Wing Pattern Research Articles

A Unique Histone 3 Lysine 14 Chromatin Signature Underlies Tissue-Specific Gene Regulation

Organismal development and cell differentiation critically depend on chromatin state transitions. However, certain developmentally regulated genes lack histone 3 lysine 9 and 27 acetylation (H3K9ac and H3K27ac) and H3K4 methylation, histone modifications common to most active genes. Here, we describe a chromatin state featuring unique H3K14ac peaks in key tissue-specific genes in Drosophila and human cells. Replacing H3K14 with arginine in Drosophila demonstrates that H3K14 is essential for expression of genes devoid of canonical histone modifications in the embryonic gut and larval wing imaginal disc, causing lethality and defects in wing patterning. We find that the bromodomain in the SWI/SNF protein Brahma (Brm) recognizes H3K14ac, that brm acts in the same genetic pathway as H3K14R, and that chromatin accessibility at H3K14ac-unique genes is decreased in H3K14R mutants. Our results show that acetylation of a single lysine is essential at genes devoid of canonical histone marks and uncover an important requirement for H3K14 in tissue-specific gene regulation.

Three New Species of the Genus <i>Autocharis</i> Swinhoe, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae, Odontiinae) from the Southern Arabian Peninsula

New taxonomic results on the genus Autocharis Swinhoe, 1854 (Lepeidoptera: Crambidae, Odontiinae) are presented on the basis of a sample of 11 specimens collected by the author in south-western Oman between 2017 - 2019. The attribution of the material to the genus Autocharis Swinhoe, 1854 and the exclusion of other genera close to Autocharis Swinhoe, 1854 was done on the basis of differential features in the forewing venation. Examination of the wing pattern and the genitalia resulted in the attribution of one part of the sample (10 specimens) to the Autocharis seyrigalis (Marion & Viette, 1956) species complex and of the other part (1 specimen) to the Autocharis fessalis (Swinhoe, 1886) complex. Morphpmetric analysis of the sample and comparison with type material of the respective species groups revealed significant differences between the specimens of the sample and the representants of the two species groups. These differences result in the description of three new species: Autocharis trisignalis Seizmair, sp.nov. Autocharis renalis Seizmair, sp.nov. belonging to the Autocharis seyrigalis (Marion & Viette, 1956) complex and Autocharis arrondalis Seizmair, sp.nov. belonging to the Autocharis fessalis (Swinhoe, 1886) complex. Furthermore, the presence of the Autocharis seyrigalis (Marion & Viette, 1956) complex is reported as new to the entomofauna of the Arabian Peninsula. Up to now, records of the Autocharis seyrigalis (Marion & Viette, 1956) complex have been restricted to South Africa and the Malagasy region.

A New Genus and a New Species of the <i>Scopariinae</i> Guinée, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) from the Southern Arabian Peninsula

New taxonomic and faunistic results on the Scopariinae Guinee, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) are presented on the basis of a sample of four specimens collected by the author in three research expeditions to the south-western province Dhofar of Oman in the years 2018 and 2019. The attribution of the material to the subfamily Scopariinae Guinee, 1854 was done on the basis of characteristic elements in the forewing pattern known as the scopariine wing pattern. Examination of the male and female genitalia revealed significant morphological differences between the specimens of the sample and the type species of all the other genera of the subfamily Scopariinae Guinee, 1854. These differential features are regarded as autapomorphies and result in the description of the new genus Arabarpia Seizmair, gen. nov. The genus is at present monotypical, with Arabarpia albilinealis Seizmair, sp.nov. being its type-species and its only known species. The genus shares synapomorphic features with two main clades of the Scopariinae Guinee, 1854, namely the structure of the corpus bursae in the female genitalia with the clade represented by the genus Anarpia Chapman, 1912 and shape and structure of the bulbus ejaculatorius with the genus Hellenoscoparia Nuss, 1999. The latter genus belongs to another main lineage characterized by a membranous corpus bursae. The phylogenetic placement of the new genus is thus valued as ambivalent. It is not possible to resolve the ambivalent placement on the basis of the feature spaces presently known. Furthermore, the presence of the subfamily Scopariinae Guinee, 1854 is reported as new to the entomofauna of the Arabian Peninsula.

