The Evolution of Female-Specific Color Variation in Damselflies

题目：豆娘身上雌性特有的颜色变化的进化雄性在面对不愿意交配的雌性时坚持交配，这是因为雄性通常通过与尽可能多的伴侣交配而受益。这种持久性对雌性的代价以及它们对此的反应尚不清楚，但可以在雌性表现出多种颜色形式的豆娘物种中进行研究。雌性可以像雄性一样是蓝色的，绿色的，或中间的颜色模式。雄性学会识别颜色变化作为潜在的配偶，并经常把其他物种的雌性误认为配偶。然后，特定物种的雌性板块通常会阻止雄性形成交配锁。颜色的变化被认为是通过使寻找配偶的雄性更难以找到雌性来减少骚扰。这将通过比较雄性寻找两种颜色类型和单个雌性类型的搜索效率来测试。将测量不同雄密度下的产蛋量，以评估骚扰的成本。一项育种实验将确定这种颜色的变化是否代表了基因上不同的雌性类型。在野外测量雌性可变和雌性不变物种的种群密度、信号特征（使用光谱辐射测量法）和骚扰率，将进一步测试颜色变化是否在配偶回避中起作用，并确定其他物种的骚扰是否随着物种一起发生的信号相似性而增加。这些调查将增加我们对雄性骚扰的生殖成本、雌性信号变化对雄性的成本以及信号变化如何在种群中保持的理解。如果像预期的那样，雌性颜色的变化被证明是对雄性回避的一种适应，那么这项工作将表明，性冲突是如何促使种群分化成新物种的。这项工作更广泛的影响包括让本科生接触到研究文化，并协助K-12课程的进化论教学。

Proposal IOB 0641679PI: Ola M. FinckeTitle: The evolution of female-specific color variation in damselfliesMale persistence in mating attempts in the face of unwilling females, results because males typically benefit by mating with as many partners as possible. The cost of this persistence to females and how they have responded to it are poorly understood, but can be investigated in damselfly species in which females exhibit multiple color forms. Females can be blue like the males, green, or of intermediate color pattern. Males learn to identify the color variants as potential mates, and often mistake females of other species as mates. Then, species-specific female plates usually prevent the males from forming a mating lock. Color variation is thought to reduce harassment by making it more difficult for mate-searching males to locate females. This will be tested by comparing the search efficiency of males looking for two color types versus a single female type. Egg production under varying male densities will be measured to assess the cost of harassment. A breeding experiment will determine whether the color variation represents genetically distinct female types. Measurement of population density, signal characteristics (using spectroradiometry), and harassment rates in female-variable and female-invariable species in the field will further test whether color variation functions in mate avoidance, and determine if harassment of other species increases with signal similarity of species that occur together. These investigations will increase our understanding of the reproductive cost of harassment by males, the cost of female signal variation to males, and how signal variation is maintained in populations. If, as expected, female color variation is shown to be an adaptation for male avoidance, then this work would suggest how sexual conflict could spur the divergence of populations into new species. Broader impacts of the work include exposing undergraduates to the culture of research and assisting in K-12 workshops on teaching evolution.