Visual perception and the associated structural and genetic components are highly developed in insects. However, it is unclear how well these features are developed in ectoparasitic insects that have secondarily reduced or lost vision. While it is well known that fleas have reduced or completely lost their eyes, it is unclear whether the underlying genetics associated with vision have remained intact. We present data from a study of the long-wavelength opsin gene sampled across a range of mecopteran and siphonapteran taxa, which include fully visual insects (panorpids and boreids) to species with eyes reduced or absent (fleas). The evolution of this gene is evaluated in light of a robust phylogeny for Mecoptera and Siphonaptera, providing greater insight into the evolution of the opsin gene complex in insects.
Species 1: Siphonaptera (fleas)
Species 2: Mecoptera Panorpidae (scorpionflies)
Species 3: Mecoptera Boreidae (snow fleas)
Keywords: opsin
Back to Student Competition Ten-Minute Papers, A2, Systematics, Morphology, and Evolution
Back to Student Competition TMP Orals
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition