Sexually dimorphic antennal structures of New Zealand Cave Wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)

Fea, Murray; Mark, Cassandra J; Holwell, Gregory I.

doi:10.1080/03014223.2018.1520266

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…A detail that has received little attention so far in the study of New Zealand Rhaphidophoridae is the structure of the antennae. The sensory hair tufts on the antennae of some (but not all) adult male Pleioplectron appear to be unique to this genus, and different from the antennal structures in Pachyrhamma Brunner von Wattenvyl, 1888 (Fea et al 2019). While their precise function is currently unknown, typically, the sexually dimorphic structures of insect antennae have the purpose of increasing surface area for sensory perception in males (Fea et al 2019).…”

Section: Differentiation Of Pleioplectron From Other Genera Of Rhaphidophoridae In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 97%

Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species

Hegg¹,

Morgan‐Richards

Trewick

2019

EJT

823

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The genus Pleioplectron was first described by Hutton (1896) and included six New Zealand species. This genus has since had three species moved, one each to the genera Pachyrhamma Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888, Miotopus Hutton, 1898 and Novoplectron Richards, 1958. Here we clarify the status and appearance of Pleioplectron simplex Hutton, 1896 (incl. P. pectinatum Hutton, 1896 syn. nov.) and P. hudsoni Hutton, 1896, as well as P. thomsoni (Chopard, 1923) comb. nov., which is transferred from the genus Weta Chopard, 1923. The genus Weta is newly synonymised with Pleioplectron. We also describe seven new species of Pleioplectron from South Island, New Zealand: P. auratum sp. nov., P. caudatum sp. nov, P. crystallae sp. nov., P. flavicorne sp. nov., P. gubernator sp. nov., P. rodmorrisi sp. nov and P. triquetrum sp. nov. We base these descriptions on morphology using fresh specimens of both male and female adults, and provide support for each with DNA sequence variation (mtDNA, partial COI).

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Section: Differentiation Of Pleioplectron From Other Genera Of Rhaphidophoridae In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 97%

Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species

Hegg¹,

Morgan‐Richards

Trewick

2019

EJT

823

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“…This is the case with two species of closely related cave wētā (Orthoptera), Pachyrhamma waitomoensis and P. acanthocera. Several sensilla subtypes associated with chemoreception are absent in male P. waitomoensis that are not absent in male P. acanthocera, which may be due to differences in the structural complexity of the respective species' habitats (M. P. Fea et al, 2019).…”

Section: Scramble Competition and The Selective Pressures At Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schneider et al, 2012). Following the methodology of Fea et al (2019), I measured length of sensilla from the base to the apex, the width of base, width of tip and socket width for sensilla in both sexes (2 female individuals and 4 male individuals). The mean and standard error are reported.…”

Section: Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insects as Food in Aotearoa New Zealand

Birrell

2024

Preprint

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Edible insects have been proposed as a sustainable future protein source for a growing global population. Overseas, interest has seen investment in start-up companies specialising in producing insects for human consumption. Yet little is known of the edible insect species in Aotearoa New Zealand or whether New Zealanders are willing to consume insects. To address this, I investigated the current landscape of edible insects in Aotearoa. I created a catalogue of species with traditional and contemporary uses, the companies that are producing insect-based products and the social and legislative landscape they exist in. I then explored the social licence for insects as food, using a questionnaire to examine the perceptions and experiences of 620 participants, finding an openness to insects as food, influenced by prior experience, knowledge, and a low food neophobia score. However, this was tempered by sentiment analysis showing insect ingredients were viewed more negatively than other food ingredients suggesting an unconscious bias. The huhu beetle, Prionoplus reticularis, was widely listed by participants as an edible insect in Aotearoa, suggesting a potential candidate for future farming. However, surprisingly little is known about the biology of this well-known beetle. To address this, I used GCMS to explore the metabolomic profile of this species along a latitudinal gradient. I found that a random forest model trained on this data was able to predict the geographic location of a larvae with reasonable accuracy, providing a possible tool to detect the provenance of edible insects in the future. I investigated the beetles' scramble competition mating system, and, using static allometry and flight mills, I found evidence of the interplay of sexual selection and stabilising selection on traits associated with male fitness in this species. I also found evidence of sexual dimorphism in the species, indicating the importance of female chemical cues to male mate searching. Using scanning electron microscopy, I investigated the antennal ultrastructure of male and female P. reticularis, describing unique, sexually dimorphic sensilla in this species. This thesis serves as a starting point for the development of edible insects in Aotearoa.

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“…This structure is also used by both sexes for intraspecific recognition during copulation (Arbuthnott and Crespi 2018). This makes the antenna vital not only for the reproduction of parasitoid wasps, but ultimately for their environmental adaptation (Fea et al 2019). As a result, selective pressures have produced a myriad of different antennal forms (Krishnan and Sane 2015), which can be used as frameworks to understand the diversity of parasitoid wasps across different hierarchical scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrative taxonomy based on morphometric and molecular data supports recognition of the three cryptic species within the Encyrtus sasakii complex (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae)

Rudoy¹,

Zhu²,

Ferrari³

et al. 2022

JHR

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Morphometrics has established itself as one of the most powerful tools for species delimitation, particularly for morphologically-conserved groups of insects. An interesting example is the parasitoid Encyrtus sasakii Ishii (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae), which was recently subdivided into three cryptic species that are seemingly well-delimited with the available DNA data but nearly indistinguishable morphologically. Here, we performed linear morphometric analyses of the antenna as well as shape analyses of the ovipositor and hypopygium (the last two are key structures associated with host location and selection) to shed further light on the taxonomic status of the E. sasakii complex. Principal component analyses were carried out to visualize the amount and direction of shape variation in the ovipositor and hypopygium. Complementarily, we constructed phylogenetic trees using a Bayesian approach based on two markers (28S and COI). We found statistically-significant differences in the relative size of the funicle and of the two proximal claval antennomeres among the three species. Our analyses also indicated that the outer plates of the ovipositor show remarkable allometric changes and that both the stylus and shield of the ovipositor are relatively well conserved among species. We nonetheless found consistent interspecific differences in the shape of the 2nd outer plate of the ovipositor and hypopygium. Also, both our COI and combined trees recovered three strongly-supported major clades, each corresponding to one of the three cryptic species. We discuss that changes in the shape of the ovipositor may have played an important role in host shift and speciation within the E. sasakii complex. Even though the recent descriptions of both E. eulecaniumiae Wang & Zhang, 2016 and E. rhodococcusiae Wang & Zhang, 2016 appear not to fully satisfy the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a simple resolution for the sake of taxonomic stability is proposed herein.

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Sexually dimorphic antennal structures of New Zealand Cave Wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)

Cited by 7 publications

References 79 publications

Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species

Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species

Insects as Food in Aotearoa New Zealand

Integrative taxonomy based on morphometric and molecular data supports recognition of the three cryptic species within the Encyrtus sasakii complex (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae)

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Sexually dimorphic antennal structures of New Zealand Cave Wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)

Cited by 7 publications

References 79 publications

Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species

Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species

Insects as Food in Aotearoa New Zealand

﻿Integrative taxonomy based on morphometric and molecular data supports recognition of the three cryptic species within the Encyrtus sasakii complex (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae)

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Integrative taxonomy based on morphometric and molecular data supports recognition of the three cryptic species within the Encyrtus sasakii complex (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae)