U.S.-Germany Cooperative Research: Paternal Care and MatingEffort in the Beetle, Nicrophorus Vespilloides

9224910 Sakaluk该奖项支持伊利诺伊州立大学的Scott Sakaluk教授与德国弗莱堡阿尔伯特·路德维希大学动物研究所的Josef K.Mueller教授在行为生态学研究方面进行合作。他们研究的目的是检验关于雄性“埋葬甲虫”的繁殖策略和父母行为的各种假说。他们将进行野外实验，操纵影响生殖行为的各种因素，以测试雄性帮助对孵化成功的影响。父系照顾在昆虫中很少见，而且促进其进化的因素尚不清楚。埋葬甲虫是为数不多的表现出双亲照顾的节肢动物类别之一，父母双方都为发育中的幼虫获取食物。有几种假设可以解释雄鸟的持续存在；然而，还没有进行实地研究来检验雄鸟的存在对存活的幼鸟数量的影响。这项研究将检验两个相互竞争的假说(父系照料和交配努力)，并试图提高对这一领域昆虫行为的理解。***

9224910 Sakaluk This award supports Professor Scott Sakaluk of Illinois State University to collaborate in behavioral ecology research with Professor Josef K. Mueller of the Institute of Zoology, Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany. The objective of their research is to test various hypotheses about the reproductive strategies and parental behavior of male "burying beetles" (Nicrophorus vespilloides). They will carry out field experiments manipulating various factors that influence reproductive behavior in order to test the effect of male assistance on brood success. Paternal care is rare in insects, and the factors favoring its evolution remain unclear. Burying beetles are one of only a few arthropod taxa exhibiting biparental care, in which both parents obtain food for the developing young. There are several hypotheses to explain the continued presence of the male; however, field studies to examine the effects of the male's presence on the number of surviving young have not been done. This research will test two competing hypotheses (paternal care and mating effort) and attempt to improve understanding of this area of insect behavior. ***