The sexually selected sperm hypothesis, maternal effects, and sperm competitive success in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini
نویسندگان
چکیده
Background: The sexually selected sperm hypothesis predicts that selection will favour female multiple mating by increasing the sperm competitive abilities of their sons. Hypothesis: Sons of multiply mated females should have higher sperm competitive abilities than sons of singly mated females. Organism: The bulb mite, Rhizoglyphus robini (Acari: Acaridae). Methods: Rhizoglyphus is a highly promiscuous species in which females gain no direct benefits from multiple matings. Virgin females were mated to one or six males. Sons of singly and multiply mated females were allowed to compete with each other for access to females’ ova. Sperm competitiveness was estimated by the sterile male method. Results: Contrary to the predictions of the hypothesis, we found no difference in sperm competitiveness between sons of singly and multiply mated females. We suggest that non-genetic effects could explain this result.
منابع مشابه
Life History Consequences of the Facultative Expression of a Dispersal Life Stage in the Phoretic Bulb Mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)
Life history traits play an important role in population dynamics and correlate, both positively and negatively, with dispersal in a wide range of taxa. Most invertebrate studies on trade-offs between life history traits and dispersal have focused on dispersal via flight, yet much less is known about how life history trade-offs influence species that disperse by other means. In this study, we i...
متن کاملThe role of the bacterial community in the nutritional ecology of the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini (Acari: Astigmata: Acaridae).
The biology of many arthropods can only be understood when their associated microbiome is considered. The nutritional requirements of the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini Claparede (Acari: Astigmata: Acaridae) in the laboratory have been shown to be very easily satisfied, and in the field the mites prefer fungus-infected over uninfected plants. To test whether symbiotic bacteria facilitate the sur...
متن کاملTranscriptomics of Intralocus Sexual Conflict: Gene Expression Patterns in Females Change in Response to Selection on a Male Secondary Sexual Trait in the Bulb Mite
Intralocus sexual conflict (IASC) prevents males and females from reaching their disparate phenotypic optima and is widespread, but little is known about its genetic underpinnings. In Rhizoglyphus robini, a mite species with alternative male morphs, elevated sexual dimorphism of the armored fighter males (compared to more feminized scramblers males) was previously reported to be associated with...
متن کاملDelineating the roles of males and females in sperm competition.
Disentangling the relative roles of males, females and their interactive effects on competitive fertilization success remains a challenge in sperm competition. In this study, we apply a novel experimental framework to an ideally suited externally fertilizing model system in order to delineate these roles. We focus on the chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, a species in which ovarian fluid...
متن کاملEvolution under relaxed sexual conflict in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini.
The experimental evolution under different levels of sexual conflict have been used to demonstrate antagonistic coevolution in muscids, but among other taxa a similar approach has not been employed. Here, we describe the results of 37 generations of evolution under either experimentally enforced monogamy or polygamy in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini. Three replicates were maintained for each...
متن کامل