Developmental and sexual divergence in the olfactory system of the marine insect Clunio marinus.

ABSTRACT: An animal's fitness strongly depends on successful feeding, avoidance of predators and reproduction. All of these behaviours commonly involve chemosensation. As a consequence, when species' ecological niches and life histories differ, their chemosensory abilities need to be adapted accordingly. The intertidal insect Clunio marinus (Diptera: Chironomidae) has tuned its olfactory system to two highly divergent niches. The long-lived larvae forage in a marine environment. During the few hours of terrestrial adult life, males have to find the female pupae floating on the water surface, free the cryptic females from their pupal skin, copulate and carry the females to the oviposition sites. In order to explore the possibility for divergent olfactory adaptations within the same species, we invest

SUBMITTER: Missbach C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7005812 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature