This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Have you ever thought about reinventing yourself? According to a new study on moths conducted by Andrei Sourakov, collection coordinator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History and affiliate associate professor of entomology at the University of Florida, it's not as hard as you might think.
Sourakov specifically looked at wing development in luna (Actias luna) and polyphemus (Antheraea polyphemus) moths. By adding a small amount of heparin and dextran sulfate—two types of sulfated polysaccharides—during crucial stages in their development, he was able to drastically alter the patterns on their wings. The patterns of luna moth wings in particular changed from a cryptic (camouflaged) coloration to one that was aposematic (conspicuous).
Both compounds also changed the shape of luna moth wings, something never before experimentally achieved in Lepidoptera, the group that encompasses all moths and butterflies. The paper is published in the journal Evolution & Development. "Some giant silk moths have eyespots that make them appear threatening to would-be predators.
Others look like leaves, with translucent eyespots resembling holes to make it more convincing. What's amazing to me, and what I learned from this study, is how easy it is for these features to go from one state to another. They do this without big inventions by simply expanding or contracting existing elements to the point where eyespots look completely different.
All they need is a slight increase in the amount of certain compounds at the right moment," Sourakov said. Moth and butterfly eyespots are located in different parts of the wing, indicating they evolved independently of each other. Initially, Sourakov wanted to know whether these two groups used the same genes to create eyespots or if they independently converged on the same design.
To find out, he induced the gaudy color and pattern changes on their wings by adding sulfated polysaccharides to several giant silk moth species. The addition of external heparin and dextran sulfate augments the activity of a group of proteins called wnt. Sourakov hypothesized that if the eyespots of two different species reacted similarly to heparin and dextran sulfate, it's likely they'd be homologous (have the same evolutionary origins), though further experimental work would be needed to confirm that this was true.
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