Intraspecific Variation in Gamete Precedence

雄性和雌性在行为和形态上的差异 在整个动物王国中无处不在， 包括大小、强度、颜色不同， 信号行为 这种差异通常归因于 性选择的作用， 第二性征，提高他们的能力， 承担者获取配偶。 因为他们更大的内在 生产后代的能力，男性通常是重点， 比雌性更强烈的性选择;因此， 第二性征通常在男性身上表现出来。 传统上，性选择被认为是 提高男性争夺女性的能力（男性-男性） 竞争）和/或使男性本质上更具吸引力 女性的择偶（Female Mate Choice） 最近的实证研究表明，性选择不需要 一旦雌性交配就停止了 在各种昆虫中， 与一个以上的雄性交配的雌性可能会主动选择 1）将精子分流到专门的 精细的精子储存结构，2） 干扰受精过程，或3）排出 不想要的精子 这项研究将利用遗传学 蟋蟀的分析来研究这种糟糕的结果， 尽管潜在的强大的进化机制 变化 了解交配后的雌性行为 有助于男性受精成功将是直接的 综合防治害虫的实际意义 管理战略。 这类项目的一个重要组成部分 包括大量释放绝育的男性， 抑制害虫种群。

Differences in behavior and morphology of males and females are ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, and commonly include dissimilarities in size, strength, coloration, and signaling behavior. Such differences are usually attributed to the operation of sexual selection, which favors traits called secondary sexual characters that enhance the ability of their bearers to acquire mates. Because of their greater intrinsic capacity for producing offspring, males are usually the focus of more intense sexual selection than are females; as such, secondary sexual characters are most commonly expressed in males. Traditionally, sexual selection has been assumed to act to increase the ability of males to compete for females (male-male competition) and/or to render males intrinsically more attractive to females (female mate choice). Recent empirical work suggest that sexual selection need not cease once females have mated. In various insect species, females mated to more than one male may actively select the paternity of their offspring by 1) shunting sperm to specialized compartments of elaborate sperm-storage structures, 2) interfering with the process of insemination, or 3) expelling unwanted sperm. The proposed research will employ genetic analyses of crickets to examine the consequences of this poorly understood, though potentially powerful mechanism of evolutionary change. Understanding how postcopulatory female behavior contributes to male fertilization success will be of direct practical importance to the efficacy of integrated pest management strategies. An important component of such programs involves the mass release of sterilized male for the suppression of pest populations.