Behavioral and reproductive responses of female opossums to volatile and nonvolatile components of male suprasternal gland secretion

Female gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica) lack an estrous cycle and are induced into estrus by exposure to a pheromone in male scent marks. Behavioral and physiological responses of females to the volatile and nonvolatile components of scent marks were examined in two experiments. Young females (n = 9) were tested prior to and during their first estrus for behavioral responses to scent marks, collected on a 7-ml glass vial rubbed over the suprasternal gland of a mature male. The response to volatile components of the scent mark, recorded when marked and unmarked vials were covered with a perforated shield, was compared to the response to these vials when unshielded. Estrous females nuzzled the shields over marked vials (55.8 ± 8.5 nuzzles/10 min) more than the shielded clean vial (10.9 ± 2.4) (P < 0.05); a similar response was observed in anestrous females. Nuzzling of unshielded, scent-marked vials was higher (P < 0.05) during anestrus than in the same females when in estrus. The role of nonvolatile pheromones in reproductive activation was tested in adult females (n = 11) exposed for up to 14 days to a shielded, marked vial or to an unshielded, marked vial in a crossover design. All females exposed to unshielded vials expressed estrus, and 10 copulated. Only 2 females expressed estrus (significantly fewer, P < 0.05), when exposed to shielded marked vials, and neither copulated. These results demonstrate that females detect and respond behaviorally to both volatile and nonvolatile components of male suprasternal gland secretion, but the estrus-inducing pheromone in these secretions is nonvolatile.     

雌雄罗氏沼虾应对低氧胁迫的行为生理响应

为查明雌雄罗氏沼虾应对低氧胁迫的行为生理响应,设置6.46(对照)、4.48和3.27 mg·L^-13种溶解氧水平,研究了雌、雄个体在胁迫6 d后肝胰脏和肌肉能量代谢酶活性及游泳和弹跳速度。结果表明: 溶解氧从6.46 mg·L^-1降至4.48 mg·L^-1,雌雄个体肌肉有氧代谢酶活性及游泳速度均显著下降,且雄性下降幅度小于雌性,厌氧代谢酶活性并无显著变化;溶解氧继续降至3.27 mg·L^-1,雌雄个体肌肉有氧代谢酶和厌氧代谢酶活性均显著下降,肝胰脏厌氧代谢酶中的乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)活性及弹跳速度显著下降,且雌性肝胰脏LDH活性下降幅度小于雄性。雌雄罗氏沼虾游泳速度与游泳足肌肉有氧代谢酶活性呈显著正相关,弹跳速度则与腹部肌肉厌氧代谢酶活性呈显著正相关。表明罗氏沼虾可以通过降低能量代谢水平应对低氧胁迫,但这种生理调节会导致运动能力下降,雄性优先将能量分配于肌肉以满足运动,雌性则优先保障肝胰脏能量供应。     

棉铃虫雌蛾对小麦花挥发性气味的触角电位反应

测定了棉铃虫Helicoverpa armigera处女雌蛾和交配雌蛾对小麦花中单一或多个挥发性物质的EAG反应。在单组分或多组分的测定中,棉铃虫处女蛾和交配蛾在P=0.05水平上并不存在显著性差异,但在混合的绿叶气味物质中加入含量为1×10^-5～5×10^-5（体积比）的正庚醛时,交配蛾对混合物的触角电位反应显著高于处女蛾的反应（P<0.05）。     

Behavioral and physiological female responses to male sex ratio bias in a pond-breeding amphibian

Introduction

The phenomenon of sexual conflict has been well documented, and in populations with biased operational sex ratios the consequences for the rarer sex can be severe. Females are typically a limited resource and males often evolve aggressive mating behaviors, which can improve individual fitness for the male while negatively impacting female condition and fitness. In response, females can adjust their behavior to minimize exposure to aggressive mating tactics or minimize the costs of mating harassment. While male-male competition is common in amphibian mating systems, little is known about the consequences or responses of females. The red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is a common pond-breeding amphibian with a complex, well-studied mating system where males aggressively court females. Breeding populations across much of its range have male-biased sex ratios and we predicted that female newts would have behavioral mechanisms to mitigate mating pressure from males. We conducted four experiments examining the costs and behavioral responses of female N. viridescens exposed to a male-biased environment.

