1
|
Crowley LM, Broad GR, Fletcher C, Januszczak I, Barnes I, Whiffin AL. The genome sequence of the Banded Burying beetle, Nicrophorus investigator Zetterstedt, 1824. Wellcome Open Res 2024; 9:343. [PMID: 39267991 PMCID: PMC11391189 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.21496.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024] Open
Abstract
We present a genome assembly from a female Nicrophorus investigator (Banded Burying beetle; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Silphidae). The genome sequence is 202.3 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 7 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the X sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 23.3 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 11,046 protein coding genes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liam M Crowley
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK
| | | | | | | | - Ian Barnes
- Natural History Museum, London, England, UK
| | - Ashleigh L Whiffin
- Invertebrate Biology, Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bebbington K, Groothuis TG. Partner retention as a mechanism to reduce sexual conflict over care in a seabird. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
|
3
|
Azad T, Alonzo SH, Bonsall MB, Klug H. Life history, mating dynamics and the origin of parental care. J Evol Biol 2021; 35:379-390. [PMID: 34783118 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Parental care, mating dynamics and life history co-evolve. Understanding the diversity of reproductive patterns found in nature is a major focus of evolutionary ecology research. Previous research suggests that the origin of parental care of eggs will be favoured when egg and adult death rates and juvenile survival are relatively high. However, the previous research that explored the link between care and life history did not account for among-species variation in mating dynamics. As mating dynamics are generally expected to influence care, we explore, theoretically, the life-history conditions (stage-specific rates of maturation and survival) that favour parental care across three mating scenarios: reproductive rate (1) is unaffected by males (assuming that some males are present), (2) increases as male abundance increases or (3) decreases as male abundance increases. Across scenarios, all forms of care were most strongly favoured when egg and adult death rates, juvenile survival and female egg maturation rates were relatively high. When reproductive rate was unaffected by male abundance or increased as male abundance increased, as we might expect in systems in which females are mate-limited, all forms of care were most strongly favoured when male egg maturation rate (i.e. the rate at which male eggs develop, mature and hatch) was moderate or high. When greater male abundance inhibited reproduction, which might occur in systems with intense male-male competition, all forms of care were most strongly favoured when male egg maturation rate was low-to-moderate. These results suggest that life history affects the evolution of parental care, and sex-specific life history can interact with mating dynamics to influence the origin of care.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tamjeed Azad
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Suzanne H Alonzo
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA.,Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Michael B Bonsall
- Mathematical Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,St. Peter's College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Hope Klug
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.,SimCenter, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Trumbo ST, Sikes DS. Resource concealment and the evolution of parental care in burying beetles. J Zool (1987) 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S. T. Trumbo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Waterbury CT USA
| | - D. S. Sikes
- Department of Biology and Wildlife University of Alaska Museum University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks AK USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Costa CP, Fisher K, Guillén BM, Yamanaka N, Bloch G, Woodard SH. Care-giver identity impacts offspring development and performance in an annually social bumble bee. BMC Ecol Evol 2021; 21:20. [PMID: 33563224 PMCID: PMC7871553 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01756-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The developmental fates of offspring have the potential to be influenced by the identity of their care-givers and by the nature of the care that they receive. In animals that exhibit both parental and alloparental care, such as the annually eusocial insects, the influence of care-giver identity can be directly assessed to yield mechanistic and evolutionary insights into the origins and elaboration of brood care. Here, we performed a comparative investigation of maternal and worker brood care in bumble bees, a pollinator group where mothers (queens) rear the first offspring in the nest, and then daughters (workers) assume this role upon their emergence. Specifically, we compared the effects of queen and worker brood care on offspring development and also offspring performance, for a set of traits related to sensory biology, learning, and stress resistance. RESULTS We found that queen-reared workers were smaller-bodied than worker-reared offspring, suggesting that bumble bee queens influence body size determination in their offspring. We also found that queen-reared workers were more resistant to starvation, which might be beneficial for early nesting success. These maternal influences could not be explained by feeding rate, given that we detected a similar offspring feeding frequency in both queens and workers. CONCLUSION Bumble bee queens have a unique influence on the development of the first offspring in the nest, which they rear, relative to worker-reared workers. We propose that bumble bee brood care has been shaped by a suite of evolutionary and ecological factors, which might include a maternal influence on traits that promote survival of incipient colonies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kaleigh Fisher
