Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests

A high portion of the earliest known insect fauna is composed of the so-called ‘lobeattid insects’, whose systematic affinities and role as foliage feeders remain debated. We investigated hundreds of samples of a new lobeattid species from the Xiaheyan locality using a combination of photographic te...

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Autores principales:	Lu Chen, Jun-Jie Gu, Qiang Yang, Dong Ren, Alexander Blanke, Olivier Béthoux
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2021
Materias:	insect oviposition mouthpart Archaeorthoptera phylogeny diet Medicine R Science Q Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c32686356ae040adb21a1413db590b8c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c32686356ae040adb21a1413db590b8c2021-11-30T08:00:57ZOvipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests10.7554/eLife.710062050-084Xe71006https://doaj.org/article/c32686356ae040adb21a1413db590b8c2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://elifesciences.org/articles/71006https://doaj.org/toc/2050-084XA high portion of the earliest known insect fauna is composed of the so-called ‘lobeattid insects’, whose systematic affinities and role as foliage feeders remain debated. We investigated hundreds of samples of a new lobeattid species from the Xiaheyan locality using a combination of photographic techniques, including reflectance transforming imaging, geometric morphometrics, and biomechanics to document its morphology, and infer its phylogenetic position and ecological role. Ctenoptilus frequens sp. nov. possessed a sword-shaped ovipositor with valves interlocked by two ball-and-socket mechanisms, lacked jumping hind-legs, and certain wing venation features. This combination of characters unambiguously supports lobeattids as stem relatives of all living Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids). Given the herein presented and other remains, it follows that this group experienced an early diversification and, additionally, occurred in high individual numbers. The ovipositor shape indicates that ground was the preferred substrate for eggs. Visible mouthparts made it possible to assess the efficiency of the mandibular food uptake system in comparison to a wide array of extant species. The new species was likely omnivorous which explains the paucity of external damage on contemporaneous plant foliage.Lu ChenJun-Jie GuQiang YangDong RenAlexander BlankeOlivier BéthouxeLife Sciences Publications LtdarticleinsectovipositionmouthpartArchaeorthopteraphylogenydietMedicineRScienceQBiology (General)QH301-705.5ENeLife, Vol 10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	insect oviposition mouthpart Archaeorthoptera phylogeny diet Medicine R Science Q Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	insect oviposition mouthpart Archaeorthoptera phylogeny diet Medicine R Science Q Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Lu Chen Jun-Jie Gu Qiang Yang Dong Ren Alexander Blanke Olivier Béthoux Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
description	A high portion of the earliest known insect fauna is composed of the so-called ‘lobeattid insects’, whose systematic affinities and role as foliage feeders remain debated. We investigated hundreds of samples of a new lobeattid species from the Xiaheyan locality using a combination of photographic techniques, including reflectance transforming imaging, geometric morphometrics, and biomechanics to document its morphology, and infer its phylogenetic position and ecological role. Ctenoptilus frequens sp. nov. possessed a sword-shaped ovipositor with valves interlocked by two ball-and-socket mechanisms, lacked jumping hind-legs, and certain wing venation features. This combination of characters unambiguously supports lobeattids as stem relatives of all living Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids). Given the herein presented and other remains, it follows that this group experienced an early diversification and, additionally, occurred in high individual numbers. The ovipositor shape indicates that ground was the preferred substrate for eggs. Visible mouthparts made it possible to assess the efficiency of the mandibular food uptake system in comparison to a wide array of extant species. The new species was likely omnivorous which explains the paucity of external damage on contemporaneous plant foliage.
format	article
author	Lu Chen Jun-Jie Gu Qiang Yang Dong Ren Alexander Blanke Olivier Béthoux
author_facet	Lu Chen Jun-Jie Gu Qiang Yang Dong Ren Alexander Blanke Olivier Béthoux
author_sort	Lu Chen
title	Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
title_short	Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
title_full	Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
title_fullStr	Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
title_full_unstemmed	Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
title_sort	ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests
publisher	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/c32686356ae040adb21a1413db590b8c
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Ovipositor and mouthparts in a fossil insect support a novel ecological role for early orthopterans in 300 million years old forests

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