Chemical and vibratory communication: testing the role of spider silk in a reproductive context

了解多模态信号的功能作用是研究动物交流的关键。在生殖环境中，动物通过复杂的感官方式相互交流，最终影响它们的繁殖成功和健康。这项研究将利用一种研究性选择的模式生物——神奇蜘蛛（Pisaura mirabilis），通过研究性别间通过丝绸传播的交流，揭示化学和振动信号的功能作用。蜘蛛是研究基于化学和振动的信号的一个极好的群体，因为在大多数分类群中，它们的视力很差，而且丝的生产是化学物质和振动的关键来源和/或载体。通过一系列的行为分析，结合丝的结构分析和雄性生殖适应性的测量，我们将确定化学和振动信号是否以及如何影响生殖结果。我们将回答信号是否依赖于条件和/或状态，以及个体是否在不同的信号努力中对伴侣采用特定的择偶策略。我们还将探讨丝在促进化学和振动信息内容传输中的作用。我们假设，在交配环境中，化学和振动信号向异性传递了重要的信息，雌性向雄性传递了它们的位置和/或质量，并且，考虑到雄性制作结婚礼物的高成本，雄性对雌性采用特定的择偶策略，其生殖价值也各不相同。在这个跨学科项目中产生的信息将阐明多模态信号的自适应性质，并填补利用化学和振动通道进行繁殖的知识空白。

Understanding the functional role of multimodal signalling is key to the study of animal communication. In a reproductive context, animals communicate with each other using a complex interplay of sensory modalities which ultimately affect their reproductive success and fitness. The proposed research will make use of the spider Pisaura mirabilis, a model organism in the study of sexual selection, to uncover the functional roles of chemical and vibratory signals by addressing silk-borne communication between the sexes. Spiders represent an excellent group for studying chemical- and vibratory-based signalling due to their poor vision in most taxa and the production of silk, a key source and/or vehicle of chemicals and vibrations. Through a series of behavioural assays, coupled with structural analyses of silk and measures of male reproductive fitness, we will determine whether and how chemical and vibratory signalling affect reproductive outcomes. We will answer whether signalling is condition and/or state dependent and if individuals employ specific mate choice tactics for partners varying in their signalling efforts. We will also explore the role of silk in facilitating the transmission of chemical and vibratory information contents. We hypothesize that chemical and vibratory signals convey crucial information to the opposite sex in a mating context, with females signalling their location and/or quality to males, and, given the high costs of nuptial gift production for males, males employing specific mate choice tactics for females varying in their reproductive value. The information generated in this interdisciplinary project will shed light on the adaptive nature of multimodal signalling, and fill the knowledge gap on the use of chemical and vibrational channels for reproduction.