What is it about?
In the solitary bee Megachile rotundata, we found that larvae begin their transformation into adults when their food supply is depleted, not when they reach a certain body weight, as is commonly observed in many other insects. This follows the life history of this species because the larvae depend entirely on a fixed amount of food provided by their mother. When the food is gone, key hormonal changes signal that it is time to develop into adults. Most insects use similar hormonal signals to start this transformation, and through this study, we show that the processes involved are largely the same, regardless of the cue for metamorphosis. Overall, our results show that differences in life history can shape the timing and control of insect development.
Featured Image
Photo by Jen Dries on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This work is important because it reveals that different life history signals can initiate key developmental decisions, and the underlying physiological mechanism remains the same.
Perspectives
This article underscores the importance of examining well-studied biological processes in non-model organisms, as these systems can reveal alternative regulatory strategies that are not apparent in traditional model species.
Courtney Grula
North Dakota State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Food absence is a cue for metamorphosis in the solitary bee
Megachile rotundata
through a conserved physiological mechanism, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2511035122.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
