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斯大学动物学研究所的Josef K. Mueller教授在行为生态学研究方面的合作。他们的研究目的是测试关于雄性“埋葬甲虫”（Nicrophorus vespilloides）繁殖策略和亲代行为的各种假设。他们将进行实地实验，操纵影响繁殖行为的各种因素，以测试雄性协助对产卵成功的影响。父系抚育在昆虫中很少见，其进化的因素尚不清楚。埋甲虫是仅有的几种表现出双亲照料的节肢动物之一，双亲都为发育中的幼体获取食物。有几种假设可以解释男性的持续存在；然而，还没有进行实地研究，以检查雄性的存在对存活下来的幼崽数量的影响。这项研究将测试两个相互竞争的假设（父系关怀和交配努力），并试图提高对昆虫行为这一领域的理解。＊＊＊

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. ***