A new study has highlighted how wild insect populations have adapted to habitat changes brought on by human-induced deforestation. The researchers, all from the University of Otago in New Zealand, have uncovered evidence that widespread forest loss has driven repeated colour shifts in insects, providing a striking example of human-induced evolution in the wild.
Published in Science, the Human-driven Evolution of Colour in a Stonefly Mimic focuses on how the loss of forests has led to colour changes across various insect lineages. The insects’ new hues resemble the warning colouration of a toxic forest stonefly.
“This shift in colouration may help the insects avoid predation in deforested areas, where predators are more likely to target easily visible prey,” according to the researchers, with the findings “also suggesting that deforestation alters habitats and influences evolutionary traits in unexpected ways.”
It comes as experiments revealed that the fitness of different colour phenotypes varies largely depending on the habitat. Certain colour traits provide an advantage in forested environments, where camouflage is crucial. At the same time, insects with colouration similar to the toxic stonefly may be better protected from predators in deforested areas, showing how the species evolve in response to the changing landscape.
The findings come after the researchers analysed more than 1,200 specimens and identified a consistent selection pattern at the ebony locus, a genetic region that controls colour polymorphism. This genetic shift across insect populations further supports the idea that rapid adaptation directly responds to human-induced environmental changes.
These findings also show the potential for species to evolve quickly in the face of environmental upheaval, offering hope that some organisms may be able to cope with the challenges posed by deforestation and other forms of habitat destruction.
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