ancestors mitochondrial gene arrangements states indicated that Tubulifera have more complex pathways than Terebrantia in the gene order evolution. Molecular calibration estimated that divergence of two suborders occurred in the middle Triassic while the radiation of thrips was associated with the arose and flourish of angiosperm. Our evolutionary hypothesis testing suggests that relaxation of selection pressure enabled the early phase of Thysanoptera evolution, followed by a stronger selective pressure fixed diversification. Our analyses found gene inversion increases the nonsynonymous substitution rates and provide an evolutionary hypothesis driving the diverse gene orders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiaoqiao Liu
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Yao D Cai
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Ling Ma
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Hangrui Liu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Tianye Linghu
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Shaokun Guo
- Key Laboratory of Surveillance and Management for Plant Quarantine Pests of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Department of Plant Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Shujun Wei
- Institute of Plant Protection, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China
| | - Fan Song
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Li Tian
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Wanzhi Cai
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Hu Li
- Department of Entomology and MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
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4
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Terry I. Pollination: Multimodal signaling in a co-dependent thermogenic gymnosperm system. Curr Biol 2023; 33:R353-R356. [PMID: 37160091 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Plant-pollinator interaction research commonly focuses on more apparent traits, floral morphology and odor. A new study of a thermogenic gymnosperm brood-site pollination system via a specialist beetle reveals intricate long- and short-range multimodal signals are involved in host finding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Terry
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
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5
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Peña-Kairath C, Delclòs X, Álvarez-Parra S, Peñalver E, Engel MS, Ollerton J, Peris D. Insect pollination in deep time. Trends Ecol Evol 2023:S0169-5347(23)00062-9. [PMID: 37062597 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
Inferring insect pollination from compression fossils and amber inclusions is difficult because of a lack of consensus on defining an insect pollinator and the challenge of recognizing this ecological relationship in deep time. We propose a conceptual definition for such insects and an operational classification into pollinator or presumed pollinator. Using this approach, we identified 15 insect families that include fossil pollinators and show that pollination relationships have existed since at least the Upper Jurassic (~163 Ma). Insects prior to this can only be classified as presumed pollinators. This gives a more nuanced insight into the origin and evolution of an ecological relationship that is vital to the establishment, composition and conservation of modern terrestrial ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Constanza Peña-Kairath
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), c/Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Xavier Delclòs
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), c/Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sergio Álvarez-Parra
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), c/Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Enrique Peñalver
- CN Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, CSIC, c/Cirilo Amorós 42, 46004, Valencia, Spain
| | - Michael S Engel
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Jeff Ollerton
- Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, University of Northampton, NN1 5PH, UK; Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, China
| | - David Peris
- Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona), Passeig del Migdia s/n, 08038, Barcelona, Spain.
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6
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Khramov AV, Foraponova T, Węgierek P. The earliest pollen-loaded insects from the Lower Permian of Russia. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20220523. [PMID: 36855855 PMCID: PMC9975653 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent fossil discoveries suggest that the coevolution of insect pollinators and gymnosperms started long before the appearance of flowering plants. One of the keys to understanding the origins of pollination relationships is fossil insects with gymnosperm pollen attached to the body surface. Such fossils are exceedingly rare to find, especially from the Palaeozoic, a time when ambers with insect inclusions were absent. Here, we report compression fossils of Early Permian tillyardembiid insects (Polyneoptera) preserved with pollen on their heads, thoraces, legs and abdomens. This is the earliest finding of pollen-bearing insects, predating the previous oldest record from the Middle Jurassic by ca 120 Ma. Judging by the pollen composition, tillyardembiids visited a narrow range of host plants, including Rufloriaceae (Cordaitales). While it is impossible to say for certain whether tillyardembiids as pollen consumers contributed to pollination, a trophic specialization of this kind could be considered an evolutionary precursor of pollination mutualism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander V. Khramov
- Borissiak Palaeontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117647, Russia
| | - Tatiana Foraponova
- Borissiak Palaeontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117647, Russia
| | - Piotr Węgierek
- Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, 40-007, Poland
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7
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Lopez-Reyes K, Armstrong KF, van Tol RWHM, Teulon DAJ, Bok MJ. Colour vision in thrips (Thysanoptera). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210282. [PMID: 36058245 PMCID: PMC9441234 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Insects are an astonishingly successful and diverse group, occupying the gamut of habitats and lifestyle niches. They represent the vast majority of described species and total terrestrial animal biomass on the planet. Their success is in part owed to their sophisticated visual systems, including colour vision, which drive a variety of complex behaviours. However, the majority of research on insect vision has focused on only a few model organisms including flies, honeybees and butterflies. Especially understudied are phytophagous insects, such as diminutive thrips (Thysanoptera), in spite of their damage to agriculture. Thrips display robust yet variable colour-specific responses despite their miniaturized eyes, but little is known about the physiological and ecological basis of their visual systems. Here, we review the known visual behavioural information about thrips and the few physiological studies regarding their eyes. Eye structure, spectral sensitivity, opsin genes and the presence of putative colour filters in certain ommatidia strongly imply dynamic visual capabilities. Finally, we discuss the major gaps in knowledge that remain for a better understanding of the visual system of thrips and why bridging these gaps is important for expanding new possibilities for applied pest management strategies for these tiny insects. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karla Lopez-Reyes
- Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Karen F. Armstrong
- Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
- Better Border Biosecurity (B3, B3nz.org.nz), New Zealand
| | - Robert W. H. M. van Tol
- Biointeractions and Plant Health (BIONT), Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- BugResearch Consultancy, TheNetherlands
| | - David A. J. Teulon
- Better Border Biosecurity (B3, B3nz.org.nz), New Zealand
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Michael J. Bok
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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8
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Asar Y, Ho SYW, Sauquet H. Early diversifications of angiosperms and their insect pollinators: were they unlinked? TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 27:858-869. [PMID: 35568622 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2022.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The present-day ubiquity of angiosperm-insect pollination has led to the hypothesis that these two groups coevolved early in their evolutionary history. However, recent fossil discoveries and fossil-calibrated molecular dating analyses challenge the notion that early diversifications of angiosperms and insects were inextricably linked. In this article, we examine (i) the discrepancies between dates of emergence for angiosperms and major clades of insects; (ii) the long history of gymnosperm-insect pollination modes, which likely shaped early angiosperm-insect pollination mutualisms; and (iii) how the K-Pg (Cretaceous-Paleogene) mass extinction event was vital in propelling modern angiosperm-insect mutualisms. We posit that the early diversifications of angiosperms and their insect pollinators were largely decoupled until the end of the Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasmin Asar
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
| | - Simon Y W Ho
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Hervé Sauquet
- National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW), Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia; Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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9
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Fu Y, Cai C, Chen P, Huang D. The earliest known brood care in insects. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220447. [PMID: 35858065 PMCID: PMC9277243 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Brood care enhances offspring fitness and survival by providing protection or feeding through parents (commonly by females). It has evolved independently multiple times in animals, e.g. mammals, birds, dinosaurs and arthropods, especially various lineages of insects, and has significant implications for understanding the emergence of sociality of insects. However, few fossil insects document such an ephemeral behaviour directly. New exceptional fossils of the water boatman Karataviella popovi from the Middle-Late Jurassic Daohugou biota (ca 163.5 Ma, northeastern China), with adult females bearing clutches of eggs on their left mesotibia, provide a unique brooding strategy (asymmetric egg-carrying behaviour) unknown in all extinct and extant insects. Our discovery represents the earliest direct evidence of brood care among insects, pushing back by more than 38 million years, indicating that relevant adaptations associated with maternal investment of insects can be traced back to at least the Middle-Late Jurassic, and highlighting the existence of diverse brooding strategies in Mesozoic insects. In addition, our discovery reveals that a specialized trawl-like filter-capture apparatus of K. popovi probably represents pre-adaptions originally used for trapping coeval anostracan (fairy shrimp) eggs for food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanzhe Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
| | - Chenyang Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
| | - Pingping Chen
- Section Entomology, Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Diying Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
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10
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Ecological radiations of insects in the Mesozoic. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:529-540. [PMID: 35287981 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The Mesozoic is a key era for the rise of the modern insect fauna. Among the most important evolutionary events in Mesozoic insects are the radiation of holometabolous insects, the origin of eusocial and parasitoid insects, diversification of pollinating insects, and development of advanced mimicry and camouflage. These events are closely associated with the diversification of insect ecological behaviors and colonization of new ecospaces. At the same time, insects had evolved more complex and closer ecological associations with various plants and animals. Mesozoic insects played a key and underappreciated ecological role in reconstructing and maintaining terrestrial ecosystems. A greater understanding of the history of insects may help to mitigate future changes in insect diversity and abundance.
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11
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Zhang B, Sun SF, Luo WL, Li JX, Fang QE, Zhang DG, Hu GX. A new brood-pollination mutualism between Stellera chamaejasme and flower thrips Frankliniella intonsa. BMC PLANT BIOLOGY 2021; 21:562. [PMID: 34844558 PMCID: PMC8628443 DOI: 10.1186/s12870-021-03319-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brood pollination mutualism is a special type of plant-pollinator interaction in which adult insects pollinate plants, and the plants provide breeding sites for the insects as a reward. To manifest such a mutualism between Stellera chamaejasme and flower thrips of Frankliniella intonsa, the study tested the mutualistic association of the thrips life cycle with the plant flowering phenology and determined the pollination effectiveness of adult thrips and their relative contribution to the host's fitness by experimental pollinator manipulation. RESULTS The adult thrips of F. intonsa, along with some long-tongue Lepidoptera, could serve as efficient pollinators of the host S. chamaejasme. The thrips preferentially foraged half-flowering inflorescences of the plants and oviposited in floral tubes. The floral longevity was 11.8 ± 0.55 (mean ± se) days, which might precisely accommodate the thrips life cycle from spawning to prepupation. The exclusion of adult thrips from foraging flowers led to a significant decrease in the fitness (i.e., seed set) of host plants, with a corresponding reduction in thrips fecundity (i.e., larva no.) in the flowers. CONCLUSIONS The thrips of F. intonsa and the host S. chamaejasme mutualistically interact to contribute to each other's fitness such that the thrips pollinate host plants and, as a reward, the plants provide the insects with brooding sites and food, indicating the coevolution of the thrips life cycle and the reproductive traits (e.g., floral longevity and morphology) of S. chamaejasme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
| | - Shu-Fan Sun
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Wang-Long Luo
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Jia-Xin Li
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Qiang-En Fang
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - De-Gang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Gui-Xin Hu
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
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12
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Xiao L, Labandeira C, Dilcher D, Ren D. Florivory of Early Cretaceous flowers by functionally diverse insects: implications for early angiosperm pollination. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210320. [PMID: 34132112 PMCID: PMC8207559 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Florivory (flower consumption) occurs worldwide in modern angiosperms, associated with pollen and nectar consumption. However, florivory remains unrecorded from fossil flowers since their Early Cretaceous appearance. We test hypotheses that earliest angiosperms were pollinated by a diverse insect fauna by evaluating 7858 plants from eight localities of the latest Albian Dakota Formation from midcontinental North America, in which 645 specimens (8.2%) were flowers or inflorescences. Well-preserved specimens were categorized into 32 morphotypes, nine of which displayed 207 instances of damage from 11 insect damage types (DTs) by four functional-feeding groups of hole feeding, margin feeding, surface feeding and piercing-and-sucking. We assessed the same DTs inflicted by known florivores on modern flowers that also are their pollinators, and associated insect mouthpart types causing such damage. The diverse, Dakota florivore-pollinator community showed a local pattern at Braun's Ranch of flower morphotypes 4 and 5 having piercing-and-sucking as dominant and margin feeding as minor interactions, whereas Dakotanthus cordiformis at Rose Creek I and II had an opposite pattern. We found no evidence for nectar robbing. These data support the rapid emergence of early angiosperms of florivore and associated pollinator guilds expressed at both the local and regional community levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lifang Xiao
- College of Life Science and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.,Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Tenth Street and Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Conrad Labandeira
- College of Life Science and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.,Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Tenth Street and Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC, USA.,Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - David Dilcher
- Department of Geology, Indiana University, 1001 Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Dong Ren
- College of Life Science and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
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13
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Successful extraction of insect DNA from recent copal inclusions: limits and perspectives. Sci Rep 2021; 11:6851. [PMID: 33767248 PMCID: PMC7994385 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86058-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Insects entombed in copal, the sub-fossilized resin precursor of amber, represent a potential source of genetic data for extinct and extant, but endangered or elusive, species. Despite several studies demonstrated that it is not possible to recover endogenous DNA from insect inclusions, the preservation of biomolecules in fossilized resins samples is still under debate. In this study, we tested the possibility of obtaining endogenous ancient DNA (aDNA) molecules from insects preserved in copal, applying experimental protocols specifically designed for aDNA recovery. We were able to extract endogenous DNA molecules from one of the two samples analyzed, and to identify the taxonomic status of the specimen. Even if the sample was found well protected from external contaminants, the recovered DNA was low concentrated and extremely degraded, compared to the sample age. We conclude that it is possible to obtain genomic data from resin-entombed organisms, although we discourage aDNA analysis because of the destructive method of extraction protocols and the non-reproducibility of the results.
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14
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Evolutionary and Ecological Considerations on Nectar-Mediated Tripartite Interactions in Angiosperms and Their Relevance in the Mediterranean Basin. PLANTS 2021; 10:plants10030507. [PMID: 33803275 PMCID: PMC7999006 DOI: 10.3390/plants10030507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The Mediterranean basin hosts a high diversity of plants and bees, and it is considered one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Insect pollination, i.e., pollen transfer from male reproductive structures to conspecific female ones, was classically thought to be a mutualistic relationship that links these two groups of organisms, giving rise to an admirable and complex network of interactions. Although nectar is often involved in mediating these interactions, relatively little is known about modifications in its chemical traits during the evolution of plants. Here, we examine how the current sucrose-dominated floral nectar of most Mediterranean plants could have arisen in the course of evolution of angiosperms. The transition from hexose-rich to sucrose-rich nectar secretion was probably triggered by increasing temperature and aridity during the Cretaceous period, when most angiosperms were radiating. This transition may have opened new ecological niches for new groups of insects that were co-diversifying with angiosperms and for specific nectar-dwelling yeasts that originated later (i.e., Metschnikowiaceae). Our hypothesis embeds recent discoveries in nectar biology, such as the involvement of nectar microbiota and nectar secondary metabolites in shaping interactions with pollinators, and it suggests a complex, multifaceted ecological and evolutionary scenario that we are just beginning to discover.
