International Research Fellowship Program: Syndrome of Voracity in the Australian Redback Spider

0301893Johnson国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。 该项目的奖项为联合研究以及使用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件提供了机会。该奖项将支持 James Chadwick Johnson 博士与加拿大多伦多斯卡伯勒大学的 Maydianne Andrade 博士合作为期 24 个月（为期 27 个月）的研究奖学金。该项目涉及澳大利亚红背蜘蛛的性同类相食和贪婪综合症的研究。 该项目将通过了解贪婪的个体差异来深入了解影响性同类相食的直接机制，这对性选择和交配系统的进化领域具有重要意义。 这种方法是新颖的，它使用了激光振动测量法（用于量化个体蜘蛛对猎物振动的反应如何变化）以及个体贪婪反应中代谢率是否变化等成熟技术。 他的研究将进一步了解生活史和行为与健康变化之间的关系。 蜘蛛因其窝数大和世代时间短而成为行为遗传学研究的理想选择。

0301893JohnsonThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four month (within a duration of 27 months) research fellowship by Dr. James Chadwick Johnson to work with Dr. Maydianne Andrade at the University of Toronto-Scarborough in Canada.This project involves the study of sexual cannibalism and a syndrome of voracity in the Australian red-back spider. This project will give insight into proximate mechanisms influencing sexual cannibalism by understanding individual variation in voraciousness, which has important implications in the field of sexual selection and the evolution of mating systems. This approach is novel using proven techniques like laser vibrometry (for quantifying how individual spiders vary in their response to vibrations from prey) and whether metabolic rate varies in individuals voracious responses. His research will further understanding of how life history and behavior correlate with variation in fitness. Spiders, because of their large clutch sizes and short generation time are ideal for studies of behavioral genetics.