‘Water striders’ don’t hit the headlines very often, but a recent paper about them grabbed my attention. These semi-aquatic insects have adapted to their skating lifestyle with an increase in the size of their middle legs so they can be used as oars, whilst the hind legs have become shorter to act like rudders.
During their development one of the key players in determining all this is the Hox gene Ultrabithorax. A recent study showed that it is the slightly different ways that this gene is expressed during development (both in the timing and also the site of expression) that brings about these changes.
It is often surprising how significant structural differences can be brought about by tinkering with this type of gene.
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