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15
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Kato M, Kawakita A, Goto R, Okamoto T, Kobayashi C, Imada Y, Nakase Y, Nishioka T, Chanthavong B, Keothumma K, Kosaka Y. Community-level plant–pollinator interactions in a Palaeotropical montane evergreen oak forest ecosystem. J NAT HIST 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1837977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Makoto Kato
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Atsushi Kawakita
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- The Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ryutaro Goto
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, Wakayama, Japan
| | - Tomoko Okamoto
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Graduate School of Applied Biological Sciences and Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
| | - Chisato Kobayashi
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Yume Imada
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Japan
| | - Yuta Nakase
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Tatsuki Nishioka
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Bakham Chanthavong
- Faculty of Forestry Science, National University of Laos, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
| | - Khamsing Keothumma
- Faculty of Forestry Science, National University of Laos, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
| | - Yasuyuki Kosaka
- Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Toon
- School of Biological Sciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane Queensland 4072 Australia
| | - L. Irene Terry
- School of Biological Sciences; University of Utah; Salt Lake City Utah USA
| | | | - Gimme H. Walter
- School of Biological Sciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane Queensland 4072 Australia
| | - Lyn G. Cook
- School of Biological Sciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane Queensland 4072 Australia
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17
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Salzman S, Crook D, Crall JD, Hopkins R, Pierce NE. An ancient push-pull pollination mechanism in cycads. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaay6169. [PMID: 32582845 PMCID: PMC7292639 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay6169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Most cycads engage in brood-site pollination mutualisms, yet the mechanism by which the Cycadales entice pollination services from diverse insect mutualists remains unknown. Here, we characterize a push-pull pollination mechanism between a New World cycad and its weevil pollinators that mirrors the mechanism between a distantly related Old World cycad and its thrips pollinators. The behavioral convergence between weevils and thrips, combined with molecular phylogenetic dating and a meta-analysis of thermogenesis and coordinated patterns of volatile attraction and repulsion suggest that a push-pull pollination mutualism strategy is ancestral in this ancient, dioecious plant group. Hence, it may represent one of the earliest insect/plant pollination mechanisms, arising long before the evolution of visual floral signaling commonly used by flowering plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shayla Salzman
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- The Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02131, USA
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Damon Crook
- USDA-APHIS-PPQ CPHST, Otis Laboratory, Building 1398, Otis ANGB, MA 02542, USA
| | - James D. Crall
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Robin Hopkins
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- The Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02131, USA
| | - Naomi E. Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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18
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Peris D, Labandeira CC, Barrón E, Delclòs X, Rust J, Wang B. Generalist Pollen-Feeding Beetles during the Mid-Cretaceous. iScience 2020; 23:100913. [PMID: 32191877 PMCID: PMC7113562 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.100913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2019] [Revised: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The Cretaceous fossil record of amber provides a variety of evidence that is essential for greater understanding of early pollination strategies. Here, we describe four pieces of ca. 99-million-year-old (early Cenomanian) Myanmar amber from Kachin containing four closely related genera of short-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera: Kateretidae) associated with abundant pollen grains identified as three distinct palynomorphotypes of the gymnosperm Cycadopites and Praenymphaeapollenites cenomaniensis gen. and sp. nov., a form-taxon of pollen from a basal angiosperm lineage of water lilies (Nymphaeales: Nymphaeaceae). We demonstrate how a gymnosperm to angiosperm plant-host shift occurred during the mid-Cretaceous, from a generalist pollen-feeding family of beetles, which served as a driving mechanism for the subsequent success of flowering plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Peris
- Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany.
| | - Conrad C Labandeira
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA; Department of Entomology and Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 100048 Beijing, China
| | - Eduardo Barrón
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, 28003 Madrid, Spain
| | - Xavier Delclòs
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà and Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jes Rust
- Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Centre for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China.
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19
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Roach nectarivory, gymnosperm and earliest flower pollination evidence from Cretaceous ambers. Biologia (Bratisl) 2020. [DOI: 10.2478/s11756-019-00412-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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20
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Abstract
Insect pollination of flowering plants (angiosperms) is responsible for the majority of the world's flowering plant diversity and is key to the Cretaceous radiation of angiosperms. Although both insects and angiosperms were common by the mid-Cretaceous, direct fossil evidence of insect pollination is lacking. Direct evidence of Cretaceous insect pollination is associated with insect-gymnosperm pollination. Here, we report a specialized beetle-angiosperm pollination mode from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (99 mega-annum [Ma]) in which a tumbling flower beetle (Mordellidae), Angimordella burmitina gen. et sp. nov., has many tricolpate pollen grains attached. A. burmitina exhibits several specialized body structures for flower-visiting behavior including its body shape and pollen-feeding mouthparts revealed by X-ray microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). The tricolpate pollen in the amber belongs to the eudicots that comprise the majority of extant angiosperm species. These pollen grains exhibit zoophilous pollination attributes including their ornamentation, size, and clumping characteristics. Tricolpate pollen grains attached to the beetle's hairs are revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which is a powerful tool for investigating pollen in amber. Our findings provide direct evidence of insect pollination of Cretaceous angiosperms, extending the range insect-angiosperm pollination association by at least 50 million years. Our results support the hypothesis that specialized insect pollination modes were present in eudicots 99 million years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Bao
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China;
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101 Beijing, China
| | - Jianguo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
| | - David Dilcher
- Department of Geology and Atmospheric Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405
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Grimaldi DA, Peñalver E, Barrón E, Herhold HW, Engel MS. Direct evidence for eudicot pollen-feeding in a Cretaceous stinging wasp (Angiospermae; Hymenoptera, Aculeata) preserved in Burmese amber. Commun Biol 2019; 2:408. [PMID: 31728419 PMCID: PMC6838090 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0652-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Angiosperms and their insect pollinators form a foundational symbiosis, evidence for which from the Cretaceous is mostly indirect, based on fossils of insect taxa that today are anthophilous, and of fossil insects and flowers that have apparent anthophilous and entomophilous specializations, respectively. We present exceptional direct evidence preserved in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, 100 mya, for feeding on pollen in the eudicot genus Tricolporoidites by a basal new aculeate wasp, Prosphex anthophilos, gen. et sp. nov., in the lineage that contains the ants, bees, and other stinging wasps. Plume of hundreds of pollen grains wafts from its mouth and an apparent pollen mass was detected by micro-CT in the buccal cavity: clear evidence that the wasp was foraging on the pollen. Eudicots today comprise nearly three-quarters of all angiosperm species. Prosphex feeding on Tricolporoidites supports the hypothesis that relatively small, generalized insect anthophiles were important pollinators of early angiosperms.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A. Grimaldi
- American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192 USA
| | - Enrique Peñalver
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. Ríos Rosas 23, E-28003 Madrid, Spain
| | - Eduardo Barrón
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. Ríos Rosas 23, E-28003 Madrid, Spain
| | - Hollister W. Herhold
- American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192 USA
| | - Michael S. Engel
- Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA
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22
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Scott-Brown AS, Arnold SEJ, Kite GC, Farrell IW, Farman DI, Collins DW, Stevenson PC. Mechanisms in mutualisms: a chemically mediated thrips pollination strategy in common elder. PLANTA 2019; 250:367-379. [PMID: 31069523 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-019-03176-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This study provides first evidence of a thrips species pollinating Sambucus nigra and describes how interactions are driven by plant biochemical signalling and moderated by temporal changes in floral chemistry. The concept of flower-feeding thrips as pollinating insects in temperate regions is rarely considered as they are more frequently regarded to be destructive florivores feeding on pollen and surrounding plant tissue. Combining laboratory and field-based studies we examined interactions between Sambucus nigra (elderflower) and Thrips major within their native range to ascertain the role of thrips in the pollination of this species and to determine if floral chemicals mediated flower visits. If thrips provide a pollination service to S. nigra, then this will likely manifest in traits that attract the pollinating taxa at temporally critical points in floral development. T. major were highly abundant in inflorescences of S. nigra, entering flowers when stigmas were pollen-receptive and anthers were immature. When thrips were excluded from the inflorescences, fruit-set failed. Linalool was the major component of the inflorescence headspace with peak abundance coinciding with the highest number of adult thrips visiting flowers. Thrips were absent in buds and their numbers declined again in senescing flowers inversely correlating with the concentration of cyanogenic glycosides recorded in the floral tissue. Our data show that S. nigra floral chemistry mediates the behaviour of pollen-feeding thrips by attracting adults in high numbers to the flowers at pre-anthesis stage, while producing deterrent compounds prior to fruit development. Taking an integrative approach to studying thrips behaviour and floral biology we provide a new insight into the previously ambiguously defined pollination strategies of S. nigra and provide evidence suggesting that the relationship between T. major and S. nigra is mutualistic.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sarah E J Arnold
- Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, ME4 4TB, UK
| | | | | | - Dudley I Farman
- Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, ME4 4TB, UK
| | | | - Philip C Stevenson
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AB, UK
- Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, ME4 4TB, UK
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23
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Abstract
Aquatic organisms are rarely found in amber, but when they occur they provide invaluable evidence for the better understanding of amber taphonomy and past ecosystems. We report an ammonite and several marine gastropods alongside a mixed assemblage of intertidal and terrestrial forest floor organisms in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Our discovery indicates that the Burmese amber forest was living near a dynamic and shifting coastal environment. The ammonite also provides supporting evidence for the age of the amber, which is still debated, and represents a rare example of dating using fossils present inside the amber. Amber is fossilized tree resin, and inclusions usually comprise terrestrial and, rarely, aquatic organisms. Marine fossils are extremely rare in Cretaceous and Cenozoic ambers. Here, we report a record of an ammonite with marine gastropods, intertidal isopods, and diverse terrestrial arthropods as syninclusions in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. We used X-ray–microcomputed tomography (CT) to obtain high-resolution 3D images of the ammonite, including its sutures, which are diagnostically important for ammonites. The ammonite is a juvenile Puzosia (Bhimaites) and provides supporting evidence for a Late Albian–Early Cenomanian age of the amber. There is a diverse assemblage (at least 40 individuals) of arthropods in this amber sample from both terrestrial and marine habitats, including Isopoda, Acari (mites), Araneae (spiders), Diplopoda (millipedes), and representatives of the insect orders Blattodea (cockroaches), Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (true flies), and Hymenoptera (wasps). The incomplete preservation and lack of soft body of the ammonite and marine gastropods suggest that they were dead and underwent abrasion on the seashore before entombment. It is most likely that the resin fell to the beach from coastal trees, picking up terrestrial arthropods and beach shells and, exceptionally, surviving the high-energy beach environment to be preserved as amber. Our findings not only represent a record of an ammonite in amber but also provide insights into the taphonomy of amber and the paleoecology of Cretaceous amber forests.
