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Science 2 January 1981:
Vol. 211. no. 4477, pp. 84 - 86
DOI: 10.1126/science.211.4477.84
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Articles

Thermoregulatory Significance of Thoracic Lobes in the Evolution of Insect Wings

MATTHEW M. DOUGLAS 1

1 Biological Science Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

The evolution of broadly attached thoracic lobes could have increased the body temperature excess of ancient wingless insects by 55 percent over that of lobeless forms. The subsequent expansion of these thoracic lobes for behavioral thermoregulation could have provided the morphological stage required for the evolution of functional wings.

Submitted on March 19, 1980
Revised on July 17, 1980


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Surface-Skimming Stoneflies: A Possible Intermediate Stage in Insect Flight Evolution.
J. H. Marden and M. G. Kramer (1994)
Science 266, 427-430
   Abstract »    PDF »
On the Origin of Insect Wings: Experimental data on thermoregulation and aerodynamics give the first quantitative test of a popular hypothesis for the evolution of flight in insects.
R. LEWIN (1985)
Science 230, 428-429
   PDF »
Flight Interneurons in the Locust and the Origin of Insect Wings.
R. M. ROBERTSON, K. G. PEARSON, and H. REICHERT (1982)
Science 217, 177-179
   Abstract »    PDF »


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