The effect of size and sex ratio experiences on reproductive competition in Nicrophorus vespilloides burying beetles in the wild.
The effect of size and sex ratio experiences on reproductive competition in Nicrophorus vespilloides burying beetles in the wild.
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DOI：
10.1111/jeb.12803
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发表时间：
2016-03
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Royle NJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hopwood PE;Moore AJ;Tregenza T;Royle NJ
男性父母面临着一个选择：他们应该在照顾后代或试图与其他女性交配方面投入更多？最有利可图的过程取决于竞争的激烈程度，这可能会随着人口性别比例的变化而变化。然而，回报的平衡可能会因男性的竞争能力或吸引力而异。我们测试的预测，性别比和大小的资源持有男性提供线索交配竞争的水平育种前，因此影响的持续时间与女性的男性的双亲照顾。雄性埋葬虫，Nicrophorus vespilloides饲养，羽化后，在性别比例不同的组中。实验雄性随后被转移到野外，提供繁殖资源（尸体）和拍摄。我们没有发现任何证据表明，在繁殖之前的性别比例线索会影响未来的父母照顾行为，但经历了男性偏见的性别比例的男性需要更长的时间来吸引野生交配伴侣。较小的男性吸引了更高比例的女性比大的男性，确保显着更多的一夫一妻制的繁殖协会的结果。因此，体型较小的雄性比体型较大的雄性更容易避免竞争性的雄性与雄性的遭遇。这对他们的女性伴侣有潜在的好处，她们避免了性内竞争和与竞争男性相关的更高交配频率的直接成本。
Male parents face a choice: should they invest more in caring for offspring or in attempting to mate with other females? The most profitable course depends on the intensity of competition for mates, which is likely to vary with the population sex ratio. However, the balance of pay‐offs may vary among individual males depending on their competitive prowess or attractiveness. We tested the prediction that sex ratio and size of the resource holding male provide cues regarding the level of mating competition prior to breeding and therefore influence the duration of a male's biparental caring in association with a female. Male burying beetles, Nicrophorus vespilloides were reared, post‐eclosion, in groups that differed in sex ratio. Experimental males were subsequently translocated to the wild, provided with a breeding resource (carcass) and filmed. We found no evidence that sex ratio cues prior to breeding affected future parental care behaviour but males that experienced male‐biased sex ratios took longer to attract wild mating partners. Smaller males attracted a higher proportion of females than did larger males, securing significantly more monogamous breeding associations as a result. Smaller males thus avoided competitive male–male encounters more often than larger males. This has potential benefits for their female partners who avoid both intrasexual competition and direct costs of higher mating frequency associated with competing males.