Chopping down trees may cause insects to lose their wings

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-08-11 09:01

New Zealand

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Some native insects are becoming flightless as a way to cope with windier conditions - from losing shelter due to deforestation, according to NZ researchers. They revealed strong links between recent forest decline and the loss of wings in stoneflies. Usually changes in evolutionary biology occur over many thousands of years; however, in this study many previously-winged insects evolved to become flightless in just a few hundred years, placing them more at risk of extinction.

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Journal/
conference: Biology Letters

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Otago, Institut Agro, France

Funder: This work was supported by Marsden contracts UOO1412 and UOO2016 (Royal Society of New Zealand) awarded to J.M.W. and G.A.M., and a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship awarded to B.J.F.

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