Результати дослідження фауни вогнівок (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) природного заповідника «Михайлівська цілина»

Studies of the night butterflies fauna of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve were fragmentary until 2000. The species composition of the most groups of these butterflies is still unexplored. A number of papers, including Klyuchko Z.F., contain information about Noctuidae family of that locality. Based on our research, the total list of Noctuidae species of the reserve includes 91 species, which is almost 50% of the potential in the region. In addition to the butterflies of the bombicoid complex, the fauna of Gelechiidae moth was also studied (14 species) on the territory of the reserve, as well as a number of night butterflies families, including Pyralidae moth. The study of pyralid moths species composition of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve was started in 2002 and continued in 2018. The aim of this work was to continue the study of butterflies fauna of the territories of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve in 2019 under the program of the Research Laboratory «Monitoring of Populations of Animals and Plants of Sumy Region». Pyralid moths were collected during three expeditionary trips: May 2-4, July 19-21 and September 6-8,2019 inthe village Velyki Luky on the estate site for visitors of the reserve (50 ° 44′44 ″ N, 34 ° 9′48 ″ E). With the onset of twilight (21.00-21.30) 2 arc-mercury lamps of 250 W were switched on (on July 19-21 and September 6-8, another lamp was replaced with a more powerful one - 500 W). Lamps were fixed at a height of 2-2.5 mfrom the ground surface against white screens. Caught butterflies were immediately placed in mordants filled with ethyl acetate. At dawn (4.00-5.00) the light was switched off. Insects were mounted on entomological needles or inserted into mattresses for further determination. Butterflies were also collected by the manual method at the day-to-day locations (vegetation, trunks and stumps, fences, walls of buildings, warehouses, etc.). Thus some species that did not fly into the light were collected. We also managed to collect material at points where it was impossible to use the light of the lamps. Species identification was performed by external morphological features, in particular wing pattern and genital apparatus preparations. In total, in 2019, 360 species of night butterflies were collected in the reserve, and about 100 of which were pyralid moths. Thus there were detected 44 species of pyralid moth from 6 subfamilies. 11 species of them are indicated for this territory for the first time. The generalized list (taking into account previously published data) of pyralid moths in the territory of the «Mykhailivska tsilyna» reserve is 78 species. In 2019, the list was supplemented by 11 species: Synaphe punctalis , Sciota rhenella , Eurhodope rosella , Isauria dilucidella , Anagasta welseriella , Cadra furcatella , Scoparia subfusca , Agriphila poliellus , Pyrausta purpuralis , Uresiphita gilvata , Phlyctaeni a coronata . It is worth noting that A. welseriella , a common species in southernUkraine, was found inSumy region for the first time.

Traditional Mexican Dish Is Associated With More Than One Skipper Species (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae, Megathiminae, Aegialini)

AbstractThe white maguey worm, Aegiale hesperiaris (Walker, 1856), is a gastronomic delicacy in Mexico, with high economic value. Aegiale hesperiaris is generally associated with the plant Agave salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck (Asparagales: Asparagaceae). However, lack of information about Ae. hesperiaris means that it is often confused with morphologically similar species such as Agathymus remingtoni D. Stallings & Thurner (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), a species generally found on Agave lechuguilla Torrey (Asparagales: Asparagaceae). Harvestings are made from all Agave L. (Asparagales: Asparagaceae) species on the assumption that all larvae will be Ae. hesperiaris. This has led to the belief that Ae. hesperiaris may have extended its diet breadth range and is actually infesting other Agave species. We collected larvae from A. lechuguilla and A. salmiana plants, in Hidalgo state, Mexico, and incubated them at 26°C, 50% RH and 12:12 light regime until adult emergence; adults were examined using morphological (male genitalia and wing patterns) and molecular techniques (partial COI sequences) to provide the data necessary for accurate species identification and allocation to host plant. Both species were successfully separated and identified as Ae. herperiaris feeding on A. salmiana and Ag. remingtoni feeding on A. lechuguilla, and a detailed description of the larval developmental stages and feeding behavior described. These results will facilitate the accurate identification of these two species in future studies.

