Causes and Consequences of Rapid Sexual Signal Change in a Field Cricket

波利尼西亚原产于澳大利亚北部和太平洋群岛，现已引入夏威夷。只有在夏威夷，它会受到一种寄生苍蝇的影响，这种寄生苍蝇通过聆听雄蟋蟀的叫声找到寄主，并将幼虫寄生在蟋蟀体内，最终杀死它。这让蟋蟀陷入了进化的两难境地，因为叫声是它吸引配偶的手段，但也将它置于危险之中。在考艾岛上，被苍蝇感染的雄蟋蟀比例一直是蟋蟀和苍蝇共同出现的夏威夷三个岛屿中最高的，现在近90%的雄蟋蟀显示出突变的翅膀，缺乏叫声所需的器官。因此，它们无法叫唤，这保护它们免受苍蝇的伤害。这个项目考察了这种异常快速的进化(这种变化发生在16-20代之间)对蟋蟀交配行为的影响。这种突变及其影响将在野外进行监测，实验室实验将检验雄性在没有叫唤的情况下获得交配成功的方式。这项研究为进化生物学和动物行为的许多主题提供了令人信服的介绍，因为它以熟悉的动物-蟋蟀-在一个有吸引力的地方-夏威夷-通过自然选择躲避令人不快的类似外星人的寄生虫为特色，这将使雄性动物在性别方面陷入两难境地。除了为本科生和研究生提供有价值和令人兴奋的研究机会外，PI还将通过大学的MESA计划指导学校的学生学习数学和科学。

The Polynesian field cricket is native to northern Australia and the Pacific Islands, and has been introduced to Hawaii. Only in Hawaii it is subject to a parasitoid fly that finds its host by listening to the calling song of the male crickets and depositing larvae that burrow inside the cricket and eventually kill it. This puts the cricket in an evolutionary dilemma, because calling is his means to attract a mate, but also places him in danger. On the island of Kauai, where the proportion of males infested by the flies had been highest of the three Hawaiian Islands where the cricket and fly co-occur, nearly 90% of the male crickets now show a mutated wing that lacks the apparatus necessary for calling. They are thus unable to call, which protects them from the fly. This project examines the consequences of such extraordinarily rapid evolution (the change occurred over 16-20 generations) for the mating behavior of the crickets. The mutation and its effects will be monitored in the field, and laboratory experiments will examine the ways that males achieve mating success without calling. This research provides a compelling introduction to many topics in evolutionary biology and animal behavior because it features familiar animals - crickets - in an attractive place -Hawaii - evading an unpleasant "Alien"-like parasite via natural selection, which then places the males in a dilemma with regard to sex. In addition to providing valuable and exciting research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, the PI will mentor school students in math and science through the university's MESA program.