new manuscript explaining the connection between post-hatch dispersal into tree canopies and the evolution of gliding in nymphs of Extatosoma tiaratum, a stick insect native to coastal Queensland. https://jeb.biologists.org/content/223/19/jeb226266
Tag: stick insect
This manuscript covers: (1) relative abundance of flight morphs (here determined by wing and body sizes) in stick insects, and (2) evolutionary correlation between key morphological variables, with sexual dimorphism incorporated. This work paved the ground for understanding the diversity of flight morphology in stick insects and provided a template for addressing insect flight biomechanics
(this is part of an article written for the Phasmid Studies Group news letter, June issue 2017) Most stick insects are friendly and easy to rear, which made them convenient for lab studies. Also, there are more important reasons why they are suitable for the topics I was addressing – flight evolution. Anybody who has
Following my discovery of gliding behaviors of nymphal Extatosoma tiaratum stick insect at UW greenhouse in fall 2005, I conducted a series of researches on gliding behavior of nymphal stick insects as an undergrad. It was extended into my PhD thesis research, which addressed key issues in insect flight evolution by using the stick insects as a model system. The
