Geographic Variation in Signal Preferences in the Tropical Katydid .

In communication systems, the signal and preference for the signal have to match, limiting phenotypic variation. Yet, communication systems evolve, but the mechanisms of how phenotypic variation can come into existence while not disrupting the match are poorly understood. Geographic variation in communication can provide insights into the diversification of these systems.

An Automated Analysis of Homocoupling Defects Using MALDI-MS and Open-Source Computer Software.

Conjugated organic polymers have substantial potential for multiple applications but their properties are strongly influenced by structural defects such as homocoupling of monomer units and unexpected end-groups. Detecting and/or quantifying these defects requires complex experimental techniques, which hinder the optimization of synthesis protocols and fundamental studies on the influence of structural defects. Mass spectrometry offers a simple way to detect these defects but a manual analysis of many complex spectra is tedious and provides only approximate results.

An innovative 3D hydroxyapatite patient-specific implant for maxillofacial bone reconstruction: A case series of 13 patients.

The study aimed to evaluate and discuss the use of an innovative PSI made of porous hydroxyapatite, with interconnected porosity promoting osteointegration, called MyBone Custom® implant (MBCI), for maxillofacial bone reconstruction. A multicentric cohort of 13 patients underwent maxillofacial bone reconstruction surgery using MBCIs for various applications, from genioplasty to orbital floor reconstruction, including zygomatic and mandibular bone reconstruction, both for segmental defects and bone augmentation. The mean follow-up period was 9 months (1-22 months).

Multi-Species Host Use by the Parasitoid Fly .

Antagonistic species relationships such as parasitoid/host interactions lead to evolutionary arms races between species. Many parasitoids use more than one host species, requiring the parasitoid to adapt to multiple hosts, sometimes being the leader or the follower in the evolutionary back-and-forth between species. Thus, multi-species interactions are dynamic and show temporary evolutionary outcomes at a given point in time.

Computer-aided design and manufacturing construction of a pilot guide for a bone-anchored epithesis to replace an absent pinna.

Bone-anchored epitheses have acquired an important role in auricle reconstruction. The purpose of this technical note is to present a fully in-house digital workflow for the design and three-dimensional (3D) printing of an optimal ear epithesis guide. Two hemifacial microsomia patients with grade IV microtia were treated accordingly.

alters aggressiveness as a function of social context and sex in the polyphenic beetle .

Despite sharing nearly the same genome, individuals within the same species can vary drastically in both morphology and behaviour as a function of developmental stage, sex or developmental plasticity. Thus, regulatory processes must exist that enable the stage-, sex- or environment-specific expression of traits and their integration during ontogeny, yet exactly how trait complexes are co-regulated and integrated is poorly understood. In this study, we explore the developmental genetic basis of the regulation and integration of environment-dependent sexual dimorphism in behaviour and morphology in the horn-polyphenic dung beetle through the experimental manipulation of the transcription factor The gene plays a profound role in the developmental regulation of morphological differences between sexes as well as alternative male morphs by inhibiting horn formation in females but enabling nutrition-responsive horn growth in males.

Differentiation of ovarian development and the evolution of fecundity in rapidly diverging exotic beetle populations.

Fecundity is a fundamental determinant of fitness, yet the proximate developmental and physiological mechanisms that enable its often rapid evolution in natural populations are poorly understood. Here, we investigated two populations of the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus that were established in exotic ranges in the early 1970s. These populations are subject to drastically different levels of resource competition in the field, and have diverged dramatically in female fecundity.

A combination of developmental plasticity, parental effects, and genetic differentiation mediates divergences in life history traits between dung beetle populations.

The dung beetle, Onthophagus taurus, was introduced <50 years ago from its native Mediterranean range into Western Australia (WA) and the Eastern United States (EUS). The intensity of intra- and interspecific competition for dung as a breeding resource is substantially higher in WA. First, we tested whether differential resource competition in the two exotic ranges is associated with divergences in life history traits, which impact on resource use.

Parasitoid infestation changes female mating preferences.

Females often adjust their mating preference to environmental and social conditions. This plasticity of preference can be adaptive for females and can have important consequences for the evolution of male traits. While predation and parasitism are widespread, their effects on female preferences have rarely been investigated.

Eavesdropping parasitoids do not cause the evolution of less conspicuous signalling behaviour in a field cricket.

Males of many species produce conspicuous mating signals to attract females, but these signals can also attract eavesdropping predators and parasites. Males are thus expected to evolve signalling behaviours that balance the sexual selection benefits and the natural selection costs. In the variable field cricket, , males sing to attract females, but these songs also attract the lethal parasitoid fly .

Beetle horns and horned beetles: emerging models in developmental evolution and ecology.

Many important questions in developmental biology increasingly interface with related questions in other biological disciplines such as evolutionary biology and ecology. In this article, we review and summarize recent progress in the development of horned beetles and beetle horns as study systems amenable to the integration of a wide range of approaches, from gene function analysis in the laboratory to population ecological and behavioral studies in the field. Specifically, we focus on three key questions at the current interface of developmental biology, evolutionary biology and ecology: (1) the developmental mechanisms underlying the origin and diversification of novel, complex traits, (2) the relationship between phenotypic diversification and the diversification of genes and transcriptomes, and (3) the role of behavior as a leader or follower in developmental evolution.

Tradeoffs limit the evolution of male traits that are attractive to females.

Tradeoffs occur between a variety of traits in a diversity of organisms, and these tradeoffs can have major effects on ecological and evolutionary processes. Far less is known, however, about tradeoffs between male traits that affect mate attraction than about tradeoffs between other types of traits. Previous results indicate that females of the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, prefer male songs with higher chirp rates and longer chirp durations.

A complex mechanism of call recognition in the katydid Neoconocephalus affinis (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae).

Acoustic pattern recognition is important for bringing together males and females in many insect species. We used phonotaxis experiments on a walking compensator to study call recognition in the katydid Neoconocephalus affinis, a species with a double-pulsed call and an atypically slow pulse rate for the genus. Call recognition in this species is unusual because females require the presence of two alternating pulse amplitudes in the signal.

Developmental plasticity of mating calls enables acoustic communication in diverse environments.

Male calls of the katydid Neoconocephalus triops exhibit substantial developmental plasticity in two parameters: (i) calls of winter males are continuous and lack the verse structure of summer calls and (ii) at equal temperatures, summer males produce calls with a substantially higher pulse rate than winter males. We raised female N. triops under conditions that reliably induced either summer or winter phenotype and tested their preferences for the call parameters that differ between summer and winter males.

Phonotaxis in Hyla versicolor (Anura, Hylidae): the effect of absolute call amplitude.

The influence of call amplitude on phonotaxis in female Hyla versicolor was studied using a no-choice paradigm. One set of experiments estimated effects of stimulus amplitude on phonotaxis toward a synthetic model of a conspecific call. The response strength increased with amplitude from the behavioral threshold (37-43 dB SPL) up to 79 dB SPL and then decreased at higher amplitudes.