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Crickets in two places fall silent to survive
Ten years ago, two years apart, males appeared on Kauai and Oahu with altered wings, which they would normally rub together to chirp and attract females.
New findings published in the journal Current Biology show that the wing changes are physically different and arose from separate mutations.
This makes the silent crickets a brand new example of "convergent evolution".
The killer flies have an unusual ability to pinpoint a cricket's location using sound.
...
In less than 20 generations, a mutation that leaves males unable to sing spread to over 90% of the crickets on the island of Kauai.
Because they are mute, these "flatwing" male crickets are hidden from the parasitoid flies and escape being eaten by maggots. That triumph comes at a cost, however, since finding a mate is tricky without a voice. The silent types loiter near the few males still singing away, and intercept females for themselves.
Two years after the Kauai discovery in 2003, flatwing crickets were also found over 100km away on Oahu.
...
Finally, comparing a raft of other genetic markers between the two groups yielded convincing evidence that the two mutations had occurred independently.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27592656
New findings published in the journal Current Biology show that the wing changes are physically different and arose from separate mutations.
This makes the silent crickets a brand new example of "convergent evolution".
The killer flies have an unusual ability to pinpoint a cricket's location using sound.
...
In less than 20 generations, a mutation that leaves males unable to sing spread to over 90% of the crickets on the island of Kauai.
Because they are mute, these "flatwing" male crickets are hidden from the parasitoid flies and escape being eaten by maggots. That triumph comes at a cost, however, since finding a mate is tricky without a voice. The silent types loiter near the few males still singing away, and intercept females for themselves.
Two years after the Kauai discovery in 2003, flatwing crickets were also found over 100km away on Oahu.
...
Finally, comparing a raft of other genetic markers between the two groups yielded convincing evidence that the two mutations had occurred independently.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27592656
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