RUI: Male Dimorphism in Visual Communication

9307056克拉克跳蛛是研究视觉交流的重要动物，因为许多物种的雄性色彩鲜艳，并有用于识别性别和物种的装饰。虽然大多数动物物种只有一种类型的雄性，但跳蛛Maevia inclemens有两种雄性变体，它们是如此不同，看起来好像它们应该属于不同的物种。这两种变体在求偶过程中也有明显不同的行为，但两者似乎都同样成功，这就提出了一个问题，即雌性如何处理两种外观和行为非常不同的雄性。克拉克博士将研究雌性的择偶行为，以确定一种雄性变体是否比另一种雄性变体具有生殖优势。有一种变体有一个显眼的显示，这可能会吸引女性的注意力从更远的距离。然而，这种优势可能会被鸟类、黄蜂或其他蜘蛛捕食的风险所抵消。克拉克博士将研究在不同距离下进行的显眼显示与隐藏显示的权衡。择偶实验将利用新的视频和计算机动画技术进行，允许实验者控制雄性的运动，与雌性的距离和自然的背景颜色。由于很少有人知道这种不寻常的男性形态和行为是如何演变的，这些研究将有助于理解自然界中保持独特的男性二型性的选择机制。此外，录像和计算机动画技术的不断发展将使人们能够对视觉处理系统进行更详细的研究。这些技术允许以活体动物不可能的方式操纵动物形态和行为，并将有助于未来更复杂的动物行为研究项目。

9307056 Clark Salticid spiders are important animals for studying visual communication because males of many species are brightly colored and have decorations that are used to identify sex and species. While most animal species have only one type of male, the salticid spider Maevia inclemens has two male morphs that are so different they look as if they should belong to different species. The morphs also have distinctly different behaviors during courtship, but both appear to be equally successful, which raises questions about how females deal with two males that look and behave very differently. Dr. Clark will investigate mate selection by females, to determine if one male morph has a reproductive advantage over the other male morph. One morph has a conspicuous display, which may attract female attention from greater distances. However, this advantage may be offset by the risk of predation from birds, wasps, or other spiders. Dr. Clark will examine the trade-offs of a conspicuous display versus a cryptic display performed at different distances. Mate-selection experiments will be conducted utilizing new video and computer- animation techniques, allowing the experimenter to control male movement, distance from the female, and natural background coloration. Since very little is known about how such unusual male morphologies and behaviors evolve, these studies will contribute to an understanding of the selection mechanisms maintaining a unique male dimorphism in nature. In addition, the continued development of the video and computer-animation techniques will allow more detailed studies to be conducted on visual processing systems. These techniques allow animal morphology and behavior to be manipulated in ways that are not possible with live animals, and will contribute to more sophisticated animal behavior research projects in the future.