Moonstruck Midges – Evolution in Space and Time

Day and night, the seasons, lunar phases and tides give nature its rhythm. Biological clocks allow organisms to anticipate these cycles. Lunar clocks are poorly understood. Work on the marine midge Clunio marinus has shown that its lunar clocks are genetically adapted to local tidal conditions. Clunio’s lunar clock works differently from the lunar clocks of worms or algae, meaning lunar clocks have evolved multiple times independently. In some places, several Clunio strains with different lunar rhythms live side by side. Their specialisation in lunar timing most likely results in speciation.