Guillermo-Ferreira Rhainer, Appel Esther, Urban Paulina, Bispo Pitágoras C, Gorb Stanislav N
Department of Hydrobiology, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24098 Kiel, Germany.
Biol Lett. 2017 May;13(5). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0960.
Some consider that the first winged insects had living tissue inside the wing membrane, resembling larval gills or developing wing pads. However, throughout the developmental process of the wing membrane of modern insects, cells and tracheoles in the lumen between dorsal and ventral cuticle disappear and both cuticles become fused. This process results in the rather thin rigid stable structure of the membrane. The herewith described remarkable case of the dragonfly shows that in some highly specialized wings, the membrane can still be supplemented by tracheae. Such a characteristic of the wing membrane presumably represents a strong specialization for the synthesis of melanin-filled nanolayers of the cuticle, nanospheres inside the wing membrane and complex arrangement of wax crystals on the membrane surface, all responsible for unique structural coloration.
一些人认为，最早的有翅昆虫在翅膜内部有活组织，类似于幼虫的鳃或发育中的翅芽。然而，在现代昆虫翅膜的整个发育过程中，背腹角质层之间腔隙中的细胞和气管消失，两个角质层融合在一起。这个过程导致了翅膜相当薄但坚硬稳定的结构。这里所描述的蜻蜓的显著例子表明，在一些高度特化的翅膀中，翅膜仍然可以由气管进行补充。翅膜的这种特征大概代表了一种强烈的特化，用于合成角质层中充满黑色素的纳米层、翅膜内部的纳米球以及膜表面蜡晶体的复杂排列，所有这些都导致了独特的结构色。
