The importance of metabolic rate and/or spiracle modulation for saving respiratory water is contentious. One major explanation for gas exchange pattern variation in terrestrial insects is to effect a respiratory water loss (RWL) saving. To test this, we measured the rates of CO2 and H2O release ( and , respectively) in a previously unstudied, mesic cockroach, Aptera fusca, and compared gas exch...

Most investigations of insect gas exchange patterns and the hypotheses proposed to account for their evolution have been based either on small-scale, manipulative experiments, or comparisons of a few closely related species. Despite their potential utility, no explicit, phylogeny-based, broad-scale comparative studies of the evolution of gas exchange in insects have been undertaken. This may be...

Background and Aims Viticulture will be particularly affected by increasing drought heat waves in the future. It is of interest to find traits that indicate stress before symptoms become apparent. We investigated whether commonly used traits, proline abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis, are suitable markers for heat, or combined gene expression key enzymes ABA biosynthesis regulated grapevine leav...