Current opinion in insect science最新文献

Biological interaction between two organisms living together in a given habitat is essential for healthy ecosystem functionality, got complexity, and exerts an arms race between the interacting organisms. Some vectors are exclusively blood feeders, and others supplement their diet with plant nectar. The feeding dynamics may determine their olfactory system complexity. Arthropod vectors that interact with livestock rely mainly on olfaction. Livestock odor profile is a complex trait and depends on host genetics, microbes, diet, and health status, which highlights its dynamic nature. Furthermore, volatile metabolites are shared between host animals, which exert its own challenge for vectors to find their preferred host. Elucidating the underlying host chemodiversity, especially signature scents, neuroethological mechanism of discrimination of preferred/unpreferred host from plethora of coexisting host is crucial to understand evolution and adaptation in vector–livestock interaction.

Insect societies have served as excellent examples for co-ordinated decision-making. The production of sexuals is the most important group decision that social insects face since it affects both direct and indirect fitness. The behavioral processes by which queens are selected have been of particular interest since they are the primary egg layers that enable colony function. As a model system, previous research on honey bee reproduction has focused on swarming behavior and nest site selection. One significant gap in our knowledge of the collective decision-making process over reproduction is how daughter queens simply replace old or failing queens (=supersedure) rather than being reared for the purposes of colony fission (=swarming) or queen loss (=emergency queen rearing). Here, I present a conceptual model that provides a framework for understanding the collective decisions by colonies to supersede their mother queens, as well as provide some key recommendations on future empirical work.

Communication systems require coordination between senders and receivers; therefore, understanding how novel signals arise is challenging. Intraspecific geographic variation in signaling provides an opportunity to investigate the factors that shape signal evolution. Facial signals in Polistes paper wasps provide an interesting case study for the causes and consequences of geographic variation in signaling systems. Two species of paper wasps, Polistes dominula and Polistes fuscatus, have been well studied for their facial patterns that signal quality and individual identity, respectively. Remarkably, whether or not facial patterns are used as signals at all appears to vary geographically in both species. The relative evidence for the roles of phenotypic plasticity versus genetic differentiation is discussed. Future research directions that leverage geographic variation in Polistes hold promise to substantially contribute to understanding the links between signals and behavior, as well as the evolution of cognition.

The past decade of social insect research has seen rapid development in automated behavioral tracking and molecular profiling of the nervous system, two distinct but complementary lines of inquiry into phenotypic variation across individuals, colonies, populations, and species. These experimental strategies have developed largely in parallel, as automated tracking generates a continuous stream of behavioral data, while, in contrast, ‘omics-based profiling provides a single ‘snapshot’ of the brain. Better integration of these approaches applied to studying variation in social behavior will reveal the underlying genetic and neurobiological mechanisms that shape the evolution and diversification of social life. In this review, we discuss relevant advances in both fields and propose new strategies to better elucidate the molecular and behavioral innovations that generate social life.