International Research Fellowship Program: Syndrome of Voracity in the Australian Redback Spider

[03:18 . 93]约翰逊国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够到国外进行3至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持James Chadwick Johnson博士与Maydianne Andrade博士在加拿大多伦多大学斯卡伯勒分校进行为期24个月的研究。该项目涉及澳大利亚红背蜘蛛的性同类相食和贪婪综合症的研究。本项目将通过了解个体贪婪程度的差异，深入了解影响性同类相食的近似机制，这在性选择和交配系统进化领域具有重要意义。这种方法是新颖的，使用了诸如激光振动测量（用于量化单个蜘蛛对猎物振动的反应如何变化）以及个体贪婪反应的代谢率是否变化的成熟技术。他的研究将进一步了解生活史和行为与适应性变化之间的关系。蜘蛛，因为它们的产卵量大，一代时间短，是研究行为遗传学的理想选择。

0301893JohnsonThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four month (within a duration of 27 months) research fellowship by Dr. James Chadwick Johnson to work with Dr. Maydianne Andrade at the University of Toronto-Scarborough in Canada.This project involves the study of sexual cannibalism and a syndrome of voracity in the Australian red-back spider. This project will give insight into proximate mechanisms influencing sexual cannibalism by understanding individual variation in voraciousness, which has important implications in the field of sexual selection and the evolution of mating systems. This approach is novel using proven techniques like laser vibrometry (for quantifying how individual spiders vary in their response to vibrations from prey) and whether metabolic rate varies in individuals voracious responses. His research will further understanding of how life history and behavior correlate with variation in fitness. Spiders, because of their large clutch sizes and short generation time are ideal for studies of behavioral genetics.