Effects of Adult Behavior on Larval Survivorship of a Major Predator of Tropical Mosquitos

摘要生物学中的一个主要假设是，在进化过程中，获得最多交配次数（即受精）的雄性对下一代的贡献最大。相比之下，女性被认为是有限的，不是因为她们获得交配的次数，而是因为她们能产生的卵子或胚胎的数量。这些基本假设很少在没有亲代抚育的动物（即大多数物种）身上得到检验，因为在自然条件下，通常不可能跟踪已知父母的后代的存活情况。在新世界的热带地区，一种不寻常的豆娘雄性保护着充满水的树洞，雌性在那里产卵。已知成年鼠的后代将使用DNA指纹技术来确定。将使用给定的树洞测量所有雄性和雌性的后代到出现（成年）的存活率。虽然蚊子幼虫是豆娘幼虫的主要食物来源，但较大的豆娘很容易吞食较小的豆娘。雌性在一个特定的洞里产卵的数量比在那里出现的个体数量要多。实验的目的是确定在一个洞中产卵过多的雌性，从而促进兄弟姐妹之间的同类相食，是否比在多个洞中产卵少量的雌性生出更大或发育更快的后代。其他实验测试的是，当年长的兄弟姐妹吃掉年轻后代的可能性变得很高时，成年雄性是否会停止保卫特定的洞穴。芬克博士的研究将确定，在进化过程中，雄性和雌性的行为在多大程度上是为了少生高质量后代而牺牲多生后代。由于这种豆娘是森林蚊子幼虫的主要捕食者，因此该研究与了解新大陆热带几种人类疾病媒介蚊子的生物控制机制直接相关。

9408143 Fincke Abstract A major assumption in biology is that over evolutionary time, males that obtain the greatest number of matings (i.e., fertilizations) make the greatest contribution to the next generation. In contrast, females are thought to be limited, not by the number of matings they obtain, but by the number of eggs or embryos they can physically produce. These basic assumptions have rarely been tested for animals that do not have parental care (i.e., the majority of species) because it is usually impossible to follow the survivorship of offspring of known parents under natural conditions. In the New World tropics, males of an unusual damselfly defend water-filled tree holes where females lay their eggs. The offspring of known adults will be determined using a DNA- fingerprinting technique. Survivorship of offspring to emergence (adulthood) will be measured for all males and females using a given tree hole. Although mosquito larvae are the major source of food for larval damselflies, larger damselflies readily cannibalize smaller ones. Females lay many more eggs in a given hole than the number of individuals that emerge there. Experiments are designed to determine whether a female that lays an excess of eggs in one hole, thereby promoting cannibalism among sibs, produces larger or faster-developing offspring than a female that lays a few eggs in many holes. Other experiments test whether or not an adult male stops defending a particular hole once the chances of cannibalism of younger offspring by older siblings become high. Dr. Fincke's research will determine the extent to which male and female behavior has been shaped by evolution to produce few, high-quality offspring at the expense of producing numerous offspring. Because this damselfly is the major predator of forest mosquito larvae, the research is directly relevant to understanding the biological control mechanisms of several mosquito species that are vectors of human diseases in the New World tropics.