RNA interference (RNAi) has become a widely used technique of knocking down a gene's expression in insects, but its efficacy in some species is limited by a reduced ability of the cells to take in and disperse the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) throughout the cytoplasm. While RNA transport proteins such as SID-1 and its orthologues can facilitate dsRNA uptake in some invertebrate species, dsRNA uptake in many insects examined to date appears to be facilitated by clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME). In this study, we used pharmacological inhibitors and RNAi-mediated knockdown of endocytic genes to provide evidence that CME is the primary means of dsRNA uptake in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Inhibition of clathrin-mediated endocytosis was sufficient to supress uptake of short (21 nt) interfering RNAs (siRNAs), short (23 nt) hairpin RNAs (shRNAs), and long (>200 nt) dsRNA molecules in Aedes aegypti cultured cells and larvae. In contrast, we observed that short (23 nt) "paperclip" RNAs (pcRNAs), with partially closed ends, efficiently enter cells via a clathrin-independent pathway and effectively facilitate transcript knockdown. This alternative dsRNA structure may prove useful in insects generally considered recalcitrant to RNAi and in insect populations where resistance to RNAi-insecticides may arise through changes in dsRNA uptake mechanisms.

Decades of research on the highly modified wings of Drosophila melanogaster has suggested that insect wings are divided into two Anterior-Posterior (A-P) compartments separated by an axis of symmetry. This axis of symmetry is created by a developmental organizer that establishes symmetrical patterns of gene expression that in turn pattern the A-P axis of the wing. Butterflies possess more typical insect wings and butterfly wing colour patterns provide many landmarks for studies of wing structure and development. Using eyespot colour pattern variation in Vanessa butterflies, here we show an additional A-P axis of symmetry running between wing sectors 3 and 4. Boundaries of Drosophila mitotic clones suggest the existence of a previously undetected Far-Posterior (F-P) compartment boundary that coincides with this additional A-P axis. A similar compartment boundary is evident in butterfly mosaic gynandromorphs. We suggest that this additional compartment boundary and its associated developmental organizer create an axis of wing colour pattern symmetry and a gene expression-based combinatorial code, permitting each insect wing compartment to acquire a unique identity and allowing for the individuation of butterfly eyespots.

We analysed morphological variation among 17 forewing characters within five populations of the paper wasp, Polistes dominulus , in Iran. The raw planar coordinate data were aligned using geometric and mathematical calculations in Kendall's shape space. After transfer of the data to a linear Euclidean space, i.e., tangent space, multi‐variate analysis of 135 images of forewings were made using their geometric morphometric characters (30 in the forewings). We observed a direct correlation between morphological characters and the geographically easiest travel distance along river valleys and mountain ranges.

The variation between the forewings of males and females of three species in the genus Polistes (Hymenoptera) was studied with the help of geometric morphometrics, to determine the extent of sexual dimporphism. Mantel statistics revealed a weak correlation between male and female data sets; however, Goodall’s F-test and canonical variates analyses (using the Integrated Morphometric Package) indicated that there are indeed significant differences between the two sexes. Although visual analysis of the relative warp analysis plots of the two sexes and also CVA analysis plot indicated correlations between sexes of the same species, differences in the position of the clusters (or species) on the plots suggests that sexual dimorphism in wings is present. Results from the thin-plate spline analysis of the mean shape of the male and female data sets revealed which landmarks are responsible for the differences.

Based on our data and the published literature, Euodynerus dantici dantici (Rossi, 1790), Euodynerus disconotatus sulfuripes (Morawitz, 1885), Euodynerus fastidiosus (de Saussure, 1853), Rhynchium acromum Giordani Soika, 1952, Tachyancistrocerus komarowi komarowi (Morawitz, 1885), and Polistes nimpha irakensis (Gusenleitner, 1976) are new records for the fauna of vespid wasps of Iran. New localities were found for some species and subspecies previously known in Iran.

The insect wing is one of the most important characteristics that allowed insects to occupy most of the habitats on the planet. Honeybee wings has been the subject of studies on the venation abnormalities. A total of 424 honeybees from 14 locations were collected and all four wings were removed and examined for 19 abnormalities on the forewings and 6 abnormalities on the hindwings. In general, supernumerary veins were the most common abnormalities seen and abnormalities no. 23, 2, 6, 1, 5, 21, 10, 13 had the highest and abnormalities no. 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 25 had the lowest frequencies. All of the abnormalities had similar frequencies in the right and left wings in the population. In terms of correlation between 25 abnormalities, abnormality pairs AB3–AB13, AB6–AB7, AB7–AB8, AB10–AB12, AB16–AB17 on the forewing and AB2–AB23, AB12–AB20, AB12–AB24, AB13–AB21, AB16–AB25, and AB17–AB25 between the forewing and hindwing show significant positive correlations and abnormality pairs AB4–AB5, AB7–AB15 and AB8–AB9 on the forewing show significant negative correlations with each other. In terms of the differential occurrence of abnormalities , a few locations differed significantly from other locations. This study provides some insights into the nature of these abnormalities on the honeybee wings.