Infrared thermal reflectivity is a critical element of insect thermal ecology and physiology

Sunday, November 10, 2024

9:00 AM – 9:12 AM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 222 C, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Terrence P. McGlynn, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology
California State University
Pasadena, California

Co-Author(s)

MA

Marivi Angel

California State University
Carson, California
Meghan Barrett (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Indiana University Indianapolis
Indianapolis, Indiana
SA

Shultz Allison

Associate Curator of Ornithology
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, California

The exoskeletons of insects are capable of reflecting away heat from sunlight in visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Although the majority of the heat arriving from the sun arrives in NIR, our understanding thermal reflectivity properties of exoskeletons has emphasized thermal reflectivity in visible coloration, and the thermal ecology and physiology of NIR reflectivity remains in the discovery phase of investigation. Here we present the results of experiments using infrared photography and diffuse reflective spectroscopy to evaluate how insects exoskeletons demonstrate variability in NIR reflectivity, and how this trait varies along environmental thermal gradients as an adaptive trait.