Sexually transmitted parasites and sexual selection in the milkweed leaf beetle, Labidomera clivicollis
Sexually transmitted parasites and sexual selection in the milkweed leaf beetle, Labidomera clivicollis
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DOI：
10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.920111.x
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发表时间：
2001-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Dill, LM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Abbot, P;Dill, LM
乳草叶甲虫（mlb；唇虱科）寄生于一种唇虱（唇虱科）。我们发现唇形瓢虫在交配时在mlb之间传播，并且可以降低营养压力瓢虫的存活率。我们研究了这种性传播寄生虫对mlb配偶选择和雄性竞争的影响，以及这些行为变化对螨传播的影响。我们没有发现MLB回避寄生虫的证据，我们调查的MLB人群中有高寄生虫率的证据。在没有雌性的情况下，被寄生的雄性与未被寄生的雄性接触的次数和时间比对照组要多，而且它们往往比未被寄生的雄性更频繁地从雌性中取代竞争对手，这一结果与被寄生的甲虫通过增加繁殖努力来补偿适应性损失的解释一致。这些变化对螨虫也有好处，因为甲虫之间的接触时间更长，可能更多，为传播提供了更多的机会，但没有证据表明雄性行为的这些变化是由寄生虫操纵造成的。
Milkweed leaf beetles (MLBs; Labidomera clivicollis Chrysomelidae) are parasitized by a subelytral mite, Chrysomelobia labidomerae (Tarsonemina: Podapolipidae). We show that C. labidomerae is transmitted between MLBs when they copulate, and can reduce the survival of nutritionally stressed beetles. We investigated the effect of this sexually transmitted parasite on mate choice and male-male competition in MLBs, and the consequences of variation in these behaviours for mite transmission. We found no evidence of parasite avoidance by MLBs, and evidence for high rates of parasitism in the MLB populations we surveyed. In the absence of females, parasitized males contacted unparasitized males more often and for longer than controls, and they tended to displace rival males from females more often than did unparasitized males, a result consistent with the interpretation that parasitized beetles compensate for loss of fitness by increasing reproductive effort. These changes can also benefit mites, because longer and possibly more contacts between beetles provide more opportunities for transmission, but there is no evidence that these changes in male behaviour result from parasite manipulation.