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Life habits and evolutionary biology of new two-winged long-proboscid scorpionflies from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1235. [PMID: 30874563 PMCID: PMC6420582 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09236-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Long-proboscid scorpionflies are enigmatic, mid-Mesozoic insects associated with gymnosperm pollination. One major lineage, Aneuretopsychina, consists of four families plus two haustellate clades, Diptera and Siphonaptera. One clade, Pseudopolycentropodidae, from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber, contains Parapolycentropus. Here, we newly establish Dualula, assigned to Dualulidae, constituting the fifth lineage. Parapolycentropus and Dualula lineages are small, two-winged, with unique siphonate mouthparts for imbibing pollination drops. A cibarial pump provides siphonal food inflow; in Dualula, the siphon base surrounds a hypopharynx housing a small, valved pump constricted to a narrow salivary duct supplying outgoing enzymes for food fluidization. Indirect evidence links long-proboscid mouthpart structure with contemporaneous tubulate ovulate organs. Direct evidence of gymnospermous Cycadopites pollen is associated with one Parapolycentropus specimen. Parapolycentropus and Dualula exhibit hind-wing reduction that would precede haltere formation, likely caused by Ultrabithorax. Distinctive, male Aneuretopsychina genitalia are evident from specimens in copulo, supplemented by mixed-sex individuals of likely male mating swarms. Long-proboscid scorpionflies were associated with mid-Mesozoic gymnosperm pollination. Here, Lin et al. establish a new family of long-proboscid scorpionflies from Myanmar amber, elucidate evolutionary mechanisms of hind-wing reduction, and detail feeding and reproductive habits of these insects.
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25
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Labandeira CC. The Fossil Record of Insect Mouthparts: Innovation, Functional Convergence, and Associations with Other Organisms. INSECT MOUTHPARTS 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-29654-4_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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26
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Walas Ł, Mandryk W, Thomas PA, Tyrała-Wierucka Ż, Iszkuło G. Sexual systems in gymnosperms: A review. Basic Appl Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2018.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Cai C, Escalona HE, Li L, Yin Z, Huang D, Engel MS. Beetle Pollination of Cycads in the Mesozoic. Curr Biol 2018; 28:2806-2812.e1. [PMID: 30122529 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2018] [Revised: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Cycads, unlike modern wind-pollinated conifers and Ginkgo, are unusual in that they are an ancient group of gymnosperms pollinated by insects [1-3]. Although it is well documented that cycads were diverse and abundant during the mid-Mesozoic, little is known about their biogeography and pollination before the rise of angiosperms. Direct fossil evidence illuminating the evolutionary history of cycads is extremely rare [4, 5]. Here we report a specialized beetle-mediated pollination mode from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar, wherein a new boganiid beetle, Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus, with specialized pollen-feeding adaptations in its mouthparts and legs, was associated with many pollen grains of Cycadopites. Phylogenetic analyses indicate Cretoparacucujus as a sister group to the extant Australian Paracucujus, which pollinate the cycad Macrozamia riedlei. Our discovery, along with the current disjunct distribution of related beetle-herbivore (tribe Paracucujini) and cycad-host (tribe Encephalarteae) pairs in South Africa and Australia, indicate a probable ancient origin of beetle pollination of cycads at least in the Early Jurassic, long before angiosperm dominance and the radiation of flowering-plant pollinators later in the Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyang Cai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Hermes E Escalona
- Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research (ZMB), Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee, 53113 Bonn, Germany; Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, G.P.O. Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Liqin Li
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Ziwei Yin
- Department of Biology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Diying Huang
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Michael S Engel
- Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive, Suite 140, Lawrence, KS 66045-4415, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
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28
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Nepi M, Little S, Guarnieri M, Nocentini D, Prior N, Gill J, Barry Tomlinson P, Ickert-Bond SM, Pirone C, Pacini E, von Aderkas P. Phylogenetic and functional signals in gymnosperm ovular secretions. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2017; 120:923-936. [PMID: 29045531 PMCID: PMC5710648 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcx103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2017] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Gymnosperms are either wind-pollinated (anemophilous) or both wind- and insect-pollinated (ambophilous). Regardless of pollination mode, ovular secretions play a key role in pollen capture, germination and growth; they are likely also involved in pollinator reward. Little is known about the broad-scale diversity of ovular secretions across gymnosperms, and how these may relate to various reproductive functions. This study analyses the sugar and amino acid profiles of ovular secretions across a range of ambophilous (cycads and Gnetales) and anemophilous gymnosperms (conifers) to place them in an evolutionary context of their possible functions during reproduction. METHODS Ovular secretions from 13 species representing all five main lineages of extant gymnosperms were sampled. High-performance liquid chromatography techniques were used to measure sugar and amino acid content. Multivariate statistics were applied to assess whether there are significant differences in the chemical profiles of anemophilous and ambophilous species. Data were compared with published chemical profiles of angiosperm nectar. Chemical profiles were placed in the context of phylogenetic relationships. KEY RESULTS Total sugar concentrations were significantly higher in ovular secretions of ambophilous species than wind-pollinated taxa such as Pinaceae and Cupressophyta. Ambophilous species had lower amounts of total amino acids, and a higher proportion of non-protein amino acids compared with anemophilous lineages, and were also comparable to angiosperm nectar. Results suggest that early gymnosperms likely had ovular secretion profiles that were a mosaic of those associated with modern anemophilous and ambophilous species. Ginkgo, thought to be anemophilous, had a profile typical of ambophilous taxa, suggesting that insect pollination either exists in Gingko, but is undocumented, or that its ancestral populations were insect-pollinated. CONCLUSIONS Chemical profiles of ovular secretions of ambophilous gymnosperms show a clear signal of pollinator-driven selection, including higher levels of carbohydrates than anemophilous taxa, lower levels of amino acids, and the presence of specific amino acids, such as β-alanine, that are known to influence insect feeding behaviour and physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Nepi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
- For correspondence. E-mail:
| | - Stefan Little
- Centre for Forest Biology, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
- Laboratoire Écologie, Systématique, Évolution, CNRS UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
| | | | | | - Natalie Prior
- Centre for Forest Biology, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Julia Gill
- Centre for Forest Biology, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | | | - Stefanie M Ickert-Bond
- UA Museum of the North and Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Cary Pirone
- The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ettore Pacini
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Patrick von Aderkas
- Centre for Forest Biology, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
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29
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Ollerton J. Pollinator Diversity: Distribution, Ecological Function, and Conservation. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2017. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 287] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Ollerton
- Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, University of Northampton, Northampton NN2 6JD, United Kingdom
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Peris D, Labandeira CC, Peñalver E, Delclòs X, Barrón E, Pérez-de la Fuente R. The case of Darwinylus marcosi (Insecta: Coleoptera: Oedemeridae): A Cretaceous shift from a gymnosperm to an angiosperm pollinator mutualism. Commun Integr Biol 2017. [PMCID: PMC5595409 DOI: 10.1080/19420889.2017.1325048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Abundant gymnosperm pollen grains associated with the oedemerid beetle Darwinylus marcosi Peris, 2016 were found in Early Cretaceous amber from Spain. This discovery provides confirmatory evidence for a pollination mutualism during the mid Mesozoic for the family Oedemeridae (Coleoptera), which today is known to pollinate only angiosperms. As a result, this new record documents a lateral host-plant transfer from an earlier gymnosperm to a later angiosperm, indicating that pollination of the latter is a derived condition within Oedemeridae. This new fossil record exemplifies one of the 4 ecological-evolutionary pollinator cohorts now known to have existed during the global shift from a gymnosperm to an angiosperm dominated global flora. Currently, all direct evidence for pollination during the 35 million-year interval of the mid Cretaceous gymnosperm-to-angiosperm transition entails recognition of gymnosperm pollen grains on insect mouthparts and other body contact surfaces, while analogous records involving angiosperms are lacking. The gathering evidence indicates that angiosperm pollination was preceded by at least 4 gymnosperm pollination modes that served as a functional and ecological prelude to the rise and expansion of angiosperms.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Peris
- Departament de Ciències Agràries i del Medi Natural, Universitat Jaume I (UJI), Campus del Riu Sec, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - Conrad C. Labandeira
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Entomology and Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Enrique Peñalver
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid, Spain
| | - Xavier Delclòs
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, and Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eduardo Barrón
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid, Spain
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31
