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The article discusses the concept of "lagom" in research design and the importance of appropriate sample sizes in entomological studies. It highlights the problem of underpowered studies, which can fail to detect true differences or relationships, and the ethical issues associated with overpowered studies. The article presents a case study of a graduate student who collected unnecessary data due to over-sampling, resulting in wasted time, missed opportunities, and harm to insect populations. It also criticizes the advisor's failure to fulfill their professional responsibilities. The authors emphasize the need for power analyses and appropriate sample sizes in research to ensure credible and ethical scientific practices. [Extracted from the article]

Artificial lighting at night (ALAN) is increasingly recognised as having negative effects on many organisms, though the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Glow worms are likely susceptible to ALAN because females use bioluminescence to signal to attract males. We quantified the impact of ALAN by comparing the efficacy of traps that mimicked females to attract males in the presence or absence of a white artificial light source (ALS). Illuminated traps attracted fewer males than did traps in the dark. Illuminated traps closer to the ALS attracted fewer males than those further away, whereas traps in the dark attracted similar numbers of males up to 40 m from the ALS. Thus, ALAN impedes females' ability to attract males, the effect increasing with light intensity. Consequently, ALAN potentially affects glow worms' fecundity and long-term population survival. More broadly, this study emphasises the potentially severe deleterious effects of ALAN upon nocturnal insect populations., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Metabolic rate and its relationship with body size is a fundamental determinant of many life history traits and potentially of organismal fitness. Alongside various environmental and physiological factors, the metabolic rate of insects is linked to distinct ventilation patterns. Despite significant attention, however, the precise role of these ventilation patterns remains uncertain. Here, we determined the allometric scaling of metabolic rate and respiratory water loss in the red wood ant, as well as assessing the effect of movement upon metabolic rate and ventilation pattern. Metabolic rate and respiratory water loss are both negatively allometric. We observed both continuous and cyclic ventilation associated with relatively higher and lower metabolic rates, respectively. In wood ants, however, movement not metabolic rate is the primary determinant of which ventilation pattern is performed. Conversely, metabolic rate not ventilation pattern is the primary determinant of respiratory water loss. Our statistical models produced a range of relatively shallow intraspecific scaling exponents between 0.40 and 0.59, emphasising the dependency upon model structure. Previous investigations have revealed substantial variation in morphological allometry among wood ant workers from different nests within a population. Metabolic rate scaling does not exhibit the same variability, suggesting that these two forms of scaling respond to environmental factors in different ways., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Environmental and genetic influences cause individuals of a species to differ in size. As they do so, organ size and shape are scaled to available resources whilst maintaining function. The scaling of entire organs has been investigated extensively but scaling within organs remains poorly understood. By making use of the structure of the insect compound eye, we show that different regions of an organ can respond differentially to changes in body size. Wood ant (Formica rufa) compound eyes contain facets of different diameters in different regions. When the animal body size changes, lens diameters from different regions can increase or decrease in size either at the same rate (a 'grade' shift) or at different rates (a 'slope' shift). These options are not mutually exclusive, and we demonstrate that both types of scaling apply to different regions of the same eye. This demonstrates that different regions within a single organ can use different rules to govern their scaling, responding differently to their developmental environment. Thus, the control of scaling is more nuanced than previously appreciated, diverse responses occurring even among homologous cells within a single organ. Such fine control provides a rich substrate for the diversification of organ morphology., (© 2016 The Authors.)

Background and Aims. The presence of novel structures in orchid flowers, including auricles, rostellum and bursicles on the gynostemium and a lobed labellum, has prompted long-standing homology disputes, fuelled by conflicting evidence from a wide range of sources. Re-assessment of this debate using an improved model is timely, following recent phylogenetic insights and on the cusp of a revolution in developmental genetics. Methods. We use new data from floral development and anatomy in the small-flowered terrestrial orchid Herminium monorchis as a model to explore organ homologies in orchid flowers within the context of a review of recent literature on developmental genetics. Key Results. The apex of the median carpel of Herminium is trilobed, and the bursicles develop from its lateral lobes, relatively late in flower ontogeny. The bursicles enclose the viscidia, which adhere to the tapetal remnants to form a caudicle linking the viscidium with the pollinium. The auricles are initiated earlier than the bursicles, but they also remain unvascularized. The deeply trilobed labellum possesses three vascular traces, in contrast with the lateral petals, each of which contains a single vascular trace. The two lateral labellum traces diverge from the traces supplying the two adjacent lateral sepals. Data from flower ontogeny and anatomy conflict with respect to organ homologies. Conclusions. Much progress has recently been made in understanding the exceptional differentiation shown by orchids among perianth segments, focusing on multiple copies of the DEF/AP3 subclass of B-class MADS-box genes. In contrast, untangling homologies of profound congenital union of multiple floral organs forming the orchid gynostemium is hampered by their profound congenital union, which we ascribe to overlap in gene expression between organs. Thus, the functional morphology of the orchid flower could ultimately reflect extreme synorganization and associated genetic integration. Analogizing the deeply lobed orchid labellum with a compound leaf, we speculate that KNOX genes could be implicated not only in their demonstrated role in spur development but also in the development of both the characteristic lobed morphology of the orchid labellum and the lobing of the median carpel that differentiates the bursicles and rostellum.