TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexually antagonistic coevolution of the male nuptial gift and female feeding behaviour in decorated crickets
AU - Burns-Dunn, Samuel
AU - Mortys, Tassie
AU - House, Clarissa M.
AU - Mitchell, Christopher
AU - Duffield, Kristin R.
AU - Foquet, Bert
AU - Sadd, Ben M.
AU - Sakaluk, Scott K.
AU - Hunt, John
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The evolution of nuptial gifts has traditionally been considered a harmonious affair, providing benefits to both mating partners. There is growing evidence, however, that receiving a nuptial gift can be actively detrimental to the female. In decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus), males produce a gelatinous spermatophylax that enhances sperm transfer but provides little nutritional benefit and hinders female post-copulatory mate choice. Here, we examine the sexually antagonistic coevolution of the spermatophylax and the female feeding response to this gift in G. sigillatus maintained in experimental populations with either a male-biased or female-biased adult sex ratio. After 25 generations, males evolving in male-biased populations produced heavier spermatophylaxes with a more manipulative combination of free amino acids than those evolving in female-biased populations. Moreover, when the spermatophylax originated from the same selection regime, females evolving in male-biased populations always had shorter feeding durations than those evolving in female-biased populations, indicating the evolution of greater resistance. Across populations, female feeding duration increased with the mass and manipulative combination of free amino acids in the spermatophylax, suggesting sexually antagonistic coevolution. Collectively, our work demonstrates a key role for interlocus sexual conflict and sexually antagonistic coevolution in the mating system of G. sigillatus.
AB - The evolution of nuptial gifts has traditionally been considered a harmonious affair, providing benefits to both mating partners. There is growing evidence, however, that receiving a nuptial gift can be actively detrimental to the female. In decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus), males produce a gelatinous spermatophylax that enhances sperm transfer but provides little nutritional benefit and hinders female post-copulatory mate choice. Here, we examine the sexually antagonistic coevolution of the spermatophylax and the female feeding response to this gift in G. sigillatus maintained in experimental populations with either a male-biased or female-biased adult sex ratio. After 25 generations, males evolving in male-biased populations produced heavier spermatophylaxes with a more manipulative combination of free amino acids than those evolving in female-biased populations. Moreover, when the spermatophylax originated from the same selection regime, females evolving in male-biased populations always had shorter feeding durations than those evolving in female-biased populations, indicating the evolution of greater resistance. Across populations, female feeding duration increased with the mass and manipulative combination of free amino acids in the spermatophylax, suggesting sexually antagonistic coevolution. Collectively, our work demonstrates a key role for interlocus sexual conflict and sexually antagonistic coevolution in the mating system of G. sigillatus.
KW - experimental evolution
KW - free amino acids
KW - interlocus sexual conflict
KW - nuptial gift
KW - spermatophylax
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201409227&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2024.0804
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2024.0804
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85201409227
SN - 0962-8452
VL - 291
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 2026
M1 - 20240804
ER -