Theiatitan azari fossil.Image courtesy of Thomas Schubnel
Recently, French researchers showed an insect wing fossil whose characteristics provide the earliest evidence to date that insects use wings to communicate. This discovery suggests that insects in the late Carboniferous (about 310 million years ago) may have begun to use their wings to spread information. Related papers are published in “Communication-Biology”.
Acoustic communication in insects has been widespread since the Mesozoic, but early evidence of this behavior is scarce. Many insects use the shape, color or sound of their wings to attract mates or deter predators. When and how these behaviors will evolve is unclear, because the structure used for communication on the wings of petrochemicals is difficult to distinguish from other structures.
Andr Nel of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and colleagues discovered an insect wing fossil in Levin, the country, belonging to a previously unidentified giant grasshopper-like carnivorous insect from the order Megaptera, with a maximum wingspan of more than 33 cm. Researchers named it Theiatitan azari, which comes from Theia, the goddess of light and titan from Greek mythology.
This wing predates the oldest known Giant Pteran species and the remains of Permostridulus brongniarti, which is an insect believed to use wings to make sounds and existed about 50 million years ago. Researchers have discovered that some giant insects, including this new insect, have multiple cross-sections of different angles and shapes on their forewings, similar to the structures used to reflect light and produce sound on other fossil or modern insect wings. The shape and structure of the wings indicate that Theiatitan azari may pass through these sections, using the wings to reflect light or produce a “crack” to communicate.
Experts believe that this discovery emphasizes the importance of wings in the evolutionary history of insect communication, and Theiatitan azari is the oldest known insect to communicate with wings. (Tang Yichen)
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责编：武玥彤 ]
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