QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

About the Cover

Cover: Flight in insects is supported by metabolic rates that are amongst the highest measured in animals. Among orchid bees (Eulaema meriana shown) ranging 20-fold in body mass, flight metabolic rate (VCO2) is strongly associated with species body mass. Using a comparative phylogenetic approach, Darveau et al. (p. 3581) found correlated evolution between wing size, wingbeat frequency (n) and mass-specific metabolic rate, thus explaining the strong association with species body mass. Orchid bees fuel flight using carbohydrates (Suarez et al., p. 3573). The activity of the glycolytic enzyme hexokinase (HK), which catalyzes an important entry step in carbohydrate oxidation, was shown to be strongly correlated with species body mass and with metabolic rate (Darveau et al., p. 3593). Photograph by Charles-A. Darveau.

[Table of Contents]