Evolution of the chemical composition of insect food gifts

婚礼食物礼物是雄性在交配时送给雌性的食物，是各种昆虫交配系统的一个组成部分。最近的一项假设表明，婚礼上的食物礼物不是？礼物？而是雄性利用其对雌性生理的访问来操纵雌性的装置，这些方式对雄性有利，但对雌性有害。这一假说预测，婚礼食物礼物的化学成分应该受到男性和女性不同兴趣的影响。这一假设将在一种蟋蟀物种上得到验证，在这种物种中，雄性向雌性提供一块凝胶状的物质，形成雄性S精原细胞的一部分，并在交配后被雌性吃掉。通过一系列的生化分析和行为分析，将确定影响礼物适口性的物质及其对雌性交配接受性的影响，并特制合成凝胶？将被用来探索特定化合物对女性行为的影响。这些研究可能导致识别雄性衍生的抑制雌性交配行为的附腺物质，最终可能为害虫物种的生物防治提供一种安全而有效的手段。PI和他的研究生参加了多个外展项目，包括让高中生参与研究的项目，增强小学教师的能力？科学培训，并努力加强初中和高中的科学课程(例如，儿童虫子)。拟议的研究将提供极好的机会，加强一些本科生和研究生的研究经验和专业发展。这项拟议的研究还促进了为期6周的暑期研究学生在英国的实习，在该项目的三年中，每年都会与世界上最权威的昆虫生殖行为进化遗传学专家之一S合作。

Nuptial food gifts are food items given by males to females at copulation and are an integral feature of the mating systems of a wide variety of insects. A recent hypothesis suggests that nuptial food gifts are not ?gifts? at all, but devices by which males exploit their access to female physiology to manipulate females in ways beneficial to males, but harmful to females. This hypothesis predicts that the chemical composition of nuptial food gifts should be shaped by the divergent interests of males and females. The hypothesis will be tested in a cricket species in which males offer females a gelatinous mass forming part of the male?s spermatophore and consumed by the female after mating. Using an integrated series of biochemical analyses and behavioral assays, the substances that influence the palatability of gifts and their influence on female mating receptivity will be identified, and specially-constructed synthetic ?gels? will be used to probe the effect of specific compounds on female behavior. These studies may lead to the identification of male-derived accessory-gland substances that inhibit female mating behavior, which ultimately could furnish a safe, but effective means of biological control of insect pest species. The PI and his graduate students participate in multiple outreach programs, including programs involving high school students in research, enhancement of elementary school teachers? training in science, and efforts to enhance the science curriculum in middle and high schools (e.g., Bugs for Kids). The proposed research will provide excellent opportunities to enhance the research experiences and professional development of a number of undergraduate and graduate students. The proposed research also facilitates a 6-week summer research student internship in the U.K. in each of the three years of the project, working with one of the world?s foremost authorities on the evolutionary genetics of insect reproductive behavior.