Issues

Highlighted Article: Video analysis of largemouth bass swimming behavior in the field suggests that they do not use swimming speeds or propulsive movements that maximize economy and efficiency.

Summary: Different subpopulations of oyster hemocytes are specialized for biomineralization or immune functions as revealed by functional differences and gene expression profiles.

Summary: Based on the modelled birefringent properties of a photoreceptor cell (R8), many species of stomatopod achieve the optical function of quarter-wave retardance, allowing them to discriminate circularly polarized light.

Summary: After drinking a small droplet of sugar solution, hungry Drosophila melanogaster initiate local searching behavior. This behavior is triggered by pharyngeal sugar-responsive receptor neurons.

Summary: Insect-associated nematodes coordinate their development using host cues to ‘walk the line’ between mutualism and pathogenesis. A host pheromone causes terminal embryogenesis by permeabilizing the nematode eggshell.

Summary: Field-based measurements link distribution of two ecosystem engineer lugworm species with the mechanical properties of the sediment, their differential burrowing success and morphological features.

Highlighted Article: Termite mounds harness oscillatory solar heating to drive internal ventilation of metabolic gases, functioning as an external lung for the colony. This passive mechanism has clear implications for human engineering.

Summary: Novel mechanisms for Na⁺ uptake in the skin of the freshwater leech Nephelopsis obscura were identified to employ both Na⁺/H⁺ exchangers and Na⁺ channels, while also being independent of ammonia transport.

Summary: Individual differences in cold response mean that minimal energy expenditure can be better quantified at ecologically relevant ambient temperatures.

Summary: Thermoregulatory performance measurements in seven Sonoran Desert passerine bird species show that heat tolerance limits did not scale with body mass among species, but were ∼50°C for all species.

Summary: Immunostaining of β-arrestin reveals its light-dependent translocation in the photoreceptors of a terrestrial slug, and also shows the utility of β-arrestin as a molecular marker of optic nerves.

Highlighted Article: Camponotus blandus foragers can learn, discriminate and memorize chromatic information for several days, suggesting that colour cues might constitute an important sensory modality during foraging and orientation.

Summary: Structural and biochemical features of a previously unknown fibrillar collagen from an octocoral indicate its similarities to mammalian type I and II collagens.

Summary: During swimming, the scalloped hammerhead and bonnethead shark have similar kinematic outputs but different undulatory patterns. Flexion frequency and amplitude vary along the length of the body, whereas only amplitude varies between species.

Summary: The Drosophila gene Frost is expressed in response to cold exposure. Genome editing shows that its function is to protect post-cold reproduction rather than to improve tolerance during cold exposure.

Summary: pH in Aedes midgut is finely controlled according to the nutritional condition of the insect. Hormone release and perception of proteins inside the lumen are involved in the process.

Summary: The relationship between metabolic rate and body mass in insects can depend heavily on the model-fitting method, the structure of phylogeny and ecological factors.

Summary: Transcriptional responses to fluctuating thermal regimes differ between life stages in the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata.

Highlighted Article: Trichoplax, a primitive marine animal that lacks neurons and synapses, has neurosecretory cells that secrete a peptide into the ambient seawater to arrest ciliary beating during feeding.

Summary: The energetic and nutrient costs of glucocorticoid-accelerated development alter fitness trade-offs across life stages.