Genes regulating wing patterning in Drosophila melanogaster show reduced expression under exposure of Daminozide, the fruit ripening retardant

In our previous study we demonstrated that the fruit ripening retardant Daminozide or Alar causes change in life history traits, distortion of adult wing structure, DNA damage in brain cells and mutagenic effects in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. As a continuation of the previous study the present work is designed to explore the metabolic modification of Daminozide following ingestion, the effects of Daminozide on the expression of genes which are pivotal for wing development and molecular interactions of Daminozide with those proteins involved in wing patterning. We demonstrated through reporter gene construct assay using X-gal staining method and transgenic Drosophila melanogaster stocks that the vestigial, wingless and decapentaplegic genes in wing imaginal disc from 3rd instar larvae exhibited reduced expression when exposed to Daminozide in compare to control larvae. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) of those genes confirmed that exposure to Daminozide reduces the transcription level of those genes. In silico approach with molecular docking study revealed Daminozide may bind and interfere with the optimal functioning of expressed wing signaling proteins.

Features of Spatiotemporal Clustering in a Maunder Butterfly Diagram

The Maunder butterfly pattern is the most complete spatial-temporal representation of observed changes in solar activity in the 11-year cycle over a period of 12–24 cycle. The well-known empirical relation is used to transform Greenwich sunspot areas into magnetic flux, and the distances between the butterfly wings are then calculated with the Fisher–Rao metric. We found that the similarities or differences in the patterns of the individual butterfly wings in this metric are approximately the same for each hemisphere. The wings were the closest for a sequence of strong cycles, while there is a tendency for a series of weak cycles to form cycles in pairs with the implementation of an analog of the Gnevyshev–Olya rule.

A new species of the genus Lethe Hübner, 1819 from Yunnan, China (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

A new species of the Lethe trimacula-group, viz. L. langsongyuni sp. nov. is described from Weixi County, representing the third member of this species group in northwestern part of Yunnan Province, southwestern China. In general L. langsongyuni sp. nov. is closely related to L. liae Huang, 2002, L. proxima Leech, 1892 and L. umedai albofasciata Huang, 2002, but it can be distinguished from all of them by combination of several details in wing pattern and male genitalia. The adults and male genitalia of the species aforementioned are illustrated.

Reproducible phenotype alteration due to prolonged cooling of the pupae of Polyommatus icarus butterflies.

The phenotypic changes induced by prolonged cooling (2–12 weeks at 5 °C in the dark) of freshly formed Polyommatus icarus pupae were investigated. Cooling halted the imaginal development of pupae collected shortly after transformation from the larval stage. After cooling, the pupae were allowed to continue their developmental cycle. The wings of the eclosed specimens were investigated by optical microscopy, scanning and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, UV-VIS spectroscopy and microspectroscopy. The eclosed adults presented phenotypic alterations that reproduced results that we published previously for smaller groups of individuals remarkably well; these changes included i) a linear increase in the magnitude of quantified deviation from normal ventral wing patterns with increasing cooling time; ii) slight alteration of the blue coloration of males; and iii) an increasing number of blue scales on the dorsal wing surface of females with increasing cooling time. Several independent factors, including disordering of regular scale rows in males, the number of blue scales in females, eclosion probability and the probability of defect-free eclosion, showed that the cooling time can be divided into three periods: 0–4 weeks, 4–8 weeks, and 8–12 weeks, each of which is characterized by specific changes. The shift from brown female scales to first blue scales with a female-specific shape and then to blue scales with a male-specific shape with longer cooling times suggests slow decomposition of a substance governing scale formation.

