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Palacino-Rodríguez F, Silva Brito J, Juen L, Palacino Penagos DA. Behavioral Diversity Among Odonata Larvae Increases in Water with Greater Turbidity Under Captivity Conditions. NEOTROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2024; 53:726-737. [PMID: 38954393 DOI: 10.1007/s13744-024-01170-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Various factors, including environmental variables, influence the behavior of aquatic insects. However, our understanding of insect behavior and their relationships with these variables remains limited. One important variable is water turbidity, which may be exacerbated by soil erosion, directly impacting visibility in the water and potentially affecting the organism's behaviors. In this study, we investigated larval behavior across seven Odonata species under controlled conditions, examining variations in behavioral diversity (frequency and type) associated with sex and three levels of water turbidity. Our findings revealed that heightened water turbidity correlated with increased behavior frequency, possibly attributable to predator avoidance in darker, seemingly safer habitats. Furthermore, behavior diversity differed between sexes, being higher for males in certain categories and for females in others. Anisoptera species predominantly displayed behaviors like resting, eating, and prey capture, whereas Zygoptera larvae were often observed perching and walking, possibly indicative of distinct predator response strategies. Behaviors shared by Anisoptera larvae could be associated with similar responses to predators and capture of prey. Our study found an increased frequency of behaviors when the larvae are in water with higher turbidity. Behavior frequency disparities between the sexes were observed across various behaviors, likely influenced by species-specific activity levels and individual behavioral plasticity in response to environmental cues. Overall, individuals exhibited heightened behavioral activity in environments with elevated turbidity, potentially reflecting a perceived lower risk environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fredy Palacino-Rodríguez
- Sección Etología, Facultad de Ciencias, Univ de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
- Grupo de Investigación en Odonatos y otros artrópodos de Colombia y el Neotrópico, Centro de Investigación en Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia.
| | - Joás Silva Brito
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Univ Federal do Pará UFPA, Belém, Brazil
| | - Leandro Juen
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Univ Federal do Pará UFPA, Belém, Brazil
| | - Diego Andrés Palacino Penagos
- Grupo de Investigación en Odonatos y otros artrópodos de Colombia y el Neotrópico, Centro de Investigación en Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
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Birkenfeld V, Gorb SN, Krings W. Mandible elemental composition and mechanical properties from distinct castes of the leafcutter ant Atta laevigata (Attini; Formicidae). Interface Focus 2024; 14:20230048. [PMID: 38618230 PMCID: PMC11008964 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2023.0048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Leafcutter ant colonies are divided into castes with the individuals performing different tasks, based mostly on size. With the mandibles, the small minims care for the brood or the fungus, whereas the larger minors and mediae cut and transport plant material, with the ant size positively related to the material size. The mechanical properties and composition of the mandible cuticle have been previously tested in the soldiers as the largest caste, revealing that the cutting edges contained high contents of the cross-linking transition metal zinc (Zn). With regard to the smaller castes, no data are present. To study how the mandible size and function relates to its mechanical properties, we here tested the mandibles of minims, minors and mediae by nanoindentation. We found that the hardness (H) and Young's modulus (E) values increased with increasing ant size and that the mandible cutting edges in each caste have the highest H- and E-values. To gain insight into the origins of these properties, we characterized the elemental composition by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, revealing that minors and mediae possessed higher content of Zn in the cutting edges in contrast to the minims containing significantly less Zn. This shows, that Zn content relates to higher mechanical property values. Additionally, it shows that all of these parameters can differ within a single species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Birkenfeld
- Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1–9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Stanislav N. Gorb
- Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1–9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Wencke Krings
- Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1–9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
- Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, Universität Leipzig, Liebigstraße 12, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Cell and Systems Biology of Animals, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Mammalogy and Palaeoanthropology, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
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Krings W, Below P, Gorb SN. Mandible mechanical properties and composition of the larval Glossosoma boltoni (Trichoptera, Insecta). Sci Rep 2024; 14:4695. [PMID: 38409429 PMCID: PMC10897335 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55211-5] [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: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Insect feeding structures, such as mandibles, interact with the ingesta (food or/and substrate) and can be adapted in morphology, composition of material and mechanical properties. The foraging on abrasive ingesta, as on algae covering rocks, is particularly challenging because the mandibles will be prone to wear and structural failure, thus suggesting the presence of mandibular adaptations to accompany this feeding behavior. Adaptations to this are well studied in the mouthparts of molluscs and sea urchins, but for insects there are large gaps in our knowledge. In this study, we investigated the mandibles of a grazing insect, the larvae of the trichopteran Glossosoma boltoni. Using scanning electron microscopy, wear was documented on the mandibles. The highest degree was identified on the medial surface of the sharp mandible tip. Using nanoindentation, the mechanical properties, such as hardness and Young's modulus, of the medial and lateral mandible cuticles were tested. We found, that the medial cuticle of the tip was significantly softer and more flexible than the lateral one. These findings indicate that a self-sharpening mechanism is present in the mandibles of this species, since the softer medial cuticle is probably abraded faster than the harder lateral one, leading to sharp mandible tips. To investigate the origins of these properties, we visualized the degree of tanning by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The autofluorescence signal related to the mechanical property gradients. The presence of transition and alkaline earth metals by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was also tested. We found Ca, Cl, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P, S, Si, and Zn in the cuticle, but the content was very low and did not correlate with the mechanical property values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wencke Krings
- Department of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Cell and Systems Biology of Animals, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, Universität Leipzig, Liebigstraße 12, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Mammalogy and Palaeoanthropology, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118, Kiel, Germany.
| | - Patrick Below
- Department of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Cell and Systems Biology of Animals, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Mammalogy and Palaeoanthropology, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Stanislav N Gorb
- Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118, Kiel, Germany
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