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Zhang Q, Wang B. Evolution of Lower Brachyceran Flies (Diptera) and Their Adaptive Radiation with Angiosperms. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2017; 8:631. [PMID: 28484485 PMCID: PMC5401883 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/07/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The Diptera (true flies) is one of the most species-abundant orders of Insecta, and it is also among the most important flower-visiting insects. Dipteran fossils are abundant in the Mesozoic, especially in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Here, we review the fossil record and early evolution of some Mesozoic lower brachyceran flies together with new records in Burmese amber, including Tabanidae, Nemestrinidae, Bombyliidae, Eremochaetidae, and Zhangsolvidae. The fossil records reveal that some flower-visiting groups had diversified during the mid-Cretaceous, consistent with the rise of angiosperms to widespread floristic dominance. These brachyceran groups played an important role in the origin of co-evolutionary relationships with basal angiosperms. Moreover, the rise of angiosperms not only improved the diversity of flower-visiting flies, but also advanced the turnover and evolution of other specialized flies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingqing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNanjing, China
- University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China
| | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNanjing, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of ScienceBeijing, China
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32
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Zheng D, Nel A, Jarzembowski EA, Chang SC, Zhang H, Xia F, Liu H, Wang B. Extreme adaptations for probable visual courtship behaviour in a Cretaceous dancing damselfly. Sci Rep 2017; 7:44932. [PMID: 28317876 PMCID: PMC5357891 DOI: 10.1038/srep44932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Courtship behaviours, frequent among modern insects, have left extremely rare fossil traces. None are known previously for fossil odonatans. Fossil traces of such behaviours are better known among the vertebrates, e.g. the hypertelic antlers of the Pleistocene giant deer Megaloceros giganteus. Here we describe spectacular extremely expanded, pod-like tibiae in males of a platycnemidid damselfly from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Such structures in modern damselflies, help to fend off other suitors as well as attract mating females, increasing the chances of successful mating. Modern Platycnemidinae and Chlorocyphidae convergently acquired similar but less developed structures. The new findings provide suggestive evidence of damselfly courtship behaviour as far back as the mid-Cretaceous. These data show an unexpected morphological disparity in dancing damselfly leg structure, and shed new light on mechanisms of sexual selection involving intra- and intersex reproductive competition during the Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daran Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.,Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - André Nel
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, F-75005, Paris, France
| | - Edmund A Jarzembowski
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.,Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Su-Chin Chang
- Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Haichun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
| | | | | | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.,Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1, Beichen West Road, Beijing 100101, China
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33
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Peris D, Pérez-de la Fuente R, Peñalver E, Delclòs X, Barrón E, Labandeira CC. False Blister Beetles and the Expansion of Gymnosperm-Insect Pollination Modes before Angiosperm Dominance. Curr Biol 2017; 27:897-904. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Revised: 01/25/2017] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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34
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Labandeira CC, Yang Q, Santiago-Blay JA, Hotton CL, Monteiro A, Wang YJ, Goreva Y, Shih C, Siljeström S, Rose TR, Dilcher DL, Ren D. The evolutionary convergence of mid-Mesozoic lacewings and Cenozoic butterflies. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2015.2893. [PMID: 26842570 PMCID: PMC4760178 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Mid-Mesozoic kalligrammatid lacewings (Neuroptera) entered the fossil record 165 million years ago (Ma) and disappeared 45 Ma later. Extant papilionoid butterflies (Lepidoptera) probably originated 80–70 Ma, long after kalligrammatids became extinct. Although poor preservation of kalligrammatid fossils previously prevented their detailed morphological and ecological characterization, we examine new, well-preserved, kalligrammatid fossils from Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous sites in northeastern China to unravel a surprising array of similar morphological and ecological features in these two, unrelated clades. We used polarized light and epifluorescence photography, SEM imaging, energy dispersive spectrometry and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry to examine kalligrammatid fossils and their environment. We mapped the evolution of specific traits onto a kalligrammatid phylogeny and discovered that these extinct lacewings convergently evolved wing eyespots that possibly contained melanin, and wing scales, elongate tubular proboscides, similar feeding styles, and seed–plant associations, similar to butterflies. Long-proboscid kalligrammatid lacewings lived in ecosystems with gymnosperm–insect relationships and likely accessed bennettitalean pollination drops and pollen. This system later was replaced by mid-Cretaceous angiosperms and their insect pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conrad C Labandeira
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA Department of Entomology and BEES Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Qiang Yang
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation of Guangdong Higher Education Institute, College of Ecology and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China Geoscience Museum, Shijiazhuang University of Economics, Shijiazhuang 050031, People's Republic of China
| | - Jorge A Santiago-Blay
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA Department of Crop and Agroenvironmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, PR 00681, USA
| | - Carol L Hotton
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA National Centre for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Antónia Monteiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore Yale-NUS College, Singapore 138614, Singapore
| | - Yong-Jie Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China
| | - Yulia Goreva
- Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - ChungKun Shih
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - Sandra Siljeström
- Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA Department of Chemistry, Materials and Surfaces, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås 51115, Sweden Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA
| | - Tim R Rose
- Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - David L Dilcher
- Departments of Geology and Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Dong Ren
- College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China
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35
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Lu XM, Zhang WW, Liu XY. New long-proboscid lacewings of the mid-Cretaceous provide insights into ancient plant-pollinator interactions. Sci Rep 2016; 6:25382. [PMID: 27149436 PMCID: PMC4857652 DOI: 10.1038/srep25382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Many insects with long-proboscid mouthparts are among the pollinators of seed plants. Several cases of the long-proboscid pollination mode are known between fossil insects (e.g., true flies, scorpionflies, and lacewings) and various extinct gymnosperm lineages, beginning in the Early Permian and increasing during the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. However, details on the morphology of lacewing proboscides and the relevant pollination habit are largely lacking. Here we report on three lacewing species that belong to two new genera and a described genus from mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) amber of Myanmar. All these species possess relatively long proboscides, which are considered to be modified from maxillary and labial elements, probably functioning as a temporary siphon for feeding on nectar. Remarkably, these proboscides range from 0.4-1.0 mm in length and are attributed to the most diminutive ones among the contemporary long-proboscid insect pollinators. Further, they clearly differ from other long-proboscid lacewings which have a much longer siphon. The phylogenetic analysis indicates that these Burmese long-proboscid lacewings belong to the superfamily Psychopsoidea but cannot be placed into any known family. The present findings represent the first description of the mouthparts of long-proboscid lacewings preserved in amber and highlight the evolutionary diversification of the ancient plant-pollinator interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiu-Mei Lu
- Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Wei-Wei Zhang
- Three Gorges Entomological Museum, P.O. Box 4680, Chongqing 400015, China
| | - Xing-Yue Liu
- Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
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36
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Pérez-de la Fuente R, Delclòs X, Peñalver E, Engel MS. A defensive behavior and plant-insect interaction in Early Cretaceous amber--The case of the immature lacewing Hallucinochrysa diogenesi. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2016; 45:133-139. [PMID: 26319268 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2015.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2015] [Revised: 07/26/2015] [Accepted: 08/15/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Amber holds special paleobiological significance due to its ability to preserve direct evidence of biotic interactions and animal behaviors for millions of years. Here we review the finding of Hallucinochrysa diogenesi Pérez-de la Fuente, Delclòs, Peñalver and Engel, 2012, a morphologically atypical larva related to modern green lacewings (Insecta: Neuroptera) that was described in Early Cretaceous amber from the El Soplao outcrop (northern Spain). The fossil larva is preserved with a dense cloud of fern trichomes that corresponds to the trash packet the insect gathered and carried on its back for camouflaging and shielding, similar to that which is done by its extant relatives. This finding supports the prominent role of wildfires in the paleoecosystem and provides direct evidence of both an ancient plant-insect interaction and an early acquisition of a defensive behavior in an insect lineage. Overall, the fossil of H. diogenesi showcases the potential that the amber record offers to reconstruct not only the morphology of fossil arthropods but, more remarkably, their lifestyles and ecological relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States.