Three new species of Lecteria Osten Sacken, 1888 (Diptera: Tipulidae) from a scientific survey in Mitaraka (French Guiana)

In the present paper, three new species of Lecteria (Lecteria) Osten Sacken,1888: Lecteria (Lecteria) mitarakanea n. sp., Lecteria (Lecteria) teko n. sp. and Lecteria (Lecteria) wayana n. sp., are described and illustrated, as a first step in the study of the Tipulidae Latreille, 1802 fauna from Mitaraka (French Guiana), collected during the “Our Planet Revisited” survey of 2015. The characteristics of the male genitalia allow to easily separate these three new species from the rest of the Neotropical species, in combination with the color pattern of legs, thorax and wings. The species are the first described in this genus from the Neotropics in almost half a century. Their discovery illustrates the significant contribution of this kind of scientific surveys in remote and isolated spots around the globe.

Descriptions of Pedesta wangi sp. nov. and the female of P. xiaoqingae(Huang & Zhan, 2004) from China (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae).

A new species of the genus Pedesta Hemming, 1934, viz. P. wangi sp. nov., is described as new to science from northwestern Guangxi, southern China. Based upon 455 bp partial COI sequences, a neighbor-joining (NJ) tree including the new species and twelve congeneric species is reconstructed. It shows that P. wangi sp. nov. is a cryptic species of P. xiaoqingae (Huang & Zhan, 2004), and the mean Kimura-2-Parameter distance between them reaches 2.8%. Wing patterns and genitalic structures of the males of the two species are illustrated and compared. In addition, three female samples are associated with P. xiaoqingae male in the NJ tree, and its wing pattern and genitalia are illustrated and described herein for the first time.

Interplay between Developmental Flexibility and Determinism in the Evolution of Mimetic Heliconius Wing Patterns.

To what extent can we predict how evolution occurs? Do genetic architectures and developmental processes canalize the evolution of similar outcomes in a predictable manner? Or do historical contingencies impose alternative pathways to answer the same challenge? Examples of Müllerian mimicry between distantly related butterfly species provide natural replicates of evolution, allowing us to test whether identical wing patterns followed parallel or novel trajectories. Here, we explore the role that the signaling ligand WntA plays in generating mimetic wing patterns in Heliconius butterflies, a group with extraordinary mimicry-related wing pattern diversity. The radiation is relatively young, and numerous cases of wing pattern mimicry have evolved within the last 2.5-4.5 Ma. WntA is an important target of natural selection and is one of four major effect loci that underlie much of the pattern variation in the group. We used CRISPR/Cas9 targeted mutagenesis to generate WntA-deficient wings in 12 species and a further 10 intraspecific variants, including three co-mimetic pairs. In all tested butterflies, WntA knockouts affect pattern broadly and cause a shift among every possible scale cell type. Interestingly, the co-mimics lacking WntA were very different, suggesting that the gene networks that pattern a wing have diverged considerably among different lineages. Thus, although natural selection channeled phenotypic convergence, divergent developmental contexts between the two major Heliconius lineages opened different developmental routes to evolve resemblance. Consequently, even under very deterministic evolutionary scenarios, our results underscore a surprising unpredictability in the developmental paths underlying convergence in a recent radiation.

Parallel evolution of ancient, pleiotropic enhancers underlies butterfly wing pattern mimicry

Color pattern mimicry in Heliconius butterflies is a classic case study of complex trait adaptation via selection on a few large effect genes. Association studies have linked color pattern variation to a handful of noncoding regions, yet the presumptive cis-regulatory elements (CREs) that control color patterning remain unknown. Here we combine chromatin assays, DNA sequence associations, and genome editing to functionally characterize 5 cis-regulatory elements of the color pattern gene optix We were surprised to find that the cis-regulatory architecture of optix is characterized by pleiotropy and regulatory fragility, where deletion of individual cis-regulatory elements has broad effects on both color pattern and wing vein development. Remarkably, we found orthologous cis-regulatory elements associate with wing pattern convergence of distantly related comimics, suggesting that parallel coevolution of ancestral elements facilitated pattern mimicry. Our results support a model of color pattern evolution in Heliconius where changes to ancient, multifunctional cis-regulatory elements underlie adaptive radiation.

Molecular identification of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species in Algeria

Bluetongue is a serious vector-borne viral disease that infects wild and domestic ruminants. The causative virus is transmitted by midges of the genus Culicoides, which consists of at least 1350 species worldwide. Since 1998, bluetongue disease has spread to Europe and northern Africa, including Algeria. To better understand the distribution of Culicoides species in Algeria, adult midges were collected from 17 different regions in Algeria from 2009 to 2015. At first, 492 specimens were grouped into 52 batches by wing patterns and geographic area of Algeria. Analysis of 60 nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene showed that the presence of 14 species including five unknown species, which were belonged to seven distinct subgenera. At least five species (C. imicola, C. obsoletus, C. puncticollis, C. kingi, and C. newsteadi) were discussed as potential vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV). The present study provides important insights into the genetic diversity of Culicoides and the potential spread of BTV in Algeria.

Interacting Effects of Eyespot Number and Ultraviolet Reflectivity on Predation Risk in Bicyclus anynana (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

Small marginal eyespots on lepidopteran wings are conspicuous elements that attract a predator’s attention to deflect attacks away from the body, but the role of ultraviolet (UV) reflectivity at the center of these patterns and variation in eyespot number in altering the function of eyespots remains unclear. Here, we performed a field-based predation experiment with artificial prey items based on the appearance of squinting bush brown butterflies Bicyclus anynana (Butler, 1879). We tested how two visual properties of the wing pattern affect predation risk: i) the number of eyespots on the ventral forewing surface—two or four; and ii) the UV reflectivity of eyespot centers—normal (where the UV reflectivity of the centers contrasts strongly with that of the darker surrounding ring) or blocked (where this contrast is reduced). In total, 807 prey items were deployed at two sites. We found a significant interaction between the number of ventral forewing eyespots and UV reflectivity in the eyespot centers: in items with fewer eyespots, blocking UV resulted in increased predation risk whereas in items with more eyespots, blocking UV resulted in decreased predation risk. If higher predation of paper models can be equated with higher levels of wing margin/eyespot conspicuity, these results demonstrate that UV reflectivity is an important factor in making eyespots more conspicuous to predators and suggest that the fitness of particular butterfly eyespot number variants may depend on the presence or absence of UV in their centers and on the ability of local predator guilds to detect UV.

Pumping lemmas for classes of languages generated by folding systems

Geometric folding processes are ubiquitous in natural systems ranging from protein biochemistry to patterns of insect wings and leaves. In a previous study, a folding operation between strings of formal languages was introduced as a model of such processes. The operation was then used to define a folding system (F-system) as a construct consisting of a core language, containing the strings to be folded, and a folding procedure language, which defines how the folding is done. This paper reviews main definitions associated with F-systems and next it determines necessary conditions for a language to belong to classes generated by such systems. The conditions are stated in the form of pumping lemmas and four classes are considered, in which the core and folding procedure languages are both regular, one of them is regular and the other context-free, or both are context-free. Full demonstrations of the lemmas are provided, and the analysis is illustrated with examples.