Results

In field enclosures, we found that female newts exposed to a male-biased environment during the five-month breeding season ended with lower body condition compared to those in a female-biased environment. Shorter-term exposure to a male-biased environment for five weeks caused a decrease in circulating total leukocyte and lymphocyte abundance in blood, which suggests females experienced physiological stress. In behavioral experiments, we found that females were more agitated in the presence of male chemical cues and females in a male-biased environment spent more time in refuge than those in a female-biased environment.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that male-biased conditions can incur costs to females of decreased condition and potentially increased risk of infection. However, we found that females can also alter their behavior and microhabitat use under a male-biased sex ratio. Consistent with surveys showing reduced detection probabilities for females, our research suggests that females avoid male encounters using edge and substrate habitat. Our work illustrates the integrated suite of impacts that sexual conflict can have on the structure and ecology of a population.     

Behavioral responses to physical vs. social novelty in male and female laboratory rats

Most behavioral tests used with laboratory rodents involve measuring behavioral responses to physical novelty. However, laboratory rodents are often derived from highly social species for which novel social stimuli may induce different levels of fear or curiosity compared to novel physical objects. We hypothesized that behavioral responses will differ in response to novel physical vs. social cues, and that females may show more exploration of social novelty, based on prior studies indicating that females more actively seek social support during duress compared to males. We compared young (55-day-old) Sprague-Dawley rats’ responses to an arena filled with novel objects (“physical”) or a novel same-sex caged conspecific (“social”). Rats were more active and spent twice as much time in contact with the novel social stimulus compared to novel physical stimuli. Although females were more active than males, females were not particularly more exploratory in the social arena compared to males. The results indicate that a novel social partner (even a caged one with limited ability to interact) elicits more exploration than novel objects for both male and female rats.     

Behavioral responses of male lobsters to Ecdysones

Four ecdysones with molting hormone activity, β‐ecdysone, inokosterone, ponasterone A, and cyasterone were tested for their capacity to elicit behavioral responses, especially sexual responses in the male lobster (Homarus americanus). Of these ecdysones, only β‐ecdysone elicited a low key alerting response. However, no particular type of behavior, such as feeding, aggressive or sexual behavior could be observed. A role of β‐ecdysone as a crustacean sex pheromone is not supported by these experiments and the general validity of this notion is discussed.     

Behavioural and endocrine responses of female mice to synthetic analogues of volatile compounds in male urine

The urine of intact, adult male mice elicits more investigatory sniffing from female mice than does the urine of castrated males. When either of two androgen-dependent urinary compounds, 2-sec-butyl dihydrothiazole or dehydro-exo-brevicomin are added to castrate urine, its relative attractiveness remains the same. When both compounds are added to castrate urine, however, its activity is enhanced and the castrate urine becomes as attractive to females as whole, intact male urine. Females exposed to the reconstituted ‘normal’ urine for 3 min per day, displayed more frequent oestrus cycles. The two synthetic compounds are synergistic in the context of castrate urine, producing an olfactory message that behaviourally and physiologically mimics the activity of the normal biological signal.     

Extraglandular synthesis of accessory reproductive gland components in male Melanoplus sanguinipes

The accessory reproductive glands (ARG) of the male migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes, are able to accumulate injected labelled ARG protein from the haemolymph. Accumulation is slight in the ARG of 2-day-old virgins, or 7-day-old allatectomized (CA^?) insects. The ARG of 7-day-old virgins, or 7-day-old CA^? insects treated with synthetic juvenile hormone, accumulate about 1.5 times more label than those of 2-day-old insects in a 24-hr period. The ARG of recently mated males accumulate almost four times more label than those of 2-day-old controls. Immunoprecipitation studies indicate that about one fifth of the labelled protein is accumulated unchanged.The fat body and haemolymph contain proteins which are precipitable by antiserum to whole ARG homogenate. The concentration of these proteins in the fat body increases after removal of the ARG, or after copulation. It is concluded that the fat body synthesizes certain proteins which are accumulated by the ARG. Both the synthesis and the accumulation of these proteins are regulated by the corpora allata.     

Behavioral responses of male lobsters to ecdysone metabolites

A molting hormone metabolite of crustecdysone 4,4‐dimethylbutyrolactone, 4, and six structurally related compounds were tested for their capacity to elicit behavioral responses, especially sexual responses, in the male lobster (Homarus americanus). Of these compounds, 6, 7, 8, and especially 9 provoked alert responses. Moreover, compounds 7 and 9 startled the lobsters, which responded with defensive and perhaps aggressive postures. No feeding or sexual behavior was observed. These results do not support the hypothesis that metabolites of molting hormones act as sex pheromones in the lobster. A comparison of chemical structure with behavioral response between the most active compound 9 and the inactive compound 10 is made.     