| | - Xavier Delclòs
- Departament d'Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geociències Marines, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona, E-08071, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Enrique Peñalver
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, E-28003, Madrid, Spain
| | - Michael S Engel
- Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, United States
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37
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From glacial refugia to wide distribution range: demographic expansion of Loropetalum chinense (Hamamelidaceae) in Chinese subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-015-0252-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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38
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Leung TLF. Fossils of parasites: what can the fossil record tell us about the evolution of parasitism? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 92:410-430. [PMID: 26538112 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2015] [Revised: 10/09/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Parasites are common in many ecosystems, yet because of their nature, they do not fossilise readily and are very rare in the geological record. This makes it challenging to study the evolutionary transition that led to the evolution of parasitism in different taxa. Most studies on the evolution of parasites are based on phylogenies of extant species that were constructed based on morphological and molecular data, but they give us an incomplete picture and offer little information on many important details of parasite-host interactions. The lack of fossil parasites also means we know very little about the roles that parasites played in ecosystems of the past even though it is known that parasites have significant influences on many ecosystems. The goal of this review is to bring attention to known fossils of parasites and parasitism, and provide a conceptual framework for how research on fossil parasites can develop in the future. Despite their rarity, there are some fossil parasites which have been described from different geological eras. These fossils include the free-living stage of parasites, parasites which became fossilised with their hosts, parasite eggs and propagules in coprolites, and traces of pathology inflicted by parasites on the host's body. Judging from the fossil record, while there were some parasite-host relationships which no longer exist in the present day, many parasite taxa which are known from the fossil record seem to have remained relatively unchanged in their general morphology and their patterns of host association over tens or even hundreds of millions of years. It also appears that major evolutionary and ecological transitions throughout the history of life on Earth coincided with the appearance of certain parasite taxa, as the appearance of new host groups also provided new niches for potential parasites. As such, fossil parasites can provide additional data regarding the ecology of their extinct hosts, since many parasites have specific life cycles and transmission modes which reflect certain aspects of the host's ecology. The study of fossil parasites can be conducted using existing techniques in palaeontology and palaeoecology, and microscopic examination of potential material such as coprolites may uncover more fossil evidence of parasitism. However, I also urge caution when interpreting fossils as examples of parasites or parasitism-induced traces. I point out a number of cases where parasitism has been spuriously attributed to some fossil specimens which, upon re-examination, display traits which are just as (if not more) likely to be found in free-living taxa. The study of parasite fossils can provide a more complete picture of the ecosystems and evolution of life throughout Earth's history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommy L F Leung
- Department of Zoology Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
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39
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Peñalver E, Arillo A, Pérez-de la Fuente R, Riccio ML, Delclòs X, Barrón E, Grimaldi DA. Long-Proboscid Flies as Pollinators of Cretaceous Gymnosperms. Curr Biol 2015; 25:1917-23. [PMID: 26166781 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.05.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2015] [Revised: 04/25/2015] [Accepted: 05/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The great evolutionary success of angiosperms has traditionally been explained, in part, by the partnership of these plants with insect pollinators. The main approach to understanding the origins of this pervasive relationship has been study of the pollinators of living cycads, gnetaleans, and basal angiosperms. Among the most morphologically specialized living pollinators are diverse, long-proboscid flies. Early such flies include the brachyceran family Zhangsolvidae, previously known only as compression fossils from the Early Cretaceous of China and Brazil. It belongs to the infraorder Stratiomyomorpha, a group that includes the flower-visiting families Xylomyidae and Stratiomyidae. New zhangsolvid specimens in amber from Spain (ca. 105 mega-annum [Ma]) and Myanmar (100 Ma) reveal a detailed proboscis structure adapted to nectivory. Pollen clumped on a specimen from Spain is Exesipollenites, attributed to a Mesozoic gymnosperm, most likely the Bennettitales. Late Mesozoic scorpionflies with a long proboscis have been proposed as specialized pollinators of various extinct gymnosperms, but pollen has never been observed on or in their bodies. The new discovery is a very rare co-occurrence of pollen with its insect vector and provides substantiating evidence that other long-proboscid Mesozoic insects were gymnosperm pollinators. Evidence is thus now gathering that visitors and probable pollinators of early anthophytes, or seed plants, involved some insects with highly specialized morphological adaptations, which has consequences for interpreting the reproductive modes of Mesozoic gymnosperms and the significance of insect pollination in angiosperm success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrique Peñalver
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid 28003, Spain.
| | - Antonio Arillo
- Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | | | - Mark L Riccio
- Institute of Biotechnology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Xavier Delclòs
- Departament d'Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geociències Marines, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain
| | - Eduardo Barrón
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid 28003, Spain
| | - David A Grimaldi
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10021, USA
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40
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Condamine FL, Nagalingum NS, Marshall CR, Morlon H. Origin and diversification of living cycads: a cautionary tale on the impact of the branching process prior in Bayesian molecular dating. BMC Evol Biol 2015; 15:65. [PMID: 25884423 PMCID: PMC4449600 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0347-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2015] [Accepted: 04/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Bayesian relaxed-clock dating has significantly influenced our understanding of the timeline of biotic evolution. This approach requires the use of priors on the branching process, yet little is known about their impact on divergence time estimates. We investigated the effect of branching priors using the iconic cycads. We conducted phylogenetic estimations for 237 cycad species using three genes and two calibration strategies incorporating up to six fossil constraints to (i) test the impact of two different branching process priors on age estimates, (ii) assess which branching prior better fits the data, (iii) investigate branching prior impacts on diversification analyses, and (iv) provide insights into the diversification history of cycads. Results Using Bayes factors, we compared divergence time estimates and the inferred dynamics of diversification when using Yule versus birth-death priors. Bayes factors were calculated with marginal likelihood estimated with stepping-stone sampling. We found striking differences in age estimates and diversification dynamics depending on prior choice. Dating with the Yule prior suggested that extant cycad genera diversified in the Paleogene and with two diversification rate shifts. In contrast, dating with the birth-death prior yielded Neogene diversifications, and four rate shifts, one for each of the four richest genera. Nonetheless, dating with the two priors provided similar age estimates for the divergence of cycads from Ginkgo (Carboniferous) and their crown age (Permian). Of these, Bayes factors clearly supported the birth-death prior. Conclusions These results suggest the choice of the branching process prior can have a drastic influence on our understanding of evolutionary radiations. Therefore, all dating analyses must involve a model selection process using Bayes factors to select between a Yule or birth-death prior, in particular on ancient clades with a potential pattern of high extinction. We also provide new insights into the history of cycad diversification because we found (i) periods of extinction along the long branches of the genera consistent with fossil data, and (ii) high diversification rates within the Miocene genus radiations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0347-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien L Condamine
- CNRS, UMR 7641 Centre de Mathématiques Appliquées (École Polytechnique), Route de Saclay, 91128, Palaiseau, France. .,Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
| | - Nathalie S Nagalingum
- National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia.
| | - Charles R Marshall
- Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720-4780, USA.
| | - Hélène Morlon
- CNRS, UMR 8197 Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d'Ulm, 75005, Paris, France.
