Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY), Bronx, NY, United States; Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, United States; Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, United States.
Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY), Bronx, NY, United States.
Methods Enzymol. 2022;670:499-524. doi: 10.1016/bs.mie.2022.01.016. Epub 2022 Feb 26.
A common way to avoid predators is by use of camouflage, a strategy which the stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) have refined by appearing as leaves, sticks, lichen, and moss. Stick and leaf insects have perfected their camouflage by sequestering diet-based carotenoids within their exoskeleton. Visual and chemical details of such camouflage have likely been influenced through the millennia of co-evolution between these insects and the plants they mimic. It is this evolutionary struggle that has resulted in a plethora of morphological and chemical adaptations across the stick and leaf insect family tree. In this chapter we discuss prior stick and leaf insect carotenoid studies, proper rearing of specimens, and describe methods for preparation of insect exoskeleton and plant samples, carotenoid extraction and analysis.
一种常见的躲避捕食者的方法是使用伪装，而竹节虫（Phasmatodea）通过将自己伪装成树叶、树枝、地衣和苔藓等形态，将这种策略发挥到了极致。竹节虫通过将与饮食相关的类胡萝卜素隔离在其外骨骼内，从而使它们的伪装达到了完美的效果。这种伪装的视觉和化学细节很可能是在这些昆虫与它们所模仿的植物经过数千年的共同进化过程中形成的。正是这种进化斗争导致了竹节虫家族中大量的形态和化学适应。在这一章中，我们讨论了之前的竹节虫类胡萝卜素研究、标本的正确饲养方法，并描述了昆虫外骨骼和植物样本的制备方法、类胡萝卜素的提取和分析方法。
