Creative study on beetle forewings provides first compelling evidence of centuries-old theory

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By Susan Meikle, university news and communications

Yoshi Tomoyasu, associate professor of biology, (left) and Alan Hu (Miami '16)
Without using any modern technical laboratory methods, researchers in Yoshinori Tomoyasu’s evolutionary developmental biology lab have produced the first quantitative evidence supporting the importance of beetle forewings (elytra).
“We are very proud of this work, because this is a very simple study without any modern biology techniques, yet provides the first compelling evidence for something that has been regarded as a fact for centuries without any empirical support,” Tomoyasu, associate professor of biology, said.
Their paper, “Functional value of elytra under various stresses in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum” was published in Scientific Reports, an online, open access journal from the publishers of Nature.
The study was conducted by David Linz (Miami ’10), doctoral student in biology, and Alan Hu (Miami ’16). They were supported by funds from Miami’s Doctoral Undergraduate Opportunity Scholarships (DUOS) program. 
Their study demonstrates that elytra are indeed critical to beetles in order to withstand four major environmental stresses: physical damage to hindwings, predation, desiccation (drying) and cold shock.

Red flour beetles: control and with elytra removed (ER) (image courtesy of Tomoyasu).
The beetle forewing structure — the elytra — has always been considered to be a shield, protecting beetles from various environmental stresses, said Tomoyasu, whose research focuses on evolutionary developmental biology.
The evolution of the elytra is often presumed to have been the major driving force for the success of beetles, which account for about 20 percent of known eukaryotic species in the world, Tomoyasu said.
“So it is very surprising that few studies have ever been performed to actually demonstrate that elytra help beetles withstand diverse environmental challenges,” he said.
Tomoyasu, Linz and Hu designed a study to empirically test the functional importance of the elytra in several creative ways, such as: drying beetles, icing beetles ...

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