Cryptic Sexual Conflict in Gift-Giving Insects: Chasing the "Chase-Away"

拟研究摘要首席研究员：Scott Kitchener sakaluk项目标题：送礼者昆虫的隐性性冲突：追逐“追逐”雄性夸大性装饰和雌性交配偏好的共同进化的传统模型假设雌性通过优先与最显眼的雄性交配获得物质利益或间接遗传利益。然而，追逐性选择模型表明，精心制作的雄性性表现可能出现，因为它们利用了雌性感官系统中已有的偏见，诱导雌性以次优方式交配。这一假设的一个基本要素是，这种操纵应该会迅速导致女性对男性展示特征的抵制或减少吸引力。虽然某些分类群的轶事证据似乎为雌性抗性的进化提供了支持，但这一假设尚未得到直接验证。作为各种昆虫交配系统的一个整体特征，婚礼食物礼物可能是一个频繁的渠道，雄性试图影响雌性的交配行为，而不是雌性自己的生殖利益。我实验室最近的研究表明，雄性花蟋蟀提供的食物礼物中含有一种物质，这种物质曾一度抑制雌性蟋蟀的性接受能力，但雌性蟋蟀已经进化出了对这些物质的抵抗力。该研究试图通过将这些食物礼物提供给几个不送礼的物种的雌性，并测量它们对雌性适应性的影响，来建立这些食物礼物的接受抑制特性。这些研究可能会导致鉴定雄性来源的激素物质，抑制雌性交配行为，最终为害虫的生物控制提供一种安全而有效的手段。

Lay Abstract of Proposed ResearchPrincipal Investigator: Scott Kitchener SakalukProject Title: Cryptic sexual conflict in gift-giving insects: chasing the "chase-away"Conventional models for the coevolution of exaggerated male sexual ornaments and female mating preferences posit that females derive material benefits or indirect genetic benefits by preferentially mating with the most conspicuous males. The chase-away sexual selection model, however, suggests that elaborate male sexual displays can arise because they exploit pre-existing biases in females' sensory systems, inducing females to mate in a sub-optimal manner. An essential element of this hypothesis is that such manipulation should quickly lead to female resistance or decreased attraction to male display traits. Although anecdotal evidence in certain taxa appears to provide support for the evolution of female resistance, the hypothesis has not been directly tested. Nuptial food gifts, an integral feature of the mating systems of a wide variety of insects, may be a frequent conduit by which males attempt to influence the mating behavior of females against females' own reproductive interests. Recent work in my laboratory suggests that the food gifts offered by male decorated crickets contain substances that at one time inhibited the sexual receptivity of females, but that females have evolved resistance to these substances. The proposed research seeks to establish the receptivity-inhibiting properties of these food gifts by offering them to females of several non-gift-giving species, and measuring their effect on female fitness. These studies may lead to the identification of male-derived hormonal substances that inhibit female mating behavior, which ultimately could furnish a safe, but effective means of biological control of insect pest species.