Jewel beetles evolve to see new colors by duplicating their genes
Published:28 Mar.2023 Source:University of Minnesota
Jewel beetles are striking insects, easily recognized by their vivid colors and metallic sheen. Possessing large, well-developed eyes, jewel beetles use vision and color for a range of different behaviors, including finding mates and host plants.
Color vision in insects differs from our own. Special genes allow many insects to see ultraviolet (UV) light as well as blue and green. New research led by Camilla Sharkey, a postdoctoral associate at the Wardill Lab in the College of Biological Sciences, investigated the complex evolutionary history of jewel beetles' vision.
Previous research by Dr. Sharkey has shown that before the evolution of modern beetles, their ancestors lost the ability to see blue light around 300 million years ago. This may have been the result of the beetle ancestor becoming nocturnal or living in low-light conditions. Later, as beetles diversified, they evolved duplicates of the ancestral genes that allow them to see the UV and green spectrum. These duplicate genes could further evolve, making new parts of the color spectrum visible and allowing more complicated and diverse color signals to be seen.