Concerted evolution of metabolic rate, economics of mating, ecology, and pace of life across seed beetles

Coevolution between females and males has led to remarkable differences between the sexes but has taken very different routes, even in closely related animal species, for reasons that are not well understood. We studied the physiological processes that convert resources into offspring (metabolism) in males and females of several related beetle species. We found that ecological factors dictate metabolic rate, which, in turn, have predictable direct and indirect effects on male–female coevolution. Our findings suggest that a complete understanding of differences between the sexes requires an understanding of how ecology affects metabolic processes and how these differ in the sexes.

Male–female coevolution has taken different paths among closely related species, but our understanding of the factors that govern its direction is limited. While it is clear that ecological factors, life history, and the economics of reproduction are connected, the divergent links are often obscure. We propose that a complete understanding requires the conceptual integration of metabolic phenotypes. Metabolic rate, a nexus of life history evolution, is constrained by ecological factors and may exert important direct and indirect effects on the evolution of sexual dimorphism. We performed standardized experiments in 12 seed beetle species to gain a rich set of sex-specific measures of metabolic phenotypes, life history traits, and the economics of mating and analyzed our multivariate data using phylogenetic comparative methods. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) showed extensive evolution and evolved more rapidly in males than in females. The evolution of RMR was tightly coupled with a suite of life history traits, describing a pace-of-life syndrome (POLS), with indirect effects on the economics of mating. As predicted, high resource competition was associated with a low RMR and a slow POLS. The cost of mating showed sexually antagonistic coevolution, a hallmark of sexual conflict. The sex-specific costs and benefits of mating were predictably related to ecology, primarily through the evolution of male ejaculate size. Overall, our results support the tenet that resource competition affects metabolic processes that, in turn, have predictable effects on both life history evolution and reproduction, such that ecology shows both direct and indirect effects on male–female coevolution.

The 150th anniversary of The Descent of Man: Darwin and the impact of sex-role reversal on sexual selection research

The year 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s extraordinary book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Here, we review the history and impact of a single profound insight from The Descent of Man: that, in some few species, females rather than males compete for access to mates. In other words, these species are ‘sex-role reversed’ with respect to mating competition and sexual selection compared to the majority of species in which sexual selection acts most strongly on males. Over the subsequent 150 years, sex-role-reversed species have motivated multiple key conceptual breakthroughs in sexual selection. The surprising mating dynamics of such species challenged scientists’ preconceptions, forcing them to examine implicit assumptions and stereotypes. This wider worldview has led to a richer and more nuanced understanding of animal mating systems and, in particular, to a proper appreciation for the fundamental role that females play in shaping these systems. Sex-role-reversed species have considerable untapped potential and will continue to contribute to sexual selection research in the decades to come.

Sexual selection increased offspring production via evolution of male and female traits

Phenotypic evolution driven by sexual selection can impact the fitness of individuals and thus population performance through multiple mechanisms, but it is unresolved how and when sexual selection affects offspring production by females. We examined the effects of sexual selection on offspring production by females using replicated experimental evolutionary lines of Callosobruchus chinensis that were kept under polygamy (with sexual selection) or monogamy (without sexual selection) for 21 generations. We found that polygamous-line pairs produced more offspring than monogamous-line pairs, because polygamous-line beetles evolved to be larger than monogamous-line beetles, and larger females were more fecund. Egg hatchability did not differ between polygamous- and monogamous-line pairs, as a result of the positive and negative effects of sexual selection cancelling out. When mated with an individual from a common tester line, both polygamous-line females and males showed higher hatchability in resultant eggs than monogamous ones. Further, cohabitation with a male reduced egg hatchability, and this effect was more pronounced in polygamous-line than in monogamous-line males. These results demonstrate multiple mechanisms by which sexual selection affects female fitness, with the net effect being positive. Analyses of how development time, body size and male genital morphology were influenced by selection regime suggest that these results arose from both evolution via good-gene processes and sexually antagonistic selection. Our results are also consistent with the hypothesis that the fitness consequences of sexual selection for females are dependent on the evolutionary history of the population.

The evolution of between-species reproductive interference capability under different within-species mating regimes

Sexual selection sometimes favors male traits that benefit their bearers, but harm their mates. The harmful effects of male traits may also extend to females of other species via heterospecific mating interactions. This could affect the coexistence of closely related species during secondary contact. We examined the evolution of the interspecific interfering capability of a beetle (Callosobruchus chinensis) with a congener (C. maculatus) using C. chinensis males reared under conditions of monogamy and polygamy for 17 generations. After experimental evolution, C. chinensis males reared under polygamous conditions imposed greater impacts on offspring production by C. maculatus females than did C. chinensis males reared under monogamous conditions. However, the mechanism by which differential mating regimes altered the effect of C. chinensis males on C. maculatus females was unclear, because we did not find evidence for the expected genital evolution in C. chinensis, despite their body size divergence. Our findings suggest that traits that originally evolved through sexual selection in two allopatric species could influence the coexistence of these species or the likelihood of reinforcement during secondary contact.

Postmating sexual selection and the enigmatic jawed genitalia of Callosobruchus subinnotatus

Insect genitalia exhibit rapid divergent evolution. Truly extraordinary structures have evolved in some groups, presumably as a result of postmating sexual selection. To increase our understanding of this phenomenon, we studied the function of one such structure. The male genitalia of Callosobruchus subinnotatus (Coleoptera: Bruchinae) contain a pair of jaw-like structures with unknown function. Here, we used phenotypic engineering to ablate the teeth on these jaws. We then experimentally assessed the effects of ablation of the genital jaws on mating duration, ejaculate weight, male fertilization success and female fecundity, using a double-mating experimental design. We predicted that copulatory wounding in females should be positively related to male fertilization success; however, we found no significant correlation between genital tract scarring in females and male fertilization success. Male fertilization success was, however, positively related to the amount of ejaculate transferred by males and negatively related to female ejaculate dumping. Ablation of male genital jaws did not affect male relative fertilization success but resulted in a reduction in female egg production. Our results suggest that postmating sexual selection in males indeed favors these genital jaws, not primarily through an elevated relative success in sperm competition but by increasing female egg production.

Summary: A toothed jaw-like structure on the male genitalia of the seed beetle Callosobruchus subinnotatus increases female egg production after mating.

Sex Ratio Bias Leads to the Evolution of Sex Role Reversal in Honey Locust Beetles

The reversal of conventional sex roles was enigmatic to Darwin, who suggested that it may evolve when sex ratios are female biased [1]. Here we present direct evidence confirming Darwin's hypothesis. We investigated mating system evolution in a sex-role-reversed beetle (Megabruchidius dorsalis) using experimental evolution under manipulated sex ratios and food regimes. In female-biased populations, where reproductive competition among females was intensified, females evolved to be more attractive and the sex roles became more reversed. Interestingly, female-specific mating behavior evolved more rapidly than male-specific mating behavior. We show that sexual selection due to reproductive competition can be strong in females and can target much the same traits as in males of species with conventional mating systems. Our study highlights two central points: the role of ecology in directing sexual selection and the role that females play in mating system evolution.