Evolutionary transitions in specialised mating strategies of Nephila spiders - adaption and constraint

一般来说，一夫一妻制是罕见和神秘的，但在没有父亲照顾的分类群中，雄性一夫一妻制特别令人困惑。独占一只雌性蜘蛛（monogyny）是推断出的蜘蛛属蜘蛛祖先的雄性交配策略。这种行为策略与专门的形态特征，限制男性的能力重新交配，即使性选择应该有利于切换到一夫多妻制的战略，在衍生的Nephila物种，这种垄断的尝试不再成功，男性已经恢复了他们的重新交配能力，在面对形态的限制，证明他们的专业过去。在这个研究项目中，我们比较了两个Nephila物种的交配系统，代表了从一夫多妻制到一夫多妻制转变的两端。我们将研究（1）在精子竞争的背景下，防御和进攻策略之间的权衡，（2）一夫多妻制如何与男性精子限制的约束相协调，（3）交配前景和生殖特征在两个性别如何与物种内和物种间的环境条件有关。这种方法有望产生重要的和新颖的见解到相互作用的适应过程和制约因素，在塑造交配系统的演变。

Monogamy is rare and enigmatic in general but monogamy of males in taxa without paternal care is particularly puzzling. Monopolisation of a single female (monogyny) Is the inferred ancestral male mating strategy in the spider genus Nephila. This behavioural strategy is associated with specialised morphological traits that limit males' capacity to re-mate, even if sexual selection should favour switching to a polygynous strategy, In derived Nephila species, such monopolisation attempts are no longer successful, and males have regained their re-matIng capacity in the face of morphological constraints that testify to their specialised past. In this research-project, we compare the mating systems of two Nephila species, representing opposite ends of this transition from monogyny to polygyny. We will Investigate (1) trade-offs between defensive and offensive strategies in a context of sperm competition, (2) how polygyny is reconciled with the constraint of male sperm limitation and (3), how mating prospects and reproductive traits in both sexes relate to environmental conditions within and between species. This approach promises to yield important and novel insights Into the interplay of adaptive processes and constraints in shaping the evolution of mating systems.