Experimental evidence for chemical mate guarding in a moth
Experimental evidence for chemical mate guarding in a moth
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DOI：
10.1038/srep38567
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发表时间：
2016-12-09
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Groot, Astrid T.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hosseini, Seyed Ali;van Wijk, Michiel;Groot, Astrid T.
在一妻多夫的物种中，雄性通过垄断其配偶来寻求最大化其生殖产出。通常，雄性会向雌性转移物质，抑制其性接受能力或对抗竞争性雄性的行为。两者通常都在精液中转移，代表化学配偶保护的形式。在飞蛾中，比任何其他动物群体都发现了更多的远程雌性性信息素，而雄性经常表现出近距离性信息素，但迄今为止，在飞蛾中尚未描述基于气味的交配后配偶保护。我们测试了这样的假设：夜蛾夜蛾 Heliothis virescens 中的雄性性信息素会给雌性带来芳香，并起到抗春药的作用。事实上，用雄性信息素提取物或其主要成分加香的处女雌性，其交配次数明显少于对照处女雌性，并且这种效果连续两个晚上持续存在。这种化学配偶保护策略对 H. virescens 雌性来说是不利的，因为两次交配的雌性的繁殖产量明显高于一次交配的雌性。由于雌性和雄性性信息素在该蛾类和其他蛾类中具有生物合成相关性，化学配偶保护也可能对远程雌性性信息素通道施加选择压力，从而影响性交流的进化。
In polyandrous species, males seek to maximize their reproductive output by monopolizing their mate. Often the male transfers substances to the female that suppress her sexual receptivity or antagonize the behavior of competing males; both are usually transferred in seminal fluids and represent forms of chemical mate guarding. In moths, more long-range female sex pheromones have been identified than in any other animal group, and males often display with close-range sex pheromones, yet odor-based post-copulatory mate guarding has not been described in moths so far. We tested the hypothesis that the male sex pheromone in the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens perfumes the female and functions as an anti-aphrodisiac. Indeed, virgin females perfumed with male pheromone extract, or with its main component, mated significantly less than control virgin females, and this effect persisted for two successive nights. This chemical mate guarding strategy was disadvantageous for H. virescens females, because the reproductive output of twice-mated females was significantly higher than that of oncemated females. Since the female and male sex pheromones are biosynthetically related in this and other moth species, chemical mate guarding may also impose selection pressure on the long-range female sex pheromone channel and consequently affect the evolution of sexual communication.