Female Podisus maculiventrisLESLIE ABRRAM
Female Podisus maculiventris stink bugs can control the color of eggs they lay, according to a study published in Current Biology last week (July 23). This ability to selectively control egg color could help stink bug mothers improve their offspring’s chances of survival, researchers from the Université de Montréal and their colleagues reported.
In response to environmental conditions, female P. maculiventris can control egg pigmentation, ranging from pale yellow to dark brown, the researchers showed. When laying eggs on the upper surfaces of leaves, the stink bugs laid darker eggs; on the undersides of leaves, the bugs produced lighter-hued eggs.
“Our study offers the first example of an animal able to selectively control the color of its eggs,” Montréal’s Paul Abram and his colleagues wrote ...
