Image:
Entomologists have documented many cases where species of insects have lost their ability to fly. For example, an insect whose habitat may change over time would evolve to survive more easily in the habitat. Whiting suggests that walking sticks may have lost wings to help them to blend in with their surroundings. He also noted that wingless insects have shown to lay more eggs than winged relatives. This could have been important for walking sticks because instead of burying their eggs in the ground as similar species do, they drop them to the earth from their homes in the treetops. And the more eggs the wingless walking stick produces, the more chances it has to pass along genes to the next generation.
For whatever reason, some 50 million years ago, it was advantageous to have some of the species become winged again. Now there are various species of winged and wingless walking sticks. What's remarkable is that they had the ability to generate wings when they needed them. Thumbnail">
Name:
E-mail Address:
Where will the image be used:
NSF requests users to complete an electronic information form documenting the requestor's planned use of the image. This form provides us with valuable tracking information that will help to shape the contents of the image library in the future. We do not retain any personal information (name, email address other than domain name - “.edu,” “.org,” “.com,” “.gov,” etc.) in our files. If you would prefer not to provide your name and email address, type any letter in those boxes. For information about NSF’s Privacy Policy, please see
http://www.nsf.gov/home/pubinfo/privacy.htm
.
The National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA
Tel: 703-292-5111
FIRS: 800-877-8339 ~ TDD: 703-292-5090
Last Modified: Jan 31, 2001
