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Kittelmann M, McGregor AP. Looking across the gap: Understanding the evolution of eyes and vision among insects. Bioessays 2024; 46:e2300240. [PMID: 38593308 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202300240] [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: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
The compound eyes of insects exhibit stunning variation in size, structure, and function, which has allowed these animals to use their vision to adapt to a huge range of different environments and lifestyles, and evolve complex behaviors. Much of our knowledge of eye development has been learned from Drosophila, while visual adaptations and behaviors are often more striking and better understood from studies of other insects. However, recent studies in Drosophila and other insects, including bees, beetles, and butterflies, have begun to address this gap by revealing the genetic and developmental bases of differences in eye morphology and key new aspects of compound eye structure and function. Furthermore, technical advances have facilitated the generation of high-resolution connectomic data from different insect species that enhances our understanding of visual information processing, and the impact of changes in these processes on the evolution of vision and behavior. Here, we review these recent breakthroughs and propose that future integrated research from the development to function of visual systems within and among insect species represents a great opportunity to understand the remarkable diversification of insect eyes and vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maike Kittelmann
- Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
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2
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Dalbosco Dell'Aglio D, Rivas-Sánchez DF, Wright DS, Merrill RM, Montgomery SH. The Sensory Ecology of Speciation. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2024; 16:a041428. [PMID: 38052495 PMCID: PMC10759811 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we explore the potential influence of sensory ecology on speciation, including but not limited to the concept of sensory drive, which concerns the coevolution of signals and sensory systems with the local environment. The sensory environment can influence individual fitness in a variety of ways, thereby affecting the evolution of both pre- and postmating reproductive isolation. Previous work focused on sensory drive has undoubtedly advanced the field, but we argue that it may have also narrowed our understanding of the broader influence of the sensory ecology on speciation. Moreover, the clearest examples of sensory drive are largely limited to aquatic organisms, which may skew the influence of contributing factors. We review the evidence for sensory drive across environmental conditions, and in this context discuss the importance of more generalized effects of sensory ecology on adaptive behavioral divergence. Finally, we consider the potential of rapid environmental change to influence reproductive barriers related to sensory ecologies. Our synthesis shows the importance of sensory conditions for local adaptation and divergence in a range of behavioral contexts and extends our understanding of the interplay between sensory ecology and speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise Dalbosco Dell'Aglio
- School of Biological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa 0843-03092, Panama
| | - David F Rivas-Sánchez
- School of Biological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Shane Wright
- Faculty of Biology, Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU Munich, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Richard M Merrill
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa 0843-03092, Panama
- Faculty of Biology, Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU Munich, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Stephen H Montgomery
- School of Biological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa 0843-03092, Panama
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3
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Jernigan CM, Uy FM. Impact of the social environment in insect sensory systems. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 59:101083. [PMID: 37423425 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
The social environment has a direct impact on sensory systems and unquestionable consequences on allocation of neural tissue. Although neuroplasticity is adaptive, responses to different social contexts may be mediated by energetic constraints and/or trade-offs between sensory modalities. However, general patterns of sensory plasticity remain elusive due to variability in experimental approaches. Here, we highlight recent studies in social Hymenoptera showing effects of the social environment on sensory systems. Further, we propose to identify a core set of socially mediated mechanisms that drive sensory plasticity. We hope this approach is widely adopted in different insect clades under a phylogenetic framework, which will allow for a more direct integration of the how and why questions exploring sensory plasticity evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher M Jernigan
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, NY, USA.
| | - Floria Mk Uy
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
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4
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Bartholomée O, Dwyer C, Tichit P, Caplat P, Baird E, Smith HG. Shining a light on species coexistence: visual traits drive bumblebee communities. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222548. [PMID: 37040802 PMCID: PMC10089714 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Local coexistence of bees has been explained by flower resource partitioning, but coexisting bumblebee species often have strongly overlapping diets. We investigated if light microhabitat niche separation, underpinned by visual traits, could serve as an alternative mechanism underlying local coexistence of bumblebee species. To this end, we focused on a homogeneous flower resource-bilberry-in a heterogeneous light environment-hemi-boreal forests. We found that bumblebee communities segregated along a gradient of light intensity. The community-weighted mean of the eye parameter-a metric measuring the compromise between light sensitivity and visual resolution-decreased with light intensity, showing a higher investment in light sensitivity of communities observed in darker conditions. This pattern was consistent at the species level. In general, species with higher eye parameter (larger investment in light sensitivity) foraged in dimmer light than those with a lower eye parameter (higher investment in visual resolution). Moreover, species realized niche optimum was linearly related to their eye parameter. These results suggest microhabitat niche partitioning to be a potential mechanism underpinning bumblebee species coexistence. This study highlights the importance of considering sensory traits when studying pollinator habitat use and their ability to cope with changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Océane Bartholomée
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
| | - Ciara Dwyer
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
| | - Pierre Tichit
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 10691, Sweden
| | - Paul Caplat
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
- Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, BT9 5DL UK
| | - Emily Baird
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 10691, Sweden
| | - Henrik G Smith
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund 22362, Sweden
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5
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Keesey IW. Sensory neuroecology and multimodal evolution across the genus Drosophila. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.932344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural basis and genetic mechanisms for sensory evolution are increasingly being explored in depth across many closely related members of the Drosophila genus. This has, in part, been achieved due to the immense efforts toward adapting gene-editing technologies for additional, non-model species. Studies targeting both peripheral sensory variations, as well as interspecies divergence in coding or neural connectivity, have generated numerous, tangible examples of how and where the evolution of sensory-driven animal behavior has occurred. Here, we review and discuss studies that each aim to identify the neurobiological and genetic components of sensory system evolution to provide a comparative overview of the types of functional variations observed across both perceptual input and behavioral output. In addition, we examined the roles neuroecology and neuroevolution play in speciation events, such as courtship and intraspecies communication, as well as those aspects related to behavioral divergence in host navigation or egg-laying preferences. Through the investigation of comparative, large-scale trends and correlations across diverse, yet closely related species within this highly ecologically variable genus of flies, we can begin to describe the underlying pressures, mechanisms, and constraints that have guided sensory and nervous system evolution within the natural environments of these organisms.
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6
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Keesey IW, Zhang J, Depetris-Chauvin A, Obiero GF, Gupta A, Gupta N, Vogel H, Knaden M, Hansson BS. Functional olfactory evolution in Drosophila suzukii and the subgenus Sophophora. iScience 2022; 25:104212. [PMID: 35573203 PMCID: PMC9093017 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
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7
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Gandia KM, Cappa F, Baracchi D, Hauber ME, Beani L, Uy FMK. Caste, Sex, and Parasitism Influence Brain Plasticity in a Social Wasp. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.803437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain plasticity is widespread in nature, as it enables adaptive responses to sensory demands associated with novel stimuli, environmental changes and social conditions. Social Hymenoptera are particularly well-suited to study neuroplasticity, because the division of labor amongst females and the different life histories of males and females are associated with specific sensory needs. Here, we take advantage of the social wasp Polistes dominula to explore if brain plasticity is influenced by caste and sex, and the exploitation by the strepsipteran parasite Xenos vesparum. Within sexes, male wasps had proportionally larger optic lobes, while females had larger antennal lobes, which is consistent with the sensory needs of sex-specific life histories. Within castes, reproductive females had larger mushroom body calyces, as predicted by their sensory needs for extensive within-colony interactions and winter aggregations, than workers who frequently forage for nest material and prey. Parasites had different effects on female and male hosts. Contrary to our predictions, female workers were castrated and behaviorally manipulated by female or male parasites, but only showed moderate differences in brain tissue allocation compared to non-parasitized workers. Parasitized males maintained their reproductive apparatus and sexual behavior. However, they had smaller brains and larger sensory brain regions than non-parasitized males. Our findings confirm that caste and sex mediate brain plasticity in P. dominula, and that parasitic manipulation drives differential allocation of brain regions depending on host sex.
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Rozanski AN, Cini A, Lopreto TE, Gandia KM, Hauber ME, Cervo R, Uy FMK. Differential investment in visual and olfactory brain regions is linked to the sensory needs of a wasp social parasite and its host. J Comp Neurol 2021; 530:756-767. [PMID: 34473851 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Obligate insect social parasites evolve traits to effectively locate and then exploit their hosts, whereas hosts have complex social behavioral repertoires, which include sensory recognition to reject potential conspecific intruders and heterospecific parasites. While social parasites and host behaviors have been studied extensively, less is known about how their sensory systems function to meet their specific selective pressures. Here, we compare investment in visual and olfactory brain regions in the paper wasp Polistes dominula, and its obligate social parasite P. sulcifer, to explore the links among sensory systems,brain and behavior. Our results show significant relative volumetric differences between these two closely related species, consistent with their very different life histories. Social parasites show proportionally larger optic lobes and central complex to likely navigate long-distance migrations and unfamiliar landscapes to locate the specific species of hosts they usurp. Contrastingly, hosts have larger antennal lobes and calyces of the mushroom bodies compared with social parasites, as predicted by their sensory means to maintain social cohesion via olfactory signals, allocate colony tasks, forage, and recognize conspecific and heterospecific intruders. Our work suggests how this tradeoff between visual and olfactory brain regions may facilitate different sensory adaptations needed to perform social and foraging tasks by the host, including recognition of parasites, or to fly long distances and successful host localizing by the social parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alessandro Cini
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy.,Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, London, UK
| | - Taylor E Lopreto
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
| | - Kristine M Gandia
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Rita Cervo
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy
| | - Floria M K Uy
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
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Jiao H, Wang Q, Wang BJ, Li K, Lövy M, Nevo E, Li Q, Su W, Jiang P, Zhao H. Local adaptation of bitter taste and ecological speciation in a wild mammal. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:4562-4572. [PMID: 34240186 PMCID: PMC8476172 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory systems are attractive evolutionary models to address how organisms adapt to local environments that can cause ecological speciation. However, tests of these evolutionary models have focused on visual, auditory, and olfactory senses. Here, we show local adaptation of bitter taste receptor genes in two neighboring populations of a wild mammal—the blind mole rat Spalax galili—that show ecological speciation in divergent soil environments. We found that basalt-type bitter receptors showed higher response intensity and sensitivity compared with chalk-type ones using both genetic and cell-based functional analyses. Such functional changes could help animals adapted to basalt soil select plants with less bitterness from diverse local foods, whereas a weaker reception to bitter taste may allow consumption of a greater range of plants for animals inhabiting chalk soil with a scarcity of food supply. Our study shows divergent selection on food resources through local adaptation of bitter receptors, and suggests that taste plays an important yet underappreciated role in speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hengwu Jiao
- Department of Ecology, Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University-Tibet University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Qian Wang
- Department of Ecology, Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University-Tibet University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Bing-Jun Wang
- Department of Ecology, Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University-Tibet University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Kexin Li
- Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel.,State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem, Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Matěj Lövy
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic
| | - Eviatar Nevo
- Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Qiyang Li
- Department of Ecology, Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University-Tibet University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Wenchuan Su
- Department of Ecology, Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University-Tibet University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Peihua Jiang
- Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, USA
| | - Huabin Zhao
- Department of Ecology, Tibetan Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Wuhan University-Tibet University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.,Research Center for Ecology, College of Science, Tibet University, Lhasa, 850000, China
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10
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Neural divergence and hybrid disruption between ecologically isolated Heliconius butterflies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2015102118. [PMID: 33547240 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015102118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The importance of behavioral evolution during speciation is well established, but we know little about how this is manifest in sensory and neural systems. A handful of studies have linked specific neural changes to divergence in host or mate preferences associated with speciation. However, the degree to which brains are adapted to local environmental conditions, and whether this contributes to reproductive isolation between close relatives that have diverged in ecology, remains unknown. Here, we examine divergence in brain morphology and neural gene expression between closely related, but ecologically distinct, Heliconius butterflies. Despite ongoing gene flow, sympatric species pairs within the melpomene-cydno complex are consistently separated across a gradient of open to closed forest and decreasing light intensity. By generating quantitative neuroanatomical data for 107 butterflies, we show that Heliconius melpomene and Heliconius cydno clades have substantial shifts in brain morphology across their geographic range, with divergent structures clustered in the visual system. These neuroanatomical differences are mirrored by extensive divergence in neural gene expression. Differences in both neural morphology and gene expression are heritable, exceed expected rates of neutral divergence, and result in intermediate traits in first-generation hybrid offspring. Strong evidence of divergent selection implies local adaptation to distinct selective optima in each parental microhabitat, suggesting the intermediate traits of hybrids are poorly matched to either condition. Neural traits may therefore contribute to coincident barriers to gene flow, thereby helping to facilitate speciation.
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11
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Gong H, Prieto-Godino L. Shining a light on the origin of fly species. eLife 2020; 9:60600. [PMID: 32755544 PMCID: PMC7406348 DOI: 10.7554/elife.60600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural light gradients within a habitat may have helped form new fly species that have differing preferences for light.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Gong
- Neural Circuits and Evolution lab, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lucia Prieto-Godino
- Neural Circuits and Evolution lab, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
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12
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Keesey IW, Grabe V, Knaden M, Hansson BS. Divergent sensory investment mirrors potential speciation via niche partitioning across Drosophila. eLife 2020; 9:e57008. [PMID: 32602834 PMCID: PMC7402680 DOI: 10.7554/elife.57008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The examination of phylogenetic and phenotypic characteristics of the nervous system, such as behavior and neuroanatomy, can be utilized as a means to assess speciation. Recent studies have proposed a fundamental tradeoff between two sensory organs, the eye and the antenna. However, the identification of ecological mechanisms for this observed tradeoff have not been firmly established. Our current study examines several monophyletic species within the obscura group, and asserts that despite their close relatedness and overlapping ecology, they deviate strongly in both visual and olfactory investment. We contend that both courtship and microhabitat preferences support the observed inverse variation in these sensory traits. Here, this variation in visual and olfactory investment seems to provide relaxed competition, a process by which similar species can use a shared environment differently and in ways that help them coexist. Moreover, that behavioral separation according to light gradients occurs first, and subsequently, courtship deviations arise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian W Keesey
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPICE), Department of Evolutionary NeuroethologyJenaGermany
| | - Veit Grabe
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPICE), Department of Evolutionary NeuroethologyJenaGermany
| | - Markus Knaden
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPICE), Department of Evolutionary NeuroethologyJenaGermany
| | - Bill S Hansson
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPICE), Department of Evolutionary NeuroethologyJenaGermany
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