Doctoral Dissertation Research: Phenotypic and Genetic Benefits of Polyandry in an Arctiid Moth (Utetheisa Ornatrix)

一夫多妻制在白蛾(Utetheisa Ornatrix)雌虫中的表型和遗传益处经常是混杂的。既然一只雄性可以提供足够的精子让一只雌性的全部卵子受精，为什么雌性要选择多个伴侣呢？一个明显的可能性是，它们因此能够避免近亲交配的陷阱。它们是否真的优先选择基因组成不同的雄性，这意味着它们能够比较不同的精子组，这是一个可以通过确定昆虫在自然种群中近亲繁殖的程度来回答的问题。飞蛾Utetheisa ornatrix提供了研究这些未知因素的机会。雌蛾在其生存的2-3周内可以带走多达23个伴侣。交配发生率可以通过计算雌性交配室中的精囊残留物来确定，群体中个体的亲缘关系可以通过微卫星分析来评估。在对昆虫的研究中，关联度通常被忽略。在尤特西萨，基因亲缘关系的确定可能会揭示塑造尤特西萨繁殖行为的决定因素选择过程，并可能为其他昆虫的类似研究奠定基础。

Phenotypic and genetic benefits of polyandry in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix) Thomas Eisner Female insects are frequently promiscuous. Given that a single male can provide sufficient sperm to fertilize a female's entire complement of eggs, why do females take multiple partners? An obvious possibility is that they are thereby able to avoid the pitfalls of inbreeding. Whether or not they actually give preference to males of disparate genetic makeup, implying that they are able to compare sets of sperm, is a question that can be answered by determining the degree of inbreeding of insects in natural populations. The moth Utetheisa ornatrix offers the opportunity to look into these unknowns. The female of the moth can take as many as 23 partners in her 2-3 weeks of existence. Mating incidence can be determined by counting the sperm sac remnants in the female's mating chamber, and degree of relatedness of the individuals in the population can be assessed by microsatellite analyses. Degree of relatedness is usually ignored in studies of insects. In Utetheisa the ascertainment of genetic affinities could cast light on the determinant selective processes that molded the reproductive behavior of Utetheisa, and could lay the groundwork for similar inquiries with other insects.