Body mass and growth rates predict protein intake across animals.

Organisms require dietary macronutrients in specific ratios to maximize performance, and variation in macronutrient requirements plays a central role in niche determination. Although it is well recognized that development and body size can have strong and predictable effects on many aspects of organismal function, we lack a predictive understanding of ontogenetic or scaling effects on macronutrient intake. We determined protein and carbohydrate intake throughout development on lab populations of locusts and compared to late instars of field populations.

Nutrient supply and accessibility in plants: effect of protein and carbohydrates on Australian plague locust () preference and performance.

In contrast to predictions from nitrogen limitation theory, recent studies have shown that herbivorous migratory insects tend to be carbohydrate (not protein) limited, likely due to increased energy demands, leading them to preferentially feed on high carbohydrate plants. However, additional factors such as mechanical and chemical defenses can also influence host plant choice and nutrient accessibility. In this study, we investigated the effects of plant protein and carbohydrate availability on plant selection and performance for a migratory generalist herbivore, the Australian plague locust, We manipulated the protein and carbohydrate content of seedling wheat () by increasing the protein:carbohydrate ratio using nitrogen (N) fertilizer, and manipulated the physical structure of the plants by grinding and breaking down cell walls after drying the plants.

Field bands of marching locust juveniles show carbohydrate, not protein, limitation.

Locusts are grasshoppers that migrate and devastate food security, yet little is known about the nutritional needs of marching bands in nature. While it has been hypothesized that protein limitation promotes locust marching behavior, migration is fueled by dietary carbohydrates. We studied South American Locust () bands at eight sites across Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

A phylogeny of the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) using a target enrichment approach with 303 nuclear loci.

Background: The evening primrose family (Onagraceae) includes 664 species (803 taxa) with a center of diversity in the Americas, especially western North America. Ongoing research in Onagraceae includes exploring striking variation in floral morphology, scent composition, and breeding system, as well as the role of these traits in driving diversity among plants and their interacting pollinators and herbivores. However, these efforts are limited by the lack of a comprehensive, well-resolved phylogeny.

Target Enrichment and Extensive Population Sampling Help Untangle the Recent, Rapid Radiation of Oenothera Sect. Calylophus.

Oenothera sect. Calylophus is a North American group of 13 recognized taxa in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) with an evolutionary history that may include independent origins of bee pollination, edaphic endemism, and permanent translocation heterozygosity. Like other groups that radiated relatively recently and rapidly, taxon boundaries within Oenothera sect.

Differential gene expression associated with a floral scent polymorphism in the evening primrose Oenothera harringtonii (Onagraceae).

Background: Plant volatiles play an important role in both plant-pollinator and plant-herbivore interactions. Intraspecific polymorphisms in volatile production are ubiquitous, but studies that explore underlying differential gene expression are rare. Oenothera harringtonii populations are polymorphic in floral emission of the monoterpene (R)-(-)-linalool; some plants emit (R)-(-)-linalool (linalool+ plants) while others do not (linalool- plants).

What do tropical cryptogams reveal? Strong genetic structure in Amazonian bryophytes.

Lowland tropical bryophytes have been perceived as excellent dispersers. In such groups, the inverse isolation hypothesis proposes that spatial genetic structure is erased beyond the limits of short-distance dispersal. Here, we determine the influence of environmental variation and geographic barriers on the spatial genetic structure of a widely dispersed and phylogenetically independent sample of Amazonian bryophytes.

Phylogeny, host use, and diversification in the moth family Momphidae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea).

Insect herbivores and their hostplants constitute much of Earth's described biological diversity, but how these often-specialized associations diversify is not fully understood. We combined detailed hostplant data and comparative phylogenetic analyses of the lepidopteran family Momphidae to explore how shifts in the use of hostplant resources, not just hostplant taxon, contribute to the diversification of a phytophagous insect lineage. We inferred two phylogenetic hypotheses emphasizing relationships among species in the nominate genus, Mompha Hübner.

Population and colony structure and morphometrics in the queen dimorphic little black ant, Monomorium sp. AZ-02, with a review of queen phenotypes in the genus Monomorium.

The North American little black ant, Monomorium sp. AZ-02 (subfamily Myrmicinae), displays a dimorphism that consists of alate (winged) and ergatoid (wingless) queens. Surveys at our field site in southcentral Arizona, USA, demonstrated that only one queen phenotype (alate or ergatoid) occurred in each colony during the season in which reproductive sexuals were produced.

Herbivory as an important selective force in the evolution of floral traits and pollinator shifts.

Floral trait evolution is frequently attributed to pollinator-mediated selection but herbivores can play a key role in shaping plant reproductive biology. Here we examine the role of florivores in driving floral trait evolution and pollinator shifts in a recently radiated clade of flowering plants, Oenothera sect. Calylophus We compare florivory by a specialist, internal feeder, Mompha, on closely related hawkmoth- and bee-pollinated species and document variation in damage based on floral traits within sites, species and among species.

Taxonomic revision of the genus Prionopelta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Malagasy region.

In this study we revise the taxonomy of the genus Prionopelta for the Malagasy region, treating seven species, six of which are newly described (Prionopeltalaurae sp. n., Prionopeltaseychelles sp.

A New Species of Seed-harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex hoelldobleri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), from the Mohave and Sonoran Deserts of North America.

Pogonomyrmex magnacanthus Cole was described as a distinct species; unusually large eyes and a high ocular index (maximum eye diameter/head width) were listed as diagnostic characters. However, examination of numerous series of P. magnacanthus revealed that both characters were highly variable, and that these series consisted of P.

The genome sequence of the leaf-cutter ant Atta cephalotes reveals insights into its obligate symbiotic lifestyle.

Leaf-cutter ants are one of the most important herbivorous insects in the Neotropics, harvesting vast quantities of fresh leaf material. The ants use leaves to cultivate a fungus that serves as the colony's primary food source. This obligate ant-fungus mutualism is one of the few occurrences of farming by non-humans and likely facilitated the formation of their massive colonies.

Draft genome of the red harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus.

We report the draft genome sequence of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. The genome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing, and the current assembly and annotation were completed in less than 1 y. Analyses of conserved gene groups (more than 1,200 manually annotated genes to date) suggest a high-quality assembly and annotation comparable to recently sequenced insect genomes using Sanger sequencing.

Social insects inspire human design.

The international conference 'Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design', hosted by Arizona State University, USA, 18-20 February 2010, explored how the collective behaviour and nest architecture of social insects can inspire innovative and effective solutions to human design challenges. It brought together biologists, designers, engineers, computer scientists, architects and businesspeople, with the dual aims of enriching biology and advancing biomimetic design.