Conflict resolution with noisy signaling: fat, color and social status in damselflies.

信号在冲突解决中很重要。当信号嘈杂和不可靠时，谈判更有可能爆发成不必要的战斗。这项研究将确定雄性黑翼蜻蜓(Calopteryx Maculata)是否使用不可靠的信号来评估彼此的战斗能力，以及评估不准确是否是战斗的重要原因。雄性蜻蜓的战斗能力取决于脂肪储备。年迈的精瘦雄性会输掉战斗，被年轻、肥胖的挑战者赶出自己的领地。最近的研究发现了脂肪储备的一个微妙线索：颜色。年轻、肥胖的雄性比年老、苗条的雄性略蓝。颜色取决于蜻蜓身体对阳光的反射情况，这一点会随着年龄和脂肪储备的变化而变化。这项研究将通过行为实验来测试蜻蜓是否真的使用这一线索来评估彼此，并确定脂肪和颜色之间的嘈杂关系在多大程度上有助于打架。我们将使用反射分光光度法来测量颜色，电子显微镜来测量反射镜的几何形状，并使用化学方法来测量脂肪储备。这些数据将帮助我们开发更现实的冲突解决模型，使用不可靠的信号。

Signaling is important in conflict resolution. When signals are noisy and unreliable, negotiations are more likely to erupt into unnecessary fighting. This study will determine whether male black-winged damselflies (Calopteryx maculata) use unreliable signals to assess each other's fighting ability, and whether inaccurate assessment is an important cause of fighting. Fighting ability in male damselflies depends on fat reserves. Old lean males lose fights and are driven from their territories by young, fat challengers. Recent research discovered a subtle cue to fat reserves: color. Young, fat, males are slightly bluer than old, lean males. Color depends on how sunlight is reflected by the body of the damselfly and this changes with age and fat reserves. This study will use behavioral experiments to test whether the damselflies actually use this cue to assess each other, and determine the extent to which a noisy relationship between fat and color contributes to fighting. We will use reflectance spectrophotometry to measure color, electron microscopy to measure the reflector geometry and chemical assays to measure fat reserves. This data will help us to develop more realistic models of conflict resolution with unreliable signaling.