Mechanism of the wing colouration in the dragonfly Zenithoptera lanei (Odonata: Libellulidae) and its role in intraspecific communication

Ferreira, Rhainer Guillermo Nascimento; Bispo, Pitágoras C.; Appel, Esther; Kovalev, Alexander; Gorb, Stanislav N.

doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.07.010

Cited by 37 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While the wings of many odonates are transparent, those of some species are conspicuously coloured. Recent studies have shown that colour formation on the wing membranes relies on pigmentation, optical interference by multilayers in the cuticle, light scattering by waxy structures, or a combination of these mechanisms [20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pterin-pigmented nanospheres create the colours of the polymorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans

Henze

Lind

Wilts

et al. 2019

J. R. Soc. Interface.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal colours commonly act as signals for mates or predators. In many damselfly species, both sexes go through a developmental colour change as adults, and females often show colour polymorphism, which may have a function in mate choice, avoidance of mating harassment and camouflage. In the blue-tailed damselfly, Ischnura elegans, young males are bright green and turn blue as they reach maturity. Females are red (rufescens) or violet (violacea) as immatures and, when mature, either mimic the blue colour of the males (androchrome), or acquire an inconspicuous olive-green (infuscans) or olive-brown (obsoleta). The genetic basis of these differences is still unknown. Here, we quantify the colour development of all morphs of I. elegans and investigate colour formation by combining anatomical data and reflectance spectra with optical finite-difference time-domain simulations. While the coloration primarily arises from a disordered assembly of nanospheres in the epidermis, morph-dependent changes result from adjustments in the composition of pterin pigments within the nanospheres, and from associated shifts in optical density. Other pigments fine-tune hue and brilliance by absorbing stray light. These mechanisms produce an impressive palette of colours and offer guidance for genetic studies on the evolution of colour polymorphism and visual communication.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pterin-pigmented nanospheres create the colours of the polymorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans

Henze

Lind

Wilts

et al. 2019

J. R. Soc. Interface.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Zenithoptera lanei have extremely bright-blue-coloured wings, and therefore are often called Morpho among dragonflies (figure 1a) [25]. The present study shows for the first time that their wing membranes are supplemented with extremely fine taenidia-bearing trachea, with diameters of typical insect tracheoles (0.3-2.0 mm) [11].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 50%

“…Usually, cuticular wax crystals have a similar size, shape and abundance on the dorsal and ventral wing surfaces, resembling filaments and rods [24]. While Z. lanei males exhibit normal crystals on the ventral surface of the wings, they have two hierarchically organized layers of wax crystals on the dorsal surface: a lower layer of extremely long filaments and an upper layer of leaf-shaped crystals [25]. Females also exhibit thick wax coverage on the dorsal surface of the wings, but do not have such a complex hierarchical structure of wax crystals as males.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unusual tracheal system within the wing membrane of a dragonfly

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Some consider that the first winged insects had living tissue inside the wing membrane, resembling larval gills or developing wing pads. However, throughout the developmental process of the wing membrane of modern insects, cells and tracheoles in the lumen between dorsal and ventral cuticle disappear and both cuticles become fused. This process results in the rather thin rigid stable structure of the membrane. The herewith described remarkable case of the dragonfly shows that in some highly specialized wings, the membrane can still be supplemented by tracheae. Such a characteristic of the wing membrane presumably represents a strong specialization for the synthesis of melanin-filled nanolayers of the cuticle, nanospheres inside the wing membrane and complex arrangement of wax crystals on the membrane surface, all responsible for unique structural coloration.

show abstract

“…With the expansion of this design to cover a range of prey size treatments in two different colour patterns, we were also able to rule out a potential interaction between prey colour pattern and size. Colour cues are clearly used in conspecific identification and communication, since odonates exhibit a wide variety of colours and patterns that can vary intra- and inter-specifically [28, 29]. “Percher” dragonflies have specialized ommatidia on the dorsal portion of their eye which allows them to see prey against a bright sky backdrop [30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of adult dragonflies to artificial prey of different size and colour

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aposematism is an evolved, cross-species association between a preys’ unprofitability and the presence of conspicuous signals. Avian predators have been widely employed to understand the evolution of these warning signals However, insect predators are abundant, diverse, and highly visual foragers that have been shown to be capable of learned aversion. Therefore, it is likely that their behaviour also shapes the nature of anti-predator traits. In this study, we evaluated the rates of attack of a community (13 species) of mature adult dragonflies (Odonata) on artificial prey of varying size (2.5–31 mm lengthwise) and colour pattern (black, black/yellow striped). The relative attack rates of dragonflies on prey increased as prey size decreased, but there was no evidence that the attack rates by dragonflies were affected by prey colour pattern and no evidence for an interaction between colour pattern and size. To investigate prey selection by specific predator species under field conditions, we compared the time to attack distributions of black-painted prey presented to two common dragonflies: Leucorrhinia intacta and the larger, Libellula pulchella. We found that the two dragonfly species, as well as the two sexes, had different foraging responses. L. pulchella was more likely to attack larger prey, and females of both species more likely to attack prey than males. Collectively, our results indicate that dragonflies are highly size selective. However, while the nature of this selectivity varies among dragonfly species, there is little evidence that classic black/yellow warning signals deter attack by these aerial invertebrate predators.

show abstract

Mechanism of the wing colouration in the dragonfly Zenithoptera lanei (Odonata: Libellulidae) and its role in intraspecific communication

Cited by 37 publications

References 40 publications

Pterin-pigmented nanospheres create the colours of the polymorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans

Pterin-pigmented nanospheres create the colours of the polymorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans

The unusual tracheal system within the wing membrane of a dragonfly

Response of adult dragonflies to artificial prey of different size and colour

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About