COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Multimodal Signaling in Rhinoceros Beetles

合作研究：犀牛甲虫的多模式信号传导

• 批准号: 2015907
• 负责人: Douglas Emlen
• 金额: $ 125.15万
• 依托单位: University of Montana
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2015907&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Multimodal; Signaling; Rhinoceros

This study seeks to understand biodiversity by focusing on animal weapons and courtship displays, which often diversify more rapidly than other traits. Male rhinoceros beetles wield a giant, pitchfork-shaped horn on their head that they use in battles between rival males over feeding territories visited by females. Males with the longest horns win, in part because horn length accurately reflects body size and fighting ability of males - it is an honest signal of male quality. Prior work by the investigators revealed that winning fights is not enough, however. Even after battling to hold a territory, males must still spend hours each night "singing" to females using a novel file on their wing covers that they rub against a plate on their abdomen, and they produce blends of scents in their waxy outer cuticle that appear to communicate male body size and nutritional state. This study will explore the link between male condition and both song and scent signals, examine female preferences for these signals, and characterize the diversification of this suite of courtship signals across the range of the species. How do females discriminate among males, and why do they ignore the obvious signal of male quality (the horn)? The investigators will also work with the Gonzaga department of dance to design performances inspired by animal behavior, develop an interactive exhibit on insect songs for the Missoula Insectarium, and design interactive online curricula for K-16 students through the University of Denver to share information about beetles with the public. Prior work on the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus, a heavily weaponed species characterized by a textbook resource defense mating system, led the investigators to suspect that these beetles show elements of lekking behavior. Females are reluctant to mate with resident males guarding feeding territories despite those males consistently being among the largest, longest-horned individuals in the population. Using a combination of laboratory manipulation experiments and field observation and perturbations, this study will rigorously characterize stridulatory song and cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile signals in rhinoceros beetles (Aim 1), and evaluate their importance to female mate choice (Aim 2) and male rival assessment during contests (Aim 3). In addition, this study will compare song dialects and CHC profiles across the range of this species (Aim 4), to contrast the relative rates of evolution of agonistic and mate-choice signals. Finally, they will perform a quantitative trait locus mapping study of adjacent, genetically similar but phenotypically divergent populations, combining the resulting linkage maps with a re-sequenced reference genome, and FST 'outlier' results from a prior PoolSeq study of the same populations, to delve into the genetic architecture of this suite of multimodal signal traits.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项研究试图通过关注动物武器和求偶表现来了解生物多样性，这些特征往往比其他特征多样化得更快。雄性犀牛甲虫的头上有一个巨大的干草叉状的角，它们在雄性竞争对手争夺雌性觅食领地时使用这个角。角最长的雄性获胜，部分原因是角的长度准确地反映了雄性的体型和战斗能力——这是雄性品质的可靠信号。然而，调查人员先前的工作表明，仅仅赢得战斗是不够的。即使在争夺领地之后，雄性仍然必须每天晚上花几个小时用翅膀上的新锉刀向雌性“唱歌”，然后在腹部的盘子上摩擦，它们的蜡质外层角质层会产生混合的气味，似乎可以传达雄性的体型和营养状况。本研究将探索雄性状态与鸣叫和气味信号之间的联系，检查雌性对这些信号的偏好，并描述这一套求爱信号在整个物种范围内的多样性。女性是如何区别对待男性的，为什么她们会忽视男性品质的明显信号（角）？研究人员还将与贡萨加舞蹈系合作，设计受动物行为启发的表演，为米苏拉昆虫馆开发昆虫歌曲互动展览，并通过丹佛大学为K-16学生设计互动在线课程，与公众分享有关甲虫的信息。先前对日本犀牛甲虫（Trypoxylus dichotomus）的研究，使研究人员怀疑这些甲虫表现出了泄漏行为的因素，这是一种以教科书般的资源防御交配系统为特征的重型武器物种。雌性不愿意与守护觅食领地的雄性交配，尽管这些雄性一直是种群中体型最大、角最长的个体。本研究将结合实验室操作实验和实地观察和扰动，严格表征犀牛甲虫的鸣叫和角质层碳氢化合物（CHC）谱信号（目的1），并评估它们对雌性配偶选择（目的2）和雄性竞争对手评估（目的3）的重要性。此外，本研究将比较该物种范围内的歌曲方言和CHC概况（目的4），以对比竞争和配偶选择信号的相对进化速度。最后，他们将对相邻的、遗传相似但表型不同的种群进行数量性状位点定位研究，将得到的连锁图谱与重新测序的参考基因组相结合，并将先前对同一种群进行PoolSeq研究的FST“离群”结果结合起来，深入研究这组多模态信号性状的遗传结构。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Competition, prey, and mortalities influence gray wolf group size

竞争、猎物和死亡率影响灰狼群体规模

• DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22193
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: The Journal of Wildlife Management
• 作者: Sells, Sarah N.;Mitchell, Michael S.;Podruzny, Kevin M.;Ausband, David E.;Emlen, Douglas J.;Gude, Justin A.;Smucker, Ty D.;Boyd, Diane K.;Loonam, Kenneth E.
• 通讯作者: Loonam, Kenneth E.

Economical defence of resources structures territorial space use in a cooperative carnivore

合作性食肉动物对资源结构的经济防御和领土空间利用

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2512
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• 作者: Sells, Sarah N.;Mitchell, Michael S.;Ausband, David E.;Luis, Angela D.;Emlen, Douglas J.;Podruzny, Kevin M.;Gude, Justin A.
• 通讯作者: Gude, Justin A.

Recent advances in understanding horn formation in the Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus using next-generation sequencing technology

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100901
• 发表时间: 2022-05-06
• 期刊: CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 5.3
• 作者: Morita，Shinichi;Sakura，Kazuki;Niimi，Teruyuki
• 通讯作者: Niimi，Teruyuki