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| Curr. Biol.：雄蟋蟀为交配会冒死保护伴侣 |
| 添加时间：2011-10-29 08:45:13 浏览次数：1383
来源：生物谷
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与为了保护一位女士的荣誉而进行决斗类似，在昆虫中，雄蟋蟀也会冒着生命危险保护伴侣的安全。
野生蟋蟀（Gryllus campestri，如左图）通常都会自己或是与伴侣一道舒服地蜷缩在地洞中。
当这一对小情侣离开它们的洞穴外出闲逛时，雄蟋蟀往往都会待在离洞穴入口更远的地方，而让雌蟋蟀离家门口更近一些。
这就使得吱吱鸣叫的雌蟋蟀更容易躲避即将到来的掠食者的进攻，例如喜鹊；而雄蟋蟀则会变成一顿轻松的午餐。
尽管如此，这些小虫并非是身穿金甲的骑士。
英国埃克塞特大学的动物学家Rolando Rodriguez-Munoz和同事在日前的《当代生物学》杂志网络版上报告了这一研究成果。
研究显示，靠近雌蟋蟀的雄蟋蟀都是一些精明的护卫，它们会驱赶其他的追求者，从而为自己获得更多的交配机会。
因此对于蟋蟀来说，它至少算得上是一位绅士。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
Guarding Males Protect Females from Predation in a Wild Insect
Rolando Rodríguez-Muñoz, Amanda Bretman, Tom Tregenza
Males frequently remain in close proximity to their mate immediately postcopulation. This behavior has generally been interpreted as a guarding tactic designed to reduce the likelihood that a rival male can rapidly displace the ejaculate of the guarding male [1,2]. Such attempts by males to control their mates represent a potential source of conflict [3,4,5], but guarding behaviors in species where it is difficult for males to control their mates suggest that conflict is not inevitable [6,7]. We employed a network of infrared video cameras to study a wild population of individually marked and genotyped field crickets (Gryllus campestris). Lone females or males suffer similar rates of predation, but when a pair is attacked, the male allows the female priority access to their burrow, and in doing so dramatically increases his probability of being killed. In compensation for this increased predation risk, paired males mate more frequently and father more of the female's offspring. By staying with a male, females increase the sperm contribution of preferred males as well as reducing their predation risk. In contrast to conclusions based on previous lab studies, our field study suggests that mate guarding can evolve in a context of cooperation rather than conflict between the sexes.
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