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Blanca M Guillén
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Naoki Yamanaka
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Guy Bloch
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - S Hollis Woodard
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Pheromones Regulating Reproduction in Subsocial Beetles: Insights with References to Eusocial Insects. J Chem Ecol 2018; 44:785-795. [PMID: 29974316 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-018-0982-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2018] [Revised: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Beetles have evolved diverse strategies to cope with environmental challenges. Although parents of the vast majority of beetle species do not take care of their offspring, there are some species, in which parents provide elaborate post-hatching care and remain temporarily associated with their offspring to defend them from competitors or to provision them with food. Usually, socially induced reproductive "control" is a core feature of eusocial societies, but here we highlight that already in small family groups, socially induced reproductive regulation can play a fundamental role. By discussing the family life of burying beetles, we illustrate the mechanisms behind such a reproductive "control" and show that - similar to eusocial insects - pheromones can be an important regulating factor. However, apart from burying beetles, our knowledge of pheromones or other signals mediating reproductive regulation is surprisingly rudimentary for social beetles. More data are required to broaden our currently patchy picture.
Collapse
|
7
|
Kierat J, Miler K, Celary W, Woyciechowski M. Interspecific interactions in solitary Aculeata - is the presence of heterospecifics important for females establishing nests? BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 108:35-39. [PMID: 28485252 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485317000475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
There are several possible causes of aggregated nesting in solitary Aculeata, one being joint defense against parasites. We tested whether females prefer nesting in aggregations, even if they consist of heterospecifics. We compared the colonization and nesting parasitism of trap-nests with and without a red mason bee aggregation. The results did not support our hypothesis that females prefer nesting in aggregations. The numbers of wild Aculeata nests did not differ between trap-nests with and without an aggregation. Unexpectedly, parasitism rates were higher in trap-nests with aggregations. When analyzing only nests of wild insects (mostly wasps), the differences in parasitism disappeared. Natural nesting sites may be such a limited resource that females nested in the first trap-nest they encountered and did not discriminate between our treatments, or wasps might share too few parasites species with bees to benefit from joint nest defense.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Kierat
- Institute of Environmental Sciences,Jagiellonian University in Kraków,Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków,Poland
| | - K Miler
- Institute of Environmental Sciences,Jagiellonian University in Kraków,Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków,Poland
| | - W Celary
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Conservation,Institute of Biology,Jan Kochanowski University,Świętokrzyska 15, 25-406 Kielce,Poland
| | - M Woyciechowski
- Institute of Environmental Sciences,Jagiellonian University in Kraków,Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków,Poland
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Rosa ME, Barta Z, Fülöp A, Székely T, Kosztolányi A. The effects of adult sex ratio and density on parental care in Lethrus apterus (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae). Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.07.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
9
|
From facultative to obligatory parental care: Interspecific variation in offspring dependency on post-hatching care in burying beetles. Sci Rep 2016; 6:29323. [PMID: 27378180 PMCID: PMC4932505 DOI: 10.1038/srep29323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2016] [Accepted: 06/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies on the evolution of parental care have focused primarily on the costs and benefits of parental care and the life-history attributes that favour it. However, once care evolves, offspring in some taxa appear to become increasingly dependent on their parents. Although offspring dependency is a central theme in family life, the evolutionary dynamics leading to it are not fully understood. Beetles of the genus Nicrophorus are well known for their elaborate biparental care, including provisioning of their young. By manipulating the occurrence of pre- or post-hatching care, we show that the offspring of three burying beetle species, N. orbicollis, N. pustulatus, and N. vespilloides, show striking variation in their reliance on parental care. Our results demonstrate that this variation within one genus arises through a differential dependency of larvae on parental feeding, but not on pre-hatching care. In N. pustulatus, larvae appear to be nutritionally independent of their parents, but in N. orbicollis, larvae do not survive in the absence of parental feeding. We consider evolutionary scenarios by which nutritional dependency may have evolved, highlighting the role of brood size regulation via infanticide in this genus.
