Juvenile hormone regulates extreme mandible growth in male stag beetles.

ABSTRACT: The morphological diversity of insects is one of the most striking phenomena in biology. Evolutionary modifications to the relative sizes of body parts, including the evolution of traits with exaggerated proportions, are responsible for a vast range of body forms. Remarkable examples of an insect trait with exaggerated proportions are the mandibular weapons of stag beetles. Male stag beetles possess extremely enlarged mandibles which they use in combat with rival males over females. As with other sexually selected traits, stag beetle mandibles vary widely in size among males, and this variable growth results from differential larval nutrition. However, the mechanisms responsible for coupling nutrition with growth of stag beetle mandibles (or indeed any insect structure) remain largely unkn

SUBMITTER: Gotoh H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3120829 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature