Flight-muscle-histolysis
Guides
Gryllus firmus
Sand Field Cricket, Sand Cricket
Gryllus firmus, the sand field cricket, is a wing-polymorphic cricket native to the southeastern United States. It exhibits a distinctive chirping call that distinguishes it from the trilling calls of closely related species. The species is notable for producing two egg types—fast-developing and diapause eggs—within single clutches, an adaptation to unpredictable conditions in sandy habitats. Wing morphs are associated with trade-offs between dispersal and reproduction: long-winged individuals can fly but have reduced fecundity, while short-winged individuals have enhanced reproductive output. The species hybridizes with Gryllus pennsylvanicus where their ranges overlap.
wing-polymorphismbet-hedgingdiapausehybrid-zoneacoustic-signalinglife-history-trade-offparasitismGryllus-firmus/Gryllus-pennsylvanicus-hybridizationcuticular-hydrocarbonsmate-choiceinbreeding-depressionextra-nuclear-inheritancematernal-effectshorsehair-wormParagordius-variuseugregarinetemperature-dependent-chirpingDolbear's-lawspeciationsexual-selectionimmunity-reproduction-trade-offflight-muscle-histolysissandy-soil-habitatephemeral-habitatcolonizing-speciesphenotypic-plasticityRNAinon-model-organismevolutionary-developmental-biologyGryllus lineaticeps
Variable Field Cricket
Gryllus lineaticeps, the variable field cricket, is a North American field cricket species distinguished by its flexible mate-searching behavior. Females exhibit phonotaxis toward male calling songs and adjust their preferences based on acoustic experience, rejecting lower-quality songs after exposure to more attractive alternatives. Males produce energetically costly calls, with oxygen consumption increasing 2.7 times basal rates during chirping. The species undergoes flight muscle histolysis during the transition from dispersal to reproduction, with autophagy selectively breaking down dorsal longitudinal flight muscles while preserving dorsoventral muscles for walking. Thermal preferences vary across the diel cycle and shift in response to starvation, reflecting life history trade-offs between activity and energy conservation.
Neacoryphus
Neacoryphus is a genus of seed bugs in the family Lygaeidae, established by Scudder in 1965. The genus contains approximately five to seven described species, with Neacoryphus bicrucis being the most extensively studied. Members of this genus are seed-feeding insects with documented chemical defense mechanisms and complex territorial behaviors.