Search

Animals that live in hot environments must deal with extreme temperatures and overcome the constraints imposed by overheating. Some species exhibit remarkable adaptations to control body temperature, usually in the form of structures that act as thermal windows to cool down the body by dissipating heat. Here, we describe the case of the dragonfly Zenithoptera lanei, which inhabits open areas in the Neotropical Savannah and the Amazon. Males have striking and unique adaptations on the wings, not known in any other insect. The wings are covered with wax nanocrystals that reflect ultraviolet light and infrared radiation. Furthermore, the wing membrane is permeated by an intricate system of tracheae, another unique trait in Insecta. We hypothesized that these adaptations might be important not only for intraspecific communication, but also for thermoregulation. We analysed male body and wing temperatures and compared them with another dragonfly with common translucent wings. The results suggest that the dorsal wing surface acts as a cooling system, whereas the ventral surface might serve to elevate body temperature. Therefore, we conclude that Z. lanei possesses adaptations that are unique in nature; a complex system of thermoregulation with the dual function of cooling down or elevating body temperature, depending on wing position.

The larva of Zenithoptera lanei Santos, 1941 is described and illustrated based on three exuviae of reared larvae collected in Misiones, Argentina, Roraima and Amazonas, Brazil. A comparison with the larva of Z. anceps Pujol-Luz, 1993 is included. Fil: Rippel, Camila Gisel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; Argentina Fil: Neiss, Ulisses G.. Instituto de Criminalística; Brasil Fil: del Palacio, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Schröder, Noelia Malena. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Cs.exactas Químicas y Naturales. Departamento de Bioquímica Clinica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; Argentina Fil: Fleck, Günther. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; Brasil Fil: Hamada, Neusa. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; Brasil Fil: Marti, Dardo Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; Argentina Fil: Schweigmann, Nicolás J.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T17:40:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-05-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Leverhulme Trust Some consider that the first winged insects had living tissue inside the wing membrane, resembling larval gills or developing wing pads. However, throughout the developmental process of the wing membrane of modem insects, cells and tracheoles in the lumen between dorsal and ventral cuticle disappear and both cuticles become fused. This process results in the rather thin rigid stable structure of the membrane. The herewith described remarkable case of the dragonfly Zenithoptera lanei shows that in some highly specialized wings, the membrane can still be supplemented by tracheae. Such a characteristic of the wing membrane presumably represents a strong specialization for the synthesis of melanin-filled nanolayers of the cuticle, nanospheres inside the wing membrane and complex arrangement of wax crystals on the membrane surface, all responsible for unique structural coloration. Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Hydrobiol, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Univ Kiel, Zool Inst, Dept Funct Morphol & Biomech, Bot Garten 1-9, D-24098 Kiel, Germany Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Assis, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Assis, Brazil CNPq: 307577/2011-2 CNPq: 237120/2012-7 CNPq: 305275/2014-3 FAPESP: 12/21196-8 FAPESP: 13/00406-7

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T15:27:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-10-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) German Science Foundation (DFG) 'Biomimetic Materials Research: Functionality by Hierarchical Structuring of Materials' Zenithoptera dragonflies are known for their remarkable bluish colouration on their wings and unique male behaviour of folding and unfolding their wings while perching. However, nothing is known about the optical properties of such colouration and its structural and functional background. In this paper, we aimed to study the relationship between the wing membrane ultrastructure, surface microstructure and colour spectra of male wings in Zenithoptera lanei and test the hypothesis that colouration functions as a signal in territorial fights between males. The results show that the specific wing colouration derives from interference in alternating layers of melanized and unmelanized cuticle in the wing membrane, combined with diffuse scattering in two different layers of wax crystals on the dorsal wing surface, one lower layer of long filaments, and one upper layer of leaf-shaped crystals. The results also show that the thicker wax coverage of the dorsal surface of the wings results in increased brightness and reduced chroma. In the field experiments, we have demonstrated that there is a reduction of aggressive reactions of rivals towards individuals with experimentally reduced amount of blue wing colouration. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Hydrobiol, Sao Paulo, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Sao Paulo, Brazil Univ Kiel, Inst Zool, Dept Funct Morphol & Biomech, D-24098 Kiel, Germany Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Sao Paulo, Brazil CNPq: 237120/2012-7 CNPq: 305275/2014-3 FAPESP: 12/21196-8 FAPESP: 13/00406-7 German Science Foundation (DFG) 'Biomimetic Materials Research: Functionality by Hierarchical Structuring of Materials': SPP 1420 German Science Foundation (DFG) 'Biomimetic Materials Research: Functionality by Hierarchical Structuring of Materials': GO 995/9-2