Behavioral responses of male elk to hunting risk

Prey respond to predation risk with a range of behavioral tactics that can vary based on space use and hunting mode of the predator. Unlike other predators, human hunters are often more spatially and temporally restricted, which creates a period of short-duration, high-intensity predation risk for prey. Consequently, identifying the roles different hunting modes (i.e., archery and rifle), hunts for targeted and non-targeted species, and landscape features play in altering spatial and temporal responses of prey to predation risk by humans is important for effective management of harvested populations. From 2009 to 2016, we used a large-scale experiment including 50 animal-years of location data from 38 unique male elk (Cervus canadensis) to quantify changes in movement and resource selection in response to hunters during 3 separate 5-day controlled hunts for antlered males (elk archery, deer [Odocoileus spp.] rifle, and elk rifle) at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range in northeast Oregon, USA. We evaluated competing hypotheses regarding elk responses to varying levels of prey risk posed by the different hunt types. We predicted that the strength of elk behavioral responses would increase with perceived hunter lethality (i.e., weak response to elk archery but similar response to elk and deer rifle hunts) and that prey response would be closely associated with hunter activity within the diel cycle (greater during diurnal than nocturnal hours) and across hunting seasons. Elk responses were strongest during diurnal hours when hunters were active on the landscape and were generally more pronounced during both rifle hunts than during the archery hunt (supporting our perceived lethality hypothesis). Male elk avoided open roads across all periods except during nocturnal hours of the breeding season and alternated between avoidance of areas with high canopy cover during nocturnal hours and selection during diurnal hours. In combination these patterns led to distinct distributional changes of male elk from pre-hunt to hunt periods. Patterns of male elk selection highlight the importance of managing for heterogeneous landscapes to meet a variety of habitat, harvest, hunter satisfaction, and escapement objectives.     

Correlated responses to selection on female egg size in male reproductive traits in a butterfly

Genetic correlations between male and female traits can act as evolutionary constraints and, if involving reproductive traits, potentially influence sexual selection. Artificial selection on egg size in the tropical butterfly Bicyclus anynana has yielded highly divergent lines. Here we report evidence for correlated evolution in male traits. Males from the large-egg selected lines produced significantly heavier spermatophores independent of body size and tended to have more fertile sperm stored in their reproductive tracts than those from the small-egg selected lines. This may be due to an underlying genetic correlation in reproductive effort between the sexes. However, non-fertile sperm number and testis size remained unaffected by selection on egg size. Phenotypic correlations within an unselected population revealed that spermatophore mass and fertile sperm number, but not testis size and non-fertile sperm number, were positively related to male body size, and that larger spermatophores contained more fertile, but not non-fertile sperm. In addition, males provided larger females with bigger spermatophores and more fertile sperm, indicating males may be exercising mate choice during copulation.     

A male accessory gland peptide that regulates reproductive behavior of female D. melanogaster

The adult male accessory glands of D. melanogaster synthesize and secrete a peptide that represses female sexual receptivity and stimulates oviposition. Normally, this peptide is transferred to females during copulation; however, the peptide shows the same biological activity after purification and subsequent injection into the abdominal cavity of female virgins. Amino acid sequencing of the purified peptide and oligonucleotide-directed cDNA cloning established that the peptide consists of 36 amino acids. It appears to be synthesized as a precursor with a hydrophobic signal sequence of 19 residues at its N-terminal end. The precursor peptide is encoded by a short mRNA that accumulates exclusively in the male accessory gland. The gene has been localized by in situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes at 70A.     

Behavioral and hormonal responses of male zebra finches to antiandrogens

After it was shown that the sexual behavioral patterns of male zebra finches are dependent on testosterone, the effects of treatment with two antiandrogens were investigated. The antiandrogens cyproterone (Cy) and cyproterone acetate (CyA) were used in this study. The results show that injections of CyA depress the sexual activity of the birds as measured by the amount of courtship song. The undirected song, too, is negatively influenced by a higher dosage of CyA. With the same dosage of Cy neither of these effects is observed. Radioimmunoassay for plasma testosterone showed that birds treated with CyA had lower, and birds treated with Cy had higher, testosterone levels in comparison with control animals. CyA is described as an antiandrogen with gestagenic side effