Aposematic display of flightless stick insect with brachypterous wings
Condition of an animal having short wings
Brachyptery is an anatomical condition in which an animal has very reduced wings. Such animals or their wings may be described as "brachypterous". Another descriptor for very small wings is microptery.
Brachypterous wings generally are not functional as organs of flight and often seem to be totally functionless and vestigial. In some species, however, flightless wings may have other functions, such as aposematic display in some Orthoptera and Phasmatodea. Brachyptery occurs commonly among insects. An insect species might evolve towards brachyptery by reducing its flight muscles and their associated energy demands, or by avoiding the hazards of flight in windy conditions on oceanic islands, in which flying insects are prone to drowning. Brachyptery also is common in ectoparasitic insects that have no use for wings, and inquiline insects with socially parasitic life strategies that do not require functional wings.
Pterostichus melanarius is an example of an insect beetle species that exhibits brachyptery. The brachypterous beetles of P. melanarius become the more common morph in the population once the beetles have established their home in a new population.[1]
In some species of insects, brachyptery occurs in some members (say in only one sex,[2] or only some castes), whereas fully functional wings occur in macropterous individuals. When brachyptery is sex-specific, females are often the sex with reduced wings, including reduced wing musculature. This may be to free energy for reproduction, or may be because some insect males (such as cockroaches) use their wings in courtship displays.[3] Other forms of brachyptery may depend on the temperature at which the insect grew and developed. In winter, for example, some species of aphids grow reduced wings, whereas in summer they grow fully developed wings. [4]
Some animals, like fleas and worker ants, display an extreme form of brachyptery called aptery, in which no wings grow at all.
^Bourassa, Stephane; Spence, John; Hartley, Dustin J.; Lee, Seung Il (2011-11-16). "Wing-dimorphism and population expansion of Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger, 1798) at small and large scales in central Alberta, Canada (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Pterostichini)". ZooKeys (147): 545–558. Bibcode:2011ZooK..147..545B. doi:10.3897/zookeys.147.2097. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 3286251. PMID 22379390.
^Young, Chen; Yang, Ding (April 2002). "Notes on Female Brachyptery in Nephrotoma basiflava Yang and Yang (Diptera: Tipulidae)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 75 (2): 110–115. JSTOR 25086052. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
^Kotyk, Michael; Varadínová, Zuzana (2017). "Wing reduction influences male mating success but not female fitness in cockroaches". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 2367. Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.2367K. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02647-7. PMC 5443839. PMID 28539621.
^Bale, Jefferey (1999). "Impacts of Climate Warming on Arctic Aphids: A Comparative Analysis". Ecological Bulletins. 47 (Responses to Global Change in the North): 38–47. JSTOR 20113225. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
Brachyptery is an anatomical condition in which an animal has very reduced wings. Such animals or their wings may be described as "brachypterous". Another...
Argentina, Brazil and Peru. It is one of the species of Lepidoptera in which brachyptery (an anatomical condition of wing reduction) is known to occur. "Lirimiris...
in 1928. It is found in Morocco. The species is alternatively listed as a subspecies of Coscinia libyssa. Brachyptery and Aptery in Lepidoptera v t e...
second rear segment, so they are unable to fly and resemble nymphs (brachyptery). Nymphs are usually green in the early stages. This immature stages...
secondarily apterous, including entire orders, such as fleas and Notoptera. Brachyptery (reduced wings) Whiting, Michael; Bradler, Sven; Maxwell, Taylor (2003)...
show some degree of wing deformation which might point to incipient brachyptery. Populations of this species were often referred to as an undescribed...
[citation needed] Mantodea of Oceania List of mantis genera and species Brachyptery — long or short wings evolution. Archimantis monstrosa Orthodera ministralis...
the rediscovery of Ethmia discrepitella (Rebel, 1901) with remarks on brachyptery in females of Ethmia (Ethmiidae)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF)...
Pycnonotus solaris YelIow-throated minivet 紅山椒鳥 III Family Turdidae 鶇科 Brachyptery montana Blue shortwing 小翼鶇 III Cinclidium leucurum White-tailed blue...
The light-brown wings usually are very reduced and unfit to flight (brachyptery). Femora of the hind legs are red on the bottom, while tibiae are yellowish...
millimetres (0.48–0.79 in)), shorter than abdomen and unfit for flight (brachyptery). The basic body color is ocher or yellow-green, with dark markings....
sexes the vestigial wings are oval, very short and unfit to flight (brachyptery), resembling those of a nymph. This species sometimes has well-developed...
markings. Females have a relatively wide head and very reduced wings (brachyptery), with hemelytra non covering the apex of the abdomen. This species is...
of these species were found to exhibit brachyptery, which is the reduction of the beetles’ wings. Brachyptery was found to occur in areas of long-term...
diminutive of Spheniscus, a penguin, and refers to the female moth's brachyptery and to the rocky subantarctic island habitat. The holotype specimen is...
females. On the contrary the females are bigger, have very reduced wings (brachyptery) and are characterised by a swollen abdomen (physogastrism) holding enlarged...
development varies among Byrrhoidea, with macroptery (wings fully developed), brachyptery (wings reduced), microptery (wings reduced to small remnants) and aptery...
is one of the few species of Lepidoptera known where this extreme of brachyptery involving both sexes has evolved. The forewings are dark fuscous with...
basal zone on the hind tibia. In the females wings are very reduced (brachyptery), reaching only the hind margin of postscutellum or the first abdominal...
different species and within species, with macroptery (developed wings), brachyptery (reduced wings) and aptery (winglessness) all occurring in the genus...
(2021). "Cuniculoblatta brevialata gen. et sp. n., the second case of brachyptery from Cretaceous North Myanmar amber". Palaeontographica Abteilung A....
Hawaii and female Agrotis from New Zealand are sometimes brachypterous, brachyptery in both sexes of Lepidoptera species is rare and is usually limited to...
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