Signal reliability, sex-specific genotype-by-environment interactions in cuticular hydrocarbon expression, and the maintenance of polyandry through chemosensory self-referencing in decorated crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus

Polyandry, the propensity for females to mate with more than one male over their lifetime, is pervasive across animal mating systems, and especially so in insects. Females of various cricket species exhibit a high degree of polyandry, and there is well-documented evidence of genetic benefits to polyandry in several species, including Gryllodes sigillatus. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are lipid compounds that are present on the surface of the cuticle of most terrestrial arthropods. As Genotype-by-Environment Interactions (GEIs) have the potential to disrupt the reliability of signals, the chapter predicts that GEIs would be minimal or absent in females to preserve the functional integrity of chemosensory self-referencing. In contrast, such constraints should either not exist or be greatly reduced for male CHC expression. In agreement with this prediction we found sex-specific GEIs for CHC expression in G. sigillatus, with males exhibiting strong and statistically significant GEIs whereas females did not.