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41
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Wang B, Xia F, Wappler T, Simon E, Zhang H, Jarzembowski EA, Szwedo J. Brood care in a 100-million-year-old scale insect. eLife 2015; 4. [PMID: 25824055 PMCID: PMC4378507 DOI: 10.7554/elife.05447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavior of extinct organisms can be inferred only indirectly, but occasionally rare fossils document particular behaviors directly. Brood care, a remarkable behavior promoting the survival of the next generation, has evolved independently numerous times among animals including insects. However, fossil evidence of such a complex behavior is exceptionally scarce. Here, we report an ensign scale insect (Hemiptera: Ortheziidae), Wathondara kotejai gen. et sp. nov., from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, which preserves eggs within a wax ovisac, and several freshly hatched nymphs. The new fossil is the only Mesozoic record of an adult female scale insect. More importantly, our finding represents the earliest unequivocal direct evidence of brood care in the insect fossil record and demonstrates a remarkably conserved egg-brooding reproductive strategy within scale insects in stasis for nearly 100 million years. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05447.001 Many animals care for and protect their offspring to increase their survival and fitness. Insects care for their young using a range of strategies: some dig underground chambers for their young, whilst others carry their brood around on their own bodies. However, it was unclear when these strategies first evolved in insects. Now Wang et al. report that they have discovered the earliest fossil evidence of an insect caring for its young, in the form of a female insect preserved with her brood in a specimen of ancient amber. The amber comes from northern Myanmar, where amber deposits are around 95–105 million years old. The fossilised insect is an adult female scale insect with a cluster of around 60 eggs on her abdomen. Six young scale insect nymphs are also preserved in the same piece of amber. Wang et al. named this newly discovered species Wathondara kotejai, after an earth goddess in South-East Asian Buddhist mythology and the late Polish entomologist Jan Koteja. Most scale insect fossils found to date have been males. Fossilised adult females are scarcer, most likely because female scale insects are wingless and less mobile and therefore less prone to accidental burial. The fossil reported by Wang et al. is therefore a rare find, and it is also sufficiently well preserved to reveal that the female's eggs are contained within a wax-coated egg sac. Today there are many species of scale insects, most of which are parasites of plants and many are economically important pests of trees and shrubs. In living relatives of W. kotejai, females use a similar wax coating to protect themselves and their offspring: young nymphs hatch inside the egg sac and remain there for a few days before emerging into the outside world. This new fossil provides a unique insight into the anatomy and life cycle of a long-extinct insect; it also demonstrates that brood care in insects is an ancient trait that dates back to at least around 100 million years ago at the height of the age of the dinosaurs. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05447.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | | | | | - Ewa Simon
- Department of Zoology, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Haichun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Edmund A Jarzembowski
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Jacek Szwedo
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
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Cai CY, Thayer MK, Engel MS, Newton AF, Ortega-Blanco J, Wang B, Wang XD, Huang DY. Early origin of parental care in Mesozoic carrion beetles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:14170-4. [PMID: 25225362 PMCID: PMC4191754 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1412280111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The reconstruction and timing of the early stages of social evolution, such as parental care, in the fossil record is a challenge, as these behaviors often do not leave concrete traces. One of the intensely investigated examples of modern parental care are the modern burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus), a lineage that includes notable endangered species. Here we report diverse transitional silphids from the Mesozoic of China and Myanmar that provide insights into the origins of parental care. Jurassic silphids from Daohugou, sharing many defining characters of Nicrophorinae, primitively lack stridulatory files significant for parental care communications; although morphologically similar, Early Cretaceous nicrophorines from the Jehol biota possess such files, indicating that a system of parental care had evolved by this early date. More importantly, burying beetles of the genus Nicrophorus have their earliest first record in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, and document early evolution of elaborate biparental care and defense of small vertebrate carcasses for their larvae. Parental care in the Early Cretaceous may have originated from competition between silphids and their predators. The rise of the Cretaceous Nicrophorinae implies a biology similar to modern counterparts that typically feed on carcasses of small birds and mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen-Yang Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, People's Republic of China
| | - Margaret K Thayer
- Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605
| | - Michael S Engel
- Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
| | - Alfred F Newton
- Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605
| | | | - Bo Wang
- Steinmann Institute, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany; and
| | - Xiang-Dong Wang
- No. 7 Xinghuo Road, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100070, People's Republic of China
| | - Di-Ying Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, People's Republic of China;
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A Diverse Paleobiota in Early Eocene Fushun Amber from China. Curr Biol 2014; 24:1606-1610. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2014] [Revised: 04/10/2014] [Accepted: 05/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Augusto L, Davies TJ, Delzon S, De Schrijver A. The enigma of the rise of angiosperms: can we untie the knot? Ecol Lett 2014; 17:1326-38. [PMID: 24975818 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2014] [Revised: 04/02/2014] [Accepted: 06/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Multiple hypotheses have been put forward to explain the rise of angiosperms to ecological dominance following the Cretaceous. A unified scheme incorporating all these theories appears to be an inextricable knot of relationships, processes and plant traits. Here, we revisit these hypotheses, categorising them within frameworks based on plant carbon economy, resistance to climatic stresses, nutrient economy, biotic interactions and diversification. We maintain that the enigma remains unresolved partly because our current state of knowledge is a result of the fragmentary nature of palaeodata. This lack of palaeodata limits our ability to draw firm conclusions. Nonetheless, based on consistent results, some inferences may be drawn. Our results indicate that a complex multidriver hypothesis may be more suitable than any single-driver theory. We contend that plant carbon economy and diversification may have played an important role during the early stages of gymnosperms replacement by angiosperms in fertile tropical sites. Plant tolerance to climatic stresses, plant nutrition, biotic interactions and diversification may have played a role in later stages of angiosperm expansion within temperate and harsh environments. The angiosperm knot remains partly tied, but to unravel it entirely will only be feasible if new discoveries are made by scientific communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Augusto
- INRA, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, UMR 1391 ISPA, Villenave d'Ornon, 33882, France
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45
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Innate responses to putative ancestral hosts: is the attraction of Western flower thrips to pine pollen a result of relict olfactory receptors? J Chem Ecol 2014; 40:534-40. [PMID: 24879603 PMCID: PMC4090808 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-014-0450-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2014] [Revised: 04/09/2014] [Accepted: 05/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Pollinophagy is widely documented in the order Thysanoptera, with representative individuals from six of the nine divergent families known to feed on pollen. Various pollens of the genus Pinus increase the development time, fecundity, longevity, and settling preference of Western Flower Thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Certain species of flower thrips discriminate among pollen types, but no studies have elucidated the olfactory cues that play a role in their pollen preferences. In this study, the volatile organic compounds emitted by pollens of the genus Pinus were elucidated. Various chemicals from pollen headspace elicited electrophysiological responses from WFT antennae. The compound (S)-(-)-verbenone, identified in pollen headspace, attracted WFT in a 4-arm olfactometer. This compound has potential for use in integrated pest management programs against the pest. We present the hypothesis that this polyphagous insect may have retained ancestral ‘relict’ olfactory receptors through the course of evolution, to explain this attraction to pine pollen. This attraction has allowed the insect to find and exploit an unusual nutrient source that significantly increases its fitness. The study demonstrates how fossil record analysis and subsequent evolutionary knowledge can aid in explaining possibilities as to why some insects sense and respond to chemicals that would otherwise seem peculiar to their ecology, allowing insight into the evolutionary forces that may shape insect olfactory systems over time.
