Insects ‘Down Under’– Diversity, endemism and evolution of the Australian insect fauna: examples from select orders

Austin, Andrew D.; Yeates, David K.; Cassis, Gerasimos; Fletcher, Murray J.; LaSalle, J.; Lawrence, John F.; McQuillan, PB; Mound, Laurence A.; Bickel, D J; Gullan, Penny J.; Hales, Dinah F.; Taylor, Gary S.

doi:10.1111/j.1326-6756.2004.00448.x

Cited by 110 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…However, detailed molecular phylogenetic analyses in the region remain rare for arthropods (Garb & Gillespie 2006) and particularly insects (Austin et al 2004). The few existing studies suggest, for example, unidirectional colonization of New Guinea and Melanesia out of Eurasia via Wallacea (Leys et al 2002;Kodandaramaiah & Wahlberg 2007), or out of Australia (Balke et al 2007a;Braby & Pierce 2007) followed by recent local radiations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Guinea highland origin of a widespread arthropod supertramp

et al. 2009

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The biologically and geologically extremely diverse archipelagos of Wallacea, Australasia and Oceania have long stimulated ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Yet, few molecular phylogenetic analyses of the terrestrial fauna have been carried out to understand the evolutionary patterns. We use dense taxon and character sampling of more than 7000 bp DNA sequence data for a group of diving beetles ranging from the Holarctic throughout Asia to as far east as French Polynesia. We here show that an ecologically diverse, common and widespread (Portugal to New Zealand) arthropod supertramp species originated in the highlands of New Guinea, ca 6.0-2.7 Myr ago. The approximately 25 closely related species are narrow endemics in Australasia/Oceania. The ancestor of this clade colonized that region from Eurasia ca 9-7 Myr ago. Our finding contradicts the widely held view of local endemism as an evolutionary dead end, as we find multiple peripatric speciation events within the Pleistocene and complex colonization patterns between the Oriental and Australian zoogeographic regions, including the recolonization of Eurasia, jumping across Wallace's line and colonization of continental Australia out of New Guinea. Our study strongly highlights the importance of dispersal over water gaps in shaping biogeographic patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Guinea highland origin of a widespread arthropod supertramp

et al. 2009

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“…Australian species (i.e. approximately 15% of the world's psyllid fauna) are of particular interest with regard to host specificity because of their explosive radiation on myrtaceous hosts; 90% of these species feed on Eucalyptus alone (Yen, 2002;Austin et al, 2004;Hollis, 2004;de Queiroz et al, 2012). Currently, the mechanisms that underpin psyllid host specificity, such as host finding, nutrition and dispersal, are not well understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual acuity trade-offs and microhabitat driven adaptation of searching behaviour in psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae)

Farnier

Dyer

Taylor

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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There was an error published in J. Exp. Biol. 218, 1564-1571.The images in Fig. 5 were mislabelled. The correct version is given below.The authors apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. ABSTRACTInsects have evolved morphological and physiological adaptations in response to selection pressures inherent to their ecology. Consequently, visual performance and acuity often significantly vary between different insect species. Whilst psychophysics has allowed for the accurate determination of visual acuity for some Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, very little is known about other insect taxa that cannot be trained to positively respond to a given stimulus. In this study, we demonstrate that prior knowledge of insect colour preferences can be used to facilitate acuity testing. We focused on four psyllid species (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae), namely Ctenarytaina eucalypti, Ctenarytaina bipartita, Anoeconeossa bundoorensis and Glycaspis brimblecombei, that differ in their colour preferences and utilization of different host-plant modules (e.g. apical buds, stems, leaf lamellae) and tested their visual acuity in a modified Y-maze adapted to suit psyllid searching behaviour. Our study revealed that psyllids have visual acuity ranging from 6.3 to 8.7 deg. Morphological measurements for different species showed a close match between inter-ommatidial angles and behaviourally determined visual angles (between 5.5 and 6.6 deg) suggesting detection of colour stimuli at the single ommatidium level. Whilst our data support isometric scaling of psyllids' eyes for C. eucalypti, C. bipartita and G. brimblecombei, a morphological trade-off between light sensitivity and spatial resolution was found in A. bundoorensis. Overall, species whose microhabitat preferences require more movement between modules appear to possess superior visual acuity. The psyllid searching behaviours that we describe with the help of tracking software depict species-specific strategies that presumably evolved to optimize searching for food and oviposition sites.

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“…Cuticular hydrocarbons also are utilized by some social insects to mediate dominance and fertility (Liebig 2010 ). In non social insects, CHCs play a role as short range mate recognition cues (Drijfhout et al 2003; Steiger et al 2013 The superfamily Psylloidea is highly diverse, comprising over 3800 described species distributed worldwide in all major zoogeographical regions (Austin et al 2004; Burckhardt et al 2014. Psyllids are exclusively phytophagous, and some species are economically important because they vector plant pathogens (Hall et al 2013; Hung et al 2004; Munyaneza et al 2007 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long and the Short of Mate Attraction in a Psylloid: do Semiochemicals Mediate Mating in Aacanthocnema dobsoni Froggatt?

et al. 2016

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Mating is preceded by a series of interdependent events that can be broadly categorized into searching and courtship. Long range signals convey species and sex specific information during searching, while short range signals provide information specific to individuals during courtship. Studies have shown that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can be used for mate recognition in addition to protecting insects from desiccation. In Psylloidea, four species rely on semiochemicals for long range mate attraction. Psyllid mating research has focused on long range mate attraction and has largely ignored the potential use of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) as mate recognition cues. This study investigated whether CHCs of Aacanthocnema dobsoni have semiochemical activity for long and short range communication prior to mating. Using a solid sampler for solvent less injection of whole psyllids into coupled gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we found quantitative, sex and age related differences in CHC profiles. Males had higher proportions of 2 MeC , 11,15 diMeC , and n C alkanes, while females had higher proportions of 5 MeC , 3 MeC , 5,15 diMeC , n C and n C alkanes. In males and females, 84 and 68 % of CHCs varied with age, respectively. Y tube olfactometer bioassays provided no evidence that males or females responded to odors emanating from groups of conspecifics of the opposite sex. Tests of male and female psyllids for attraction to branchlets previously occupied by conspecifics showed no evidence of attraction to possible semiochemical residues. Our short range chemoreception bioassay showed that males were as indifferent to freshly killed individuals of either sex with intact CHC profiles as to those treated with hexane (to remove CHCs). Aacanthocnema dobsoni utilizes substrate-borne vibrations (SBVs) for communication. Therefore, our results indicate that SBVs are probably more important than semiochemicals for long range mate attraction. Furthermore, CHCs are unlikely to mediate short range mate recognition or provide mate assessment cues.

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Insects ‘Down Under’– Diversity, endemism and evolution of the Australian insect fauna: examples from select orders

Cited by 110 publications

References 115 publications

New Guinea highland origin of a widespread arthropod supertramp

New Guinea highland origin of a widespread arthropod supertramp

Visual acuity trade-offs and microhabitat driven adaptation of searching behaviour in psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae)

The Long and the Short of Mate Attraction in a Psylloid: do Semiochemicals Mediate Mating in Aacanthocnema dobsoni Froggatt?

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