Collapse
|
10
|
Mercier A, Sun Z, Parrish CC, Hamel JF. Remarkable Shifts in Offspring Provisioning during Gestation in a Live-Bearing Cnidarian. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0154051. [PMID: 27104375 PMCID: PMC4841577 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals display diverse means of producing and provisioning offspring, from eggs to embryos and juveniles. While external development predominates, many forms of embryonic incubation have evolved, including placentation in mammals and a number of understudied variants in basal metazoans that could help understand evolutionary diversification. Here we studied the brooding sea anemone Aulactinia stella, using behavioural, morphological and biochemical indicators of offspring phenotype to characterize gestation and elucidate parental and sibling relationships. The pronounced variance in juvenile weight within broods was not strongly related to any of the typical external predictors (adult weight, clutch size, sampling date, environmental conditions). Lipid concentration was significantly higher in the tissues of the small juveniles than in those of large juveniles or adult, and fatty acid profiles tended to set small juveniles apart. Finally, intra-brood feeding on external resources was documented in larger juveniles. These results are consistent with ontogenetic shifts in nutrition, from vitellogenic provisioning to post-zygotic nourishment to a prenatal form of nursing upon acquisition of feeding organs, highlighting matrotrophic and conflict-driven mechanisms acting on offspring phenotype during gestation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Annie Mercier
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Zhao Sun
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Christopher C. Parrish
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Jean-François Hamel
- Society for the Exploration and Valuing of the Environment (SEVE), Portugal Cove-St. Philips, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Panaitof SC, Yaeger JDW, Speer JP, Renner KJ. Biparental behavior in the burying beetle Nicrophorus orbicollis: a role for dopamine? Curr Zool 2016; 62:285-291. [PMID: 29491916 PMCID: PMC5804242 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zow032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Accepted: 02/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Burying beetles Nicrophorus orbicollis exhibit facultative biparental care of young. To reproduce, a male–female burying beetle pair bury and prepare a small vertebrate carcass as food for its altricial young. During a breeding bout, male and female behavior changes synchronously at appropriate times and is coordinated to provide effective care for offspring. Although the ecological and evolutionary factors that shape this remarkable reproductive plasticity are well characterized, the neuromodulation of parental behavior is poorly understood. Juvenile hormone levels rise dramatically at the time beetle parents accept and feed larvae, remain highly elevated during the stages of most active care and fall abruptly when care is terminated. However, hormonal fluctuations alone cannot account for this elaborate control of reproduction. The biogenic amines octopamine (OA), dopamine (DA), and serotonin (5-HT) mediate a diversity of insect reproductive and social behaviors. In this study, we measured whole brain monoamine levels in individual male and female burying beetles and compared OA, DA, and 5-HT profiles between breeding (parental) and nonbreeding, unmated beetles. Remarkably, after 24 h of care, when parental feeding rates begin to peak, DA brain levels increase in breeding beetles when compared to nonbreeding controls. In contrast, brain OA and 5-HT levels did not change significantly. These results provide the first evidence for a potential role of DA in the modulation of burying beetle parental behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Carmen Panaitof
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849, USA, and
| | - Jazmine D W Yaeger
- Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA
| | - Jarod P Speer
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849, USA, and
| | - Kenneth J Renner
- Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Requena GS, Machado G. Effects of egg attendance on male mating success in a harvestman with exclusive paternal care. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
|
13
|
|
14
|
Choh Y, Takabayashi J, Sabelis MW, Janssen A. Witnessing predation can affect strength of counterattack in phytoseiids with ontogenetic predator–prey role reversal. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
15
|
Jurzenski JD, Jorgensen CF, Bishop A, Grosse R, Riens J, Hoback WW. Identifying priority conservation areas for the American burying beetle,Nicrophorus americanus(Coleoptera: Silphidae), a habitat generalist. SYST BIODIVERS 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2014.892542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
16
|
