Student 10-Minute Paper
Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity
Student Competition
Student
Kayla M. Hefner
Research Assistant
University of Wisconsin
West Salem, Wisconsin
Rich Adams
Assistant Professor of Agricultural Statistics
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Stephanie Haddad
University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Duane McKenna
Professor
University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Robert F. Mitchell (he/him/his)
Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Longhorned beetles are a large and widespread family of primarily wood-boring insects. Their behavior is strongly influenced by chemical cues and signals in the environment, which may dictate host and mate selection, segregate species, and initiate oviposition. These semiochemicals are primarily detected at the molecular level by three families of chemoreceptor proteins: the odorant receptors (ORs), gustatory receptors (GRs), and ionotropic receptors (IRs). Thus, the evolution and function of the chemoreceptors can provide insight into the ecology and evolution of insects, especially when their chemical ecology is otherwise poorly understood. In this talk, we will compare chemoreceptors annotated from species in the longhorned beetle subfamily Lamiinae that consume either healthy or decaying host material, and observe how chemosensory evolution is affected by these two dramatically different niches.