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Anatomical organization of the brain of a diurnal and a nocturnal dung beetle

Immonen, Esa Ville LU ; Dacke, Marie LU ; Heinze, Stanley LU orcid and el Jundi, Basil LU (2017) In Journal of Comparative Neurology 525(8). p.1879-1908
Abstract

To avoid the fierce competition for food, South African ball-rolling dung beetles carve a piece of dung off a dung-pile, shape it into a ball and roll it away along a straight line path. For this unidirectional exit from the busy dung pile, at night and day, the beetles use a wide repertoire of celestial compass cues. This robust and relatively easily measurable orientation behavior has made ball-rolling dung beetles an attractive model organism for the study of the neuroethology behind insect orientation and sensory ecology. Although there is already some knowledge emerging concerning how celestial cues are processed in the dung beetle brain, little is known about its general neural layout. Mapping the neuropils of the dung beetle... (More)

To avoid the fierce competition for food, South African ball-rolling dung beetles carve a piece of dung off a dung-pile, shape it into a ball and roll it away along a straight line path. For this unidirectional exit from the busy dung pile, at night and day, the beetles use a wide repertoire of celestial compass cues. This robust and relatively easily measurable orientation behavior has made ball-rolling dung beetles an attractive model organism for the study of the neuroethology behind insect orientation and sensory ecology. Although there is already some knowledge emerging concerning how celestial cues are processed in the dung beetle brain, little is known about its general neural layout. Mapping the neuropils of the dung beetle brain is thus a prerequisite to understand the neuronal network that underlies celestial compass orientation. Here, we describe and compare the brains of a day-active and a night-active dung beetle species based on immunostainings against synapsin and serotonin. We also provide 3D reconstructions for all brain areas and many of the fiber bundles in the brain of the day-active dung beetle. Comparison of neuropil structures between the two dung beetle species revealed differences that reflect adaptations to different light conditions. Altogether, our results provide a reference framework for future studies on the neuroethology of insects in general and dung beetles in particular.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Antennal lobe, Central complex, Mushroom body, Optic lobe, RRID: AB_2315426, RRID: AB_572263, RRID: SCR_002285, RRID: SCR_007353, Scarabaeus, Sensory ecology
in
Journal of Comparative Neurology
volume
525
issue
8
pages
1879 - 1908
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85014908617
  • pmid:28074466
  • wos:000398620100008
ISSN
0021-9967
DOI
10.1002/cne.24169
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
84ac6d1a-5bf6-4880-9adc-53e42939821b
date added to LUP
2017-03-23 11:39:02
date last changed
2024-04-29 08:22:16
@article{84ac6d1a-5bf6-4880-9adc-53e42939821b,
  abstract     = {{<p>To avoid the fierce competition for food, South African ball-rolling dung beetles carve a piece of dung off a dung-pile, shape it into a ball and roll it away along a straight line path. For this unidirectional exit from the busy dung pile, at night and day, the beetles use a wide repertoire of celestial compass cues. This robust and relatively easily measurable orientation behavior has made ball-rolling dung beetles an attractive model organism for the study of the neuroethology behind insect orientation and sensory ecology. Although there is already some knowledge emerging concerning how celestial cues are processed in the dung beetle brain, little is known about its general neural layout. Mapping the neuropils of the dung beetle brain is thus a prerequisite to understand the neuronal network that underlies celestial compass orientation. Here, we describe and compare the brains of a day-active and a night-active dung beetle species based on immunostainings against synapsin and serotonin. We also provide 3D reconstructions for all brain areas and many of the fiber bundles in the brain of the day-active dung beetle. Comparison of neuropil structures between the two dung beetle species revealed differences that reflect adaptations to different light conditions. Altogether, our results provide a reference framework for future studies on the neuroethology of insects in general and dung beetles in particular.</p>}},
  author       = {{Immonen, Esa Ville and Dacke, Marie and Heinze, Stanley and el Jundi, Basil}},
  issn         = {{0021-9967}},
  keywords     = {{Antennal lobe; Central complex; Mushroom body; Optic lobe; RRID: AB_2315426; RRID: AB_572263; RRID: SCR_002285; RRID: SCR_007353; Scarabaeus; Sensory ecology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{1879--1908}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of Comparative Neurology}},
  title        = {{Anatomical organization of the brain of a diurnal and a nocturnal dung beetle}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.24169}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/cne.24169}},
  volume       = {{525}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}