Suzuki S. Biparental care in insects: paternal care, life history, and the function of the nest. JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2013; 13:131. [PMID: 24766389 PMCID: PMC4014040 DOI: 10.1673/031.013.13101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2012] [Accepted: 12/16/2012] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The evolution of parental care is a complex process, and many evolutionary pathways have been hypothesized. Maternal care is common, but paternal care is not. High confidence of paternity should favor the evolution of paternal attendance in caring for young; biparental care is rare because paternity assurance is typically low compared to maternity. Biparental care in insects has evolved several times and has high diversity. To evaluate the conditions for the evolution of biparental care, a comparison across taxa is suitable. In this review, common traits of biparental species are discussed in order to evaluate previous models of biparental care and the life history of insects. It will be shown that nesting is a common feature in biparental insects. Nest structure limits extra-pair copulations, contributing to the evolution of biparental care.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Seizi Suzuki
- Ecology & Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Hu Z, Zhao X, Li Y, Liu X, Zhang Q. Maternal care in the parasitoid Sclerodermus harmandi (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae). PLoS One 2012; 7:e51246. [PMID: 23251468 PMCID: PMC3522655 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2011] [Accepted: 10/31/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Guarding behavior is an important activity in sub-social insects, and this behavior is believed to improve the survival of offspring. Sclerodermus harmandi (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) is one of most powerful epizoic parasitoid wasps, and it parasitizes Monochamus alternatus, a borer of wood and also the primary vector of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. After laying eggs, S. harmandi exhibits sub-social behavior involving the female tending the clutch of eggs until emergence (guarding behavior). In this study, the benefits of this maternal care with regard to improvements in the survival of offspring were examined. During the developmental stages, only offspring in the egg and larval stages were sensitive to guarding behavior. A positive relationship between the survival of the offspring and the duration of guarding was detected with logistic regression analysis. A female replacement experiment demonstrated that multiparous S. harmandi stepmothers showed guarding behavior and that this behavior improved the survival of the immature offspring, whereas nulliparous stepmothers failed to exhibit the guarding behavior. These results indicate that S. harmandi females display maternal care and that this behavior improves the survival of offspring.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhenjie Hu
- Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
18
|
Vogt G. Abbreviation of larval development and extension of brood care as key features of the evolution of freshwater Decapoda. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2012; 88:81-116. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2012.00241.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
19
|
Kou R, Chou SY, Chen SC, Huang ZY. Juvenile hormone and the ontogeny of cockroach aggression. Horm Behav 2009; 56:332-8. [PMID: 19591832 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2009] [Revised: 06/24/2009] [Accepted: 06/30/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Our previous study [Kou et al., 2008. Juvenile hormone levels are increased in winners of cockroach fights. Horm. Behav. 52, 252-260] showed that the basic principle of the challenge hypothesis (hormone levels can respond to social stimuli to modulate aggression in vertebrates] could be applied to juvenile hormone (JH) levels and aggression in the lobster cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea. In that study, 80- to 85-day-old socially naïve males were used, as fighting is much more easily initiated in these older animals than in younger males, and JH III levels in the dominant were found to be significantly increased after an encounter compared to before the encounter and were significantly higher than those in the subordinates. In N. cinerea, newly emerged males usually show no aggressiveness towards each other and aggression is only initiated after several days of close contact. To investigate the development of aggression from an early age, in the present study, newly emerged males were paired to investigate the relationship between JH levels and aggression. The results showed that injection of JH III significantly increased the probability of the young males being fight winners. In each age group in which aggression was initiated, the dominants had significantly higher JH levels than either the subordinates or the same aged non-fighters. JH injection of subordinates on the day of rank establishment had no effect on the probability of rank switch. These results indicate that, (i) in newly emerged male pairs, JH plays a decisive role in rank establishment and the fact that dominant status is significantly associated with a higher JH titer and subordinate status with a lower JH titer is consistent with the basic principle of the challenge hypothesis, and (ii) after rank establishment, the lack of effect of JH treatment on rank change is consistent with the idea of "social inertia" in vertebrates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rong Kou
