Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings
Animals mimicking other organisms or using camouflage to deceive predators are vital survival strategies. Modern and fossil insects can simulate diverse objects. Lichens are an ancient symbiosis between a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium that sometimes have a plant-like appearance and occasion...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2020-07-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/59007 |
| _version_ | 1811180474591084544 |
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| author | Hui Fang Conrad C Labandeira Yiming Ma Bingyu Zheng Dong Ren Xinli Wei Jiaxi Liu Yongjie Wang |
| author_facet | Hui Fang Conrad C Labandeira Yiming Ma Bingyu Zheng Dong Ren Xinli Wei Jiaxi Liu Yongjie Wang |
| author_sort | Hui Fang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Animals mimicking other organisms or using camouflage to deceive predators are vital survival strategies. Modern and fossil insects can simulate diverse objects. Lichens are an ancient symbiosis between a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium that sometimes have a plant-like appearance and occasionally are mimicked by modern animals. Nevertheless, lichen models are almost absent in fossil record of mimicry. Here, we provide the earliest fossil evidence of a mimetic relationship between the moth lacewing mimic Lichenipolystoechotes gen. nov. and its co-occurring fossil lichen model Daohugouthallus ciliiferus. We corroborate the lichen affinity of D. ciliiferus and document this mimetic relationship by providing structural similarities and detailed measurements of the mimic’s wing and correspondingly the model’s thallus. Our discovery of lichen mimesis predates modern lichen-insect associations by 165 million years, indicating that during the mid-Mesozoic, the lichen-insect mimesis system was well established and provided lacewings with highly honed survival strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:03:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-51aa94038779458895233e9acf362ecc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:03:43Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-51aa94038779458895233e9acf362ecc2022-12-22T04:32:41ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2020-07-01910.7554/eLife.59007Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewingsHui Fang0Conrad C Labandeira1Yiming Ma2Bingyu Zheng3Dong Ren4Xinli Wei5Jiaxi Liu6Yongjie Wang7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1397-8481College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United StatesCollege of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States; Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, United StatesCollege of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, ChinaAnimals mimicking other organisms or using camouflage to deceive predators are vital survival strategies. Modern and fossil insects can simulate diverse objects. Lichens are an ancient symbiosis between a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium that sometimes have a plant-like appearance and occasionally are mimicked by modern animals. Nevertheless, lichen models are almost absent in fossil record of mimicry. Here, we provide the earliest fossil evidence of a mimetic relationship between the moth lacewing mimic Lichenipolystoechotes gen. nov. and its co-occurring fossil lichen model Daohugouthallus ciliiferus. We corroborate the lichen affinity of D. ciliiferus and document this mimetic relationship by providing structural similarities and detailed measurements of the mimic’s wing and correspondingly the model’s thallus. Our discovery of lichen mimesis predates modern lichen-insect associations by 165 million years, indicating that during the mid-Mesozoic, the lichen-insect mimesis system was well established and provided lacewings with highly honed survival strategies.https://elifesciences.org/articles/59007fossilinsectlichensurvival strategymimicryneuroptera |
| spellingShingle | Hui Fang Conrad C Labandeira Yiming Ma Bingyu Zheng Dong Ren Xinli Wei Jiaxi Liu Yongjie Wang Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings eLife fossil insect lichen survival strategy mimicry neuroptera |
| title | Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings |
| title_full | Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings |
| title_fullStr | Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings |
| title_short | Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings |
| title_sort | lichen mimesis in mid mesozoic lacewings |
| topic | fossil insect lichen survival strategy mimicry neuroptera |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/59007 |
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