Ancient Wing- Based Communication seen in Insects from 310 Million Years Ago

News Input from Swasti Sharma

France, July 17: Acoustic communication is well-known in insects. The present-day insects communicate within themselves by wings (eg. grasshopper), by producing flashes of light (eg. butterfly), and by sound emission (eg. cricket). Recently a fossilized wing of a grasshopper-like insect was discovered in rocks of a coalmine in France. Researchers while analysing it found that it had broadened zones on the forewings to produce flashes of light and sounds. It belonged to the Late Carboniferous period, around 310 million years ago. It belongs to a group of giant predatory insects (insects that preys on other insects) known as Titanoptera. It was named as Theiatitan Azari, where Theia is the name of the Greek Titan goddess of light. They have very specialized zones on their forewings, which were considered as resonating apparatus to produce sound. So this find becomes the oldest record of wing communication in insects.