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Rosas-Guerrero V, Aguilar R, Martén-Rodríguez S, Ashworth L, Lopezaraiza-Mikel M, Bastida JM, Quesada M. A quantitative review of pollination syndromes: do floral traits predict effective pollinators? Ecol Lett 2014; 17:388-400. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 284] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2013] [Revised: 06/17/2013] [Accepted: 10/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Víctor Rosas-Guerrero
- Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari) 58089 Morelia Michoacán México
- Unidad Académica en Desarrollo Sustentable; Campus Costa Grande; Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero; Carretera Nacional Acapulco Zihuatanejo Km 106 + 900; Colonia Las Tunas Tecpan de Galeana Guerrero 40900 México
| | - Ramiro Aguilar
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - CONICET; C.C. 495 (5000) Córdoba Argentina
| | - Silvana Martén-Rodríguez
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A. C., Carretera Antigua a Coatepec No. 351, El Haya; Xalapa Veracruz 91070 México
- Centro Regional del Bajío, Instituto de Ecología, A. C.; Pátzcuaro, Michoacán 61600 México
| | - Lorena Ashworth
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - CONICET; C.C. 495 (5000) Córdoba Argentina
| | - Martha Lopezaraiza-Mikel
- Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari) 58089 Morelia Michoacán México
- Unidad Académica en Desarrollo Sustentable; Campus Costa Grande; Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero; Carretera Nacional Acapulco Zihuatanejo Km 106 + 900; Colonia Las Tunas Tecpan de Galeana Guerrero 40900 México
| | - Jesús M. Bastida
- Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari) 58089 Morelia Michoacán México
| | - Mauricio Quesada
- Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari) 58089 Morelia Michoacán México
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Salas-Leiva DE, Meerow AW, Calonje M, Griffith MP, Francisco-Ortega J, Nakamura K, Stevenson DW, Lewis CE, Namoff S. Phylogeny of the cycads based on multiple single-copy nuclear genes: congruence of concatenated parsimony, likelihood and species tree inference methods. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2013; 112:1263-78. [PMID: 23997230 PMCID: PMC3806525 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mct192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2013] [Accepted: 07/15/2013] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Despite a recent new classification, a stable phylogeny for the cycads has been elusive, particularly regarding resolution of Bowenia, Stangeria and Dioon. In this study, five single-copy nuclear genes (SCNGs) are applied to the phylogeny of the order Cycadales. The specific aim is to evaluate several gene tree-species tree reconciliation approaches for developing an accurate phylogeny of the order, to contrast them with concatenated parsimony analysis and to resolve the erstwhile problematic phylogenetic position of these three genera. METHODS DNA sequences of five SCNGs were obtained for 20 cycad species representing all ten genera of Cycadales. These were analysed with parsimony, maximum likelihood (ML) and three Bayesian methods of gene tree-species tree reconciliation, using Cycas as the outgroup. A calibrated date estimation was developed with Bayesian methods, and biogeographic analysis was also conducted. KEY RESULTS Concatenated parsimony, ML and three species tree inference methods resolve exactly the same tree topology with high support at most nodes. Dioon and Bowenia are the first and second branches of Cycadales after Cycas, respectively, followed by an encephalartoid clade (Macrozamia-Lepidozamia-Encephalartos), which is sister to a zamioid clade, of which Ceratozamia is the first branch, and in which Stangeria is sister to Microcycas and Zamia. CONCLUSIONS A single, well-supported phylogenetic hypothesis of the generic relationships of the Cycadales is presented. However, massive extinction events inferred from the fossil record that eliminated broader ancestral distributions within Zamiaceae compromise accurate optimization of ancestral biogeographical areas for that hypothesis. While major lineages of Cycadales are ancient, crown ages of all modern genera are no older than 12 million years, supporting a recent hypothesis of mostly Miocene radiations. This phylogeny can contribute to an accurate infrafamilial classification of Zamiaceae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayana E. Salas-Leiva
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
- USDA-ARS-SHRS, National Germplasm Repository, Miami, FL 33158, USA
| | - Alan W. Meerow
- USDA-ARS-SHRS, National Germplasm Repository, Miami, FL 33158, USA
| | - Michael Calonje
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
- Montgomery Botanical Center, Miami, FL 33156, USA
| | | | - Javier Francisco-Ortega
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
- Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, FL 33156, USA
| | - Kyoko Nakamura
- USDA-ARS-SHRS, National Germplasm Repository, Miami, FL 33158, USA
| | | | | | - Sandra Namoff
- Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
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48
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Wang B, Zhang H, Jarzembowski EA. Early Cretaceous angiosperms and beetle evolution. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2013; 4:360. [PMID: 24062759 PMCID: PMC3770909 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2013.00360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2013] [Accepted: 08/26/2013] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The Coleoptera (beetles) constitute almost one-fourth of all known life-forms on earth. They are also among the most important pollinators of flowering plants, especially basal angiosperms. Beetle fossils are abundant, almost spanning the entire Early Cretaceous, and thus provide important clues to explore the co-evolutionary processes between beetles and angiosperms. We review the fossil record of some Early Cretaceous polyphagan beetles including Tenebrionoidea, Scarabaeoidea, Curculionoidea, and Chrysomeloidea. Both the fossil record and molecular analyses reveal that these four groups had already diversified during or before the Early Cretaceous, clearly before the initial rise of angiosperms to widespread floristic dominance. These four beetle groups are important pollinators of basal angiosperms today, suggesting that their ecological association with angiosperms probably formed as early as in the Early Cretaceous. With the description of additional well-preserved fossils and improvements in phylogenetic analyses, our knowledge of Mesozoic beetle-angiosperm mutualisms will greatly increase during the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Wang
- Steinmann Institute, University of BonnBonn, Germany
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNanjing, China
| | - Haichun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNanjing, China
| | - Edmund A. Jarzembowski
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNanjing, China
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History MuseumLondon, UK
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Labandeira CC. A paleobiologic perspective on plant-insect interactions. CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY 2013; 16:414-421. [PMID: 23829938 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2013.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2013] [Revised: 05/24/2013] [Accepted: 06/07/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Fossil plant-insect associations (PIAs) such as herbivory and pollination have become increasingly relevant to paleobiology and biology. Researchers studying fossil PIAs now employ procedures for assuring unbiased representation of field specimens, use of varied analytical quantitative techniques, and address ecological and evolutionarily important issues. For herbivory, the major developments are: Late Silurian-Middle Devonian (ca. 420-385Ma) origin of herbivory; Late Pennsylvanian (318-299Ma) expansion of herbivory; Permian (299-252Ma) herbivore colonization of new habitats; consequences of the end-Permian (252Ma) global crisis; early Mesozoic (ca. 235-215Ma) rediversification of plants and herbivores; end-Cretaceous (66.5Ma) effects on extinction; and biological effects of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) (55.8Ma). For pollination, salient issues include: Permian pollination evidence; the plant hosts of mid-Mesozoic (ca. 160-110Ma) long-proboscid pollinators; and effect of the angiosperm revolution (ca. 125-90Ma) on earlier pollinator relationships. Multispecies interaction studies, such as contrasting damage types with insect diversity and establishing robust food webs, expand the compass and relevance of past PIAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conrad C Labandeira
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Paleobiology, Washington, DC 20013, USA.
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50
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Abstract
A near-perfect mimetic association between a mecopteran insect species and a ginkgoalean plant species from the late Middle Jurassic of northeastern China recently has been discovered. The association stems from a case of mixed identity between a particular plant and an insect in the laboratory and the field. This confusion is explained as a case of leaf mimesis, wherein the appearance of the multilobed leaf of Yimaia capituliformis (the ginkgoalean model) was accurately replicated by the wings and abdomen of the cimbrophlebiid Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia (the hangingfly mimic). Our results suggest that hangingflies developed leaf mimesis either as an antipredator avoidance device or possibly as a predatory strategy to provide an antiherbivore function for its plant hosts, thus gaining mutual benefit for both the hangingfly and the ginkgo species. This documentation of mimesis is a rare occasion whereby exquisitely preserved, co-occurring fossils occupy a narrow spatiotemporal window that reveal likely reciprocal mechanisms which plants and insects provide mutual defensive support during their preangiospermous evolutionary histories.
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