Transonic buffet instability: From two-dimensional airfoils to three-dimensional swept wings

The objective of the present study is to explain the evolution of the transonic buffet phenomenon from two-dimensional airfoils to three-dimensional swept wings by a global stability analysis. With respect to two-dimensional buffet, shock oscillation frequency increases by a factor of 4 to 7 in the case of a swept 30° wing and three-dimensional patterns in the detached boundary layer are convected outboard. Crouch et al. [J. Comput. Phys. 224, 924 (2007)] explained the two-dimensional transonic buffet phenomenon by the appearance of a real positive complex eigenvalue of the linearized Jacobian matrix. In the case of an infinite unswept wing, the present study shows that two unstable modes actually exist: The two-dimensional transonic buffet mode already identified by Crouch et al. [J. Fluid Mech. 628, 357 (2009)] and a strongly amplified three-dimensional zero-frequency mode. The latter exhibits regular patterns in the separated boundary layer, which relates to the so-called buffet cells as named by Iovnovich et al. [AIAA J. 53, 449 (2015)]. The nonzero sweep angle generates a spanwise velocity component on the wing which convects the cells outboard. This impacts both modes identified in the unswept case: The two-dimensional mode is weakly damped by the sweep while the three-dimensional buffet cells mode, even if weakly damped, remains strongly unstable and now exhibits a nonzero frequency which increases with the sweep angle. The frequency and wavelength of the most unstable three-dimensional mode for a sweep angle of 30° agree well with numerical and experimental values of the three-dimensional transonic buffet on wings. The analysis of the wavemaker of the three-dimensional modes indicates that the core of the instability is nearly solely located in the separated region, with a maximum along the separation line. In contrast, the wavemaker of the two-dimensional buffet mode exhibits stronger values all along the

Wing-kinematics measurement and flight modelling of the bamboo weevil C. buqueti.

Insects are one of the most agile flyers in nature, and studying the kinematics of their wings can provide important data for the design of insect-like wing-flapping micro aerial vehicles. This study integrates high-speed photogrammetry and three-dimensional (3D) force measurement system to explore the kinematics of Cyrtotrachelus buqueti during the wing-flapping flight. The tracking point at the wing tip of the hind wing was recorded using high-speed videography. The lift-thrust force characteristic of wing-flapping motion was obtained by the 3D force sensor. Quantitative measurements of wing kinematics show that the wing-flapping pattern of the hind wing of C. buqueti was revealed as a double figure-eight trajectory. The kinematic modelling of the wing-flapping pattern was then established by converting the flapping motion into rotational motion about the pivoting wing base in the reference coordinate system. Moreover, the lift force generated by C. buqueti during the wing-flapping flight is sufficient to support its body weight without the need to use thrust force to compensate for the lack of lift force.

К систематике и номенклатуре шашечниц группы Melitaea minerva Staudinger, 1881 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

Исследованы крыловой рисунок, строение гениталий самцов и последовательности COI шашечниц группы Melitaea minerva. Обозначены лектотипы M. asteroida variegata и M. asteroida maculata, показано, что оба таксона относятся к M. minerva как его подвиды, а не к M. asteroida. На основании исследования ДНК (последовательность COI) делается предположение о конспецифичности таксонов M. minerva и M. pallas. Таксон M. solona не является самостоятельным видом, а представляет сборную группу фенотипов, характерных как для M. minerva, так и для M. asteroida. Для идентификации видов внутри группы M. minerva признаки гениталий самцов непригодны.

Morphological and genetic diversity of two individual forms of Euphaedra eberti (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

A total of 385 Euphaedra eberti Aurivillius, 1898, adults collected between 2012 and 2018 in the vicinity of Bangui, Central African Republic, were examined for intraspecific morphological variability, genetic diversity and genitalia structure. The species shows significant wing pattern variability. Two main morphotypes were identified in the set: the nominate form eberti, and the one comprising specimens with a red patch, form rubromaculata. However, both forms had similar genitalic structures and shared some specific wing marks, in addition to displaying the same COI (i.e., barcode region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene) haplotype, strongly suggesting that the two morphologically distinct forms belong to the same species, E. eberti. The causes of this variability remain unclear.