Form-function relationships of head capsules of early split biting-chewing insects in a phylogenetic framework
Final Report Abstract
The present project aimed to explore the shape and performance space of chewing-biting insects in order to further our understanding of the evolutionary processes of these sometimes extremely species-rich groupings within insects. Although the project has experienced significant delays due to COVID19, the results to date indicate that the postulated tight form-function relationships of the mouthparts of chewing-biting insects cannot be sustained when explicitly quantified for larger species numbers and at higher taxonomic levels. Furthermore, we now better understand which determinants regulate biting force at the macroevolutionary level: Head width and shape explain only comparatively small parts of the variance found, phylogenetic history seems to have a surprisingly high influence on such a functional trait. Moreover, when analyzing head shapes, at least within hemimetabolous groupings, larval stage head shape must be included where possible, as our results suggest that the larval stage and its ecology have an influence on adult head shape evolution. The project also involved the publication of a software package for the R scripting language and an experimental apparatus for measuring biting forces in the field.
Publications
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Juvenile ecology drives adult morphology in two insect orders. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1953).
Rühr, Peter T.; van de Kamp, Thomas; Faragó, Tomáš; Hammel, Jörg U.; Wilde, Fabian; Borisova, Elena; Edel, Carina; Frenzel, Melina; Baumbach, Tilo & Blanke, Alexander
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A bite force database of 654 insect species. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Rühr, Peter Thomas; Edel, Carina; Frenzel, Melina & Blanke, Alexander
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forceX and forceR: A mobile setup and r package to measure and analyse a wide range of animal closing forces. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13(9), 1938-1948.
Rühr, Peter T. & Blanke, Alexander
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Bite force transmission and mandible shape in grasshoppers, crickets, and allies is largely dependent on phylogeny, not diet. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Edel, Carina; Rühr, Peter T.; Frenzel, Melina; van de Kamp, Thomas; Faragó, Tomáš; Hammel, Jörg U.; Wilde, Fabian & Blanke, Alexander
