Lepidoptera
- Effects of natural wing damage on flight performance in Morpho butterflies: what can it tell us about wing shape evolution?
Summary: Investigation of natural wing damage in Morpho butterflies shows that flight performance depends on damage location, indicating that different wing parts play different roles during flight.
- Context dependency of in-flight responses by Manduca sexta moths to ambient differences in relative humidity
Summary: Manduca sexta hawkmoths orient toward currents of air with higher relative humidity during upwind flight in a wind tunnel, but floral sensory stimuli override this behavior.
- Sources of variance in immunological traits: evidence of congruent latitudinal trends across species
Summary: Geographic variability of immune responses in moths is species specific and suggests trade-offs with life-history traits.
- Transcriptome profiling reveals mechanisms for the evolution of insect seasonality
Summary: Evolutionary changes to the timing of diapause will be key for insects to adapt to a globally warming climate; putative loci responsible for timing shifts are identified.
- The rectal complex and Malpighian tubules of the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni): regional variations in Na+ and K+ transport and cation reabsorption by secondary cells
Highlighted article: Scanning ion-selective electrode technique analysis of the intact excretory system of cabbage looper larvae reveals regional variations in Na+ and K+ transport and a novel function for the secondary cells.
- Dynamic digestive physiology of a female reproductive organ in a polyandrous butterfly
Highlighted article: The bursa copulatrix, a female reproductive organ that processes the male ejaculate in butterflies and moths, exhibits extreme state-dependent proteolytic activity using a complement of nine highly expressed proteases.
- Sex pheromones in mate assessment: analysis of nutrient cost of sex pheromone production by females of the moth Heliothis virescens
Summary: Pheromone biosynthesis uses insignificant quantities of the nutrients available and therefore imposes negligible metabolic cost to the moth Heliothis virescens.