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, Republic of China.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Maternal care and offspring begging in social insects: chemical signalling, hormonal regulation and evolution. Anim Behav 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
21
|
Sikes DS, Vamosi SM, Trumbo ST, Ricketts M, Venables C. Molecular systematics and biogeography of Nicrophorus in part--the investigator species group (Coleoptera: Silphidae) using mixture model MCMC. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2008; 48:646-66. [PMID: 18562216 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2007] [Revised: 04/15/2008] [Accepted: 04/24/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus) are well-known for their biparental care and monopolization of small vertebrate carcasses in subterranean crypts. They have been the focus of intense behavioral ecological research since the 1980s yet no thorough phylogenetic estimate for the group exists. The relationships among the species, and the validity of some species, are poorly understood. Here, we infer the relationships and examine species boundaries among 50 individuals representing 15 species, primarily of the investigator species group, using a mixture-model Bayesian analysis. Two mitochondrial genes, COI and COII, were used, providing 2129 aligned nucleotides (567 parsimony-informative). The Akaike Information Criterion and Bayes Factors were used to select the best fitting model, in addition to Reversible Jump MCMC, which accommodated model uncertainty. A 21 parameter, three-partition GTR+G was the final model chosen. Despite a presumed Old World origin for the genus itself, the basal lineages and immediate outgroups of the investigator species group are New World species. Bayesian methods reconstruct the common ancestor of the investigator species group as New World and imply one later transition to the Old World with two return transitions to the New World. Prior hypotheses concerning the questionable validity of four species names, Nicrophorus praedator, Nicrophorus confusus, Nicrophorus encaustus and Nicrophorus mexicanus were tested. No evidence was found for the validity of the Nicrophorus investigator synonym N. praedator. We found evidence rejecting the species status of N. confusus (NEW SYNONYM of Nicrophorus sepultor). Weak evidence was found for the species status of N. encaustus and N. mexicanus, which are tentatively retained as valid. Our results strongly reject a recently published hypothesis that Nicrophorus interruptus (NEW STATUS as valid species) is a subspecies of N. investigator.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Derek S Sikes
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alta., Canada.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Trumbo ST, Robinson GE. Social and nonsocial stimuli and juvenile hormone titer in a male burying beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2008; 54:630-635. [PMID: 18258254 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2007.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2007] [Revised: 12/27/2007] [Accepted: 12/27/2007] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the interaction of social and nonsocial stimuli on juvenile hormone (JH) titer in male burying beetles (Nicrophorus orbicollis). The initial JH response to discovery of a carcass was substantial (10-15-fold increase over controls) and rapid (<1h), and occurred whether or not a female was present. By 3h after discovery, JH titers were declining, the decline being more pronounced when a female was not present. We also tested the effect of larval stimulation on JH titer in care-giving males by removing a male's brood and replacing it with a brood of first or third instar larvae. Males initially providing care for begging first instar larvae continued to maintain high titers of JH when the replacement broods were first but not third instars. Males caring for third instar larvae (normally low JH titers) maintained low levels of JH regardless of the developmental stage of the replacement brood. This suggests that once males begin to care for nutritionally independent third instar larvae, JH titers remain low regardless of subsequent larval stimulation. Burying beetles are socially and hormonally complex organisms in which stimuli from a breeding resource, mating partners, rivals and young interact to alter the JH profile of breeding adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephen T Trumbo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Waterbury, CT 06702, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
|
24
|
|
25
|
Kudo SI. Within-clutch egg-size variation in a subsocial bug: the positional effect hypothesis. CAN J ZOOL 2006. [DOI: 10.1139/z06-163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
If there are differences in predation risk among the offspring within a clutch, parents should allocate less resources to the offspring facing higher risk. Predation risk, and thus offspring size, may depend on the spatial position of individual offspring within a clutch. To test this positional effect hypothesis, I examined egg-size (egg-mass) variation in the subsocial bug Elasmucha signoreti Scott, 1874 (Hemiptera: Acanthosomatidae). In subsocial insects, including Elasmucha , in which females guard their clutches against predators by covering the clutch with their bodies, there are large differences in survival between offspring at the centre and at the periphery of the clutch. There was considerable variation in reproductive output among females; female body size was positively correlated with egg mass but not with clutch size. Females laid significantly lighter eggs in the peripheral, and thus more vulnerable, part of the clutch. No phenotypic trade-off between egg mass and clutch size was detected. Egg mass was positively correlated with hatched first-instar nymph mass. Thus, E. signoreti females seem to allocate their resources according to the different predation risks faced by the offspring within a clutch. I suggest that the positional effect hypothesis can generally be applicable to species whose females lay eggs in clutches and that the eggs suffer different mortality rates which depend on their spatial positions within the clutch.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shin-ichi Kudo
- Department of Biology, Naruto University of Education, Naruto, Tokushima, 772-8502, Japan (e-mail: )
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
|
27
|
Futami K, Akimoto SI. Facultative Second Oviposition as an Adaptation to Egg Loss in a Semelparous Crab Spider. Ethology 2005. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2005.01126.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
28
|
CROSHAW DEANA, SCOTT DAVIDE. Experimental Evidence that Nest Attendance Benefits Female Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) by Reducing Egg Mortality. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2005. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031(2005)154[0398:eetnab]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
29
|
|
30
|
Abstract
Females that place eggs under the care of conspecifics have been labeled egg dumpers. Egg dumping is an effective reproductive alternative that lowers risks for, and has the potential to increase fecundity in, its practitioners. Although insect egg dumpers can be social parasites of the maternal behavior of egg recipients, dumping is more likely to be a viable reproductive alternative when the costs to egg recipients are low and thus the defense by potential hosts against egg dumping intrusions is minimal. These conditions are met in insects that guard only eggs or in insects whose eggs hatch into self-supporting precocial young that need little beyond defense from parents. When this is the case, egg dumping is favored by natural and/or kin selection as a mechanism by which dumpers can avoid parental risks and increase fecundity, and egg recipients can enhance offspring survival by diluting predation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Douglas W Tallamy
- College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716-2160, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Field J, Brace S. Pre-social benefits of extended parental care. Nature 2004; 428:650-2. [PMID: 15071594 DOI: 10.1038/nature02427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2003] [Accepted: 02/20/2004] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of helping, in which some individuals forfeit their own reproduction and help others to reproduce, is a central problem in evolutionary biology. Recently proposed insurance-based mechanisms rely on a pre-existing life history with a long period of offspring dependency relative to the short life expectancies of adult carers: a lone mother's offspring are doomed if she dies young, whereas after a helper dies, other group members can finish rearing the offspring. A critical question, however, is how this life history could evolve in ancestral non-social populations, as offspring survival would then depend on a single, short-lived carer. Here, we resolve this paradox by focusing on the extended parental care inherent in prolonged dependency. We show experimentally that in non-social wasps, extended care can significantly reduce the impact of interspecific parasites. Under extended care, offspring are less vulnerable by the time they are exposed to parasites, and costs of parasitism are reduced because mothers have the option to terminate investment in failing offspring. By experimentally simulating aspects of extended care in a species where it is lacking, we demonstrate that neither benefit requires specialized behaviour. Such benefits could therefore offset the disadvantage of prolonged dependency in non-social species, thereby facilitating the evolution of helping.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Field
- Department of Biology, University College London, Wolfson House, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, UK.
| | | |
Collapse
|
32
|
Scott MP, Panaitof SC. Social stimuli affect juvenile hormone during breeding in biparental burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus). Horm Behav 2004; 45:159-67. [PMID: 15047010 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2003.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2002] [Revised: 08/01/2003] [Accepted: 09/11/2003] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Extended biparental care is rare in insects but provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the interaction between the endocrine system and the physical and social environment in the regulation of this behavior. Burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.) have facultative biparental care and depend on locating a small vertebrate carcass that they bury and prepare as food for their young. Commonly, both male and female Nicrophorus orbicollis remain in the burial chamber after eggs hatch to feed and guard the larvae. In both sexes, juvenile hormone (JH) rises rapidly in response to the discovery and assessment of the carcass; it returns to near baseline in 24 h; then in females it reaches very high titers at the onset of maternal care. In this paper, we investigate some social (presence of a mate, mating history, larval age) and environmental (carcass size) factors that may affect this endocrine profile. For females, neither the presence of a mate nor mating status (i.e., virginity) affected the initial rise of JH. However, the absence of a mate significantly depressed the JH rise in males. Eighty-seven percent of the single males buried the carcass like paired males but 87% also released pheromones to attract a mate. JH hemolymph titers in females whose broods were replaced every 24 h with newly hatch larvae were significantly higher than those of females rearing aging broods. Lastly, even though larger carcasses took longer to bury and prepare and oviposition was delayed, neither JH titers nor speed of ovarian development was affected by carcass size.
Collapse
|
33
|
|
34
|
Abstract
Exclusive male care of offspring is the rarest form of postzygotic parental care among animals and has arisen independently in only 13 arthropod taxa. To distinguish the effects of sexual selection from those of natural selection on the evolution of arthropod paternal care, predictions concerning several life-history and behavioral traits resulting from both forms of selection are made and tested across all known taxa with exclusive paternal care. Comparisons suggest parallels between prezygotic nuptial gifts and exclusive postzygotic male care and support the hypothesis that, in arthropods, male behaviors that enhance female reproductive success either directly, by releasing females from the fecundity constraints of maternal care (enhanced fecundity hypothesis), or indirectly, by identifying mates with superior genes (handicap principle), are traits on which sexual selection has acted. Under such conditions, males that are willing to guard young become preferred mates for gravid females and enjoy greater promiscuity than males that are unable or unwilling to guard. Females use nest construction or the act of guarding another female's eggs as honest signals of paternal intent and quality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- D W Tallamy
- Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Entomology and Applied Ecology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19717-1303, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Tallamy DW. Sexual selection and the evolution of exclusive paternal care in arthropods. Anim Behav 2000; 60:559-567. [PMID: 11082226 DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2000.1507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Internal fertilization and anisogamy are thought to impede the evolution of exclusive paternal care by reducing paternity assurance and increasing male promiscuity. The potential role of sexual selection in easing these constraints is currently being examined in vertebrates but has not been seriously studied in most arthropods. To distinguish the effects of sexual from natural selection on the evolution of arthropod paternal care, I tested predictions of the state of several life history and behavioural traits under both forms of selection across all known taxa with exclusive paternal care. The results suggest parallels between prezygotic nuptial gifts and exclusive postzygotic paternal care and support the hypothesis that, in arthropods, male behaviours that enhance female reproductive success either directly by releasing females from the fecundity constraints of maternal care (enhanced fecundity hypothesis) or indirectly by identifying mates with superior genes (handicap principle) are traits on which sexual selection has acted. Under such conditions males willing to guard young become preferred mates for gravid females and enjoy greater promiscuity than males unable or unwilling to guard. Females use nest construction or the act of guarding another female's eggs as honest signals of paternal intent and quality. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- DW Tallamy
- Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Entomology and Applied Ecology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Delaware
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Monaco EL, Tallamy DW, Johnson RK. Chemical mediation of egg dumping in the lace bug Gargaphia solani Heidemann (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Anim Behav 1998; 56:1491-1495. [PMID: 9933547 DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1998.0934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that the proximate cue for egg dumping in the lace bug Gargaphia solani Heidemann is a chemical deposited by females on eggs during or shortly after oviposition. The results of this study show that: (1) dumping frequency declines as eggs age but can be elevated to its highest levels by exposure to chemical extracts from young egg masses; and (2) visual cues are not necessary to stimulate dumping. Further data support the hypothesis that the ovipositional chemical is used by egg dumpers as a long-distance signal of an appropriate oviposition site, and is not a mechanism by which guarding females relocate their eggs if separated from them. (c) 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- EL Monaco
- College of Agricultural Sciences, University of Delaware
| | | | | |
Collapse
|