England Sam J, Palmer Ryan A, O'Reilly Liam J, Chenchiah Isaac V, Robert Daniel
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom.
Department of Evolutionary Morphology, Museum für Naturkunde-Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin 10115, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jul 29;122(30):e2505253122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2505253122. Epub 2025 Jul 21.
The link between form and function of an organism's morphology is usually apparent or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable diversity in their form, often exhibiting extreme morphologies, but with no obvious functional explanation. Treehoppers (Membracidae) are a family of insects that exemplify this, displaying an astounding morphological diversity, resulting in a plethora of extreme forms. The function of these morphological extremities and the reasons for their evolution have thus far remained largely enigmatic. However, this mystery can be considered in light of the capacity of many animals to detect electric fields in air via electrostatic actuation of mechanosensory structures on their body. Importantly, the strength of the electric field experienced by these mechanosensory structures is expected by physics to depend on the animal's geometry, with sharp and elongated features producing the highest electric fields. Therefore, we hypothesize that the extreme morphologies of treehoppers increase their electrical sensitivity. Here, we show that treehoppers, along with their predators and mutualists, produce electric fields and that the treehopper can detect electric fields, responding behaviorally. We also demonstrate that predatory wasps and mutualist bees differ significantly in their electrostatic profiles, pointing to the sophistication of electrical information potentially available to treehoppers. Biophysical, computational, and mathematical techniques are then utilized to provide evidence that the pronotum of treehoppers is the site of electroreception and that its extreme shapes may enhance its sensitivity to electricity.
生物体形态的形式与功能之间的联系通常是明显的或直观的。然而，一些生物类群在形态上表现出显著的多样性，常常呈现出极端的形态，但却没有明显的功能解释。角蝉（沫蝉科）就是这样一类昆虫，它们展现出惊人的形态多样性，产生了大量极端的形态。这些形态极端特征的功能及其进化的原因迄今为止在很大程度上仍然是个谜。然而，鉴于许多动物能够通过其身体上机械感觉结构的静电驱动来检测空气中的电场，这个谜团可以得到思考。重要的是，根据物理学原理，这些机械感觉结构所感受到的电场强度预计取决于动物的几何形状，尖锐和细长的特征会产生最高的电场。因此，我们假设角蝉的极端形态增加了它们的电敏感性。在这里，我们表明角蝉及其捕食者和共生者都会产生电场，并且角蝉能够检测电场并做出行为反应。我们还证明，捕食性黄蜂和共生蜜蜂在其静电特征上有显著差异，这表明角蝉可能获得的电信息的复杂性。然后利用生物物理、计算和数学技术来提供证据，证明角蝉的前胸背板是电感受的部位，并且其极端形状可能会增强其对电的敏感性。
