Back to Search Start Over

An augmented wood-penetrating structure: Cicada ovipositors enhanced with metals and other inorganic elements.

Authors :
Lehnert MS
Reiter KE
Smith GA
Kritsky G
Source :
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2019 Dec 24; Vol. 9 (1), pp. 19731. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Dec 24.
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Few insect species are as popular as periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.). Despite representing an enormous biomass and numbers that exceed 370/m <superscript>2</superscript> during mass emergences, the extended time period of the underground nymphal stages (up to 17 years) complicates investigations of their life history traits and ecology. Upon emergence, female cicadas mate and then use their ovipositors to cut through wood to lay their eggs. Given the ability to penetrate into wood, we hypothesized that the ovipositor cuticle is augmented with inorganic elements, which could increase hardness and reduce ovipositor fracturing. We used scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to evaluate the material properties of ovipositors of four cicada species, including three species of periodical cicadas. We found 14 inorganic elements of the cuticle, of which P, Ca, Si, Mg, Na, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cl, K, and S show the highest concentrations (%wt) near the apex of the ovipositor, where other structural modifications for penetrating wood are present. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of metal deposits in the cuticle of true bugs (Hemiptera, >80,000 described species).

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2045-2322
Volume :
9
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Scientific reports
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
31874983
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56203-6