Ecdysteroid responses to urban heat island conditions during development of the western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus).

ABSTRACT: The steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) controls molting in arthropods. The timing of 20E production, and subsequent developmental transitions, is influenced by a variety of environmental factors including nutrition, photoperiod, and temperature, which is particularly relevant in the face of climate change. Environmental changes, combined with rapid urbanization, and the increasing prevalence of urban heat islands (UHI) have contributed to an overall decrease in biodiversity making it critical to understand how organisms respond to elevating global temperatures. Some arthropods, such as the Western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, appear to thrive under UHI conditions, but the physiological mechanism underlying their success has not been explored. Here we examine the relation

SUBMITTER: Moen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9049550 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature