UV-Excited Fluorescence on Riparian Insects except Hymenoptera Is Associated with Nitrogen Content

Abstract EN

I photographed ultraviolet-excited fluorescence of external resilin on insects in 7 orders, 17 families, and 18 genera collected from shrubs and trees alongside the Colorado River in western Arizona, USA.

The localized blue-fluorescence characteristic of resilin was emitted by a variety of structures including sutures and wing articulations on Odonata and Diptera and membranous wings, compound eyes, or ocelli on Hemiptera, Neuroptera, and Hymenoptera.

Different widespread, but blotchy, light-blue fluorescence was observed on cuticles of immature Orthoptera and adult Hemiptera.

Insects in Hymenoptera and Coleoptera fluoresced least.

Ranked amounts of fluorescence, relative to body area, were positively correlated with ranked nitrogen contents (%N of body dry-mass) of insects in genera excluding Hymenoptera.

Nitrogen concentrations in insect exoskeletons appear to increase as abundances of resilin and other fluorescent, elastic proteins increase.

These structural compounds may be an important nitrogen source for insectivorous vertebrates.