Conserved roles of core morphogens in wing formation of the antlion Myrmeleon bore

Insect wings are critical flight organs and exhibit extraordinary morphological diversity. In holometabolous insects, adult wings develop de novo during metamorphosis-a process regulated by multiple signaling pathways that have been extensively characterized in model species. Here, we deciphered wing development in Myrmeleon bore, a basally branching holometabolous insect, and revealed its gene regulatory network. H&E staining revealed that the wing pads in M.bore expand during the early cocoon stage and later undergo folding and pigmentation. Through de novo transcriptome assembly and spatiotemporal expression profiling, we identified eleven key wing development genes in M. bore. RNAi-mediated silencing showed that hh, ci, dpp and wg are essential for wing metamorphosis. We further revealed that the core morphogen pathways-Hedgehog (Hh), Decapentaplegic (Dpp), and Wingless (Wg)-are functionally conserved, whereas the Hox gene antp exhibits a potential shift in its developmental role. Additionally, wg and dpp were found to regulate cell proliferation in the developing wing pads. These findings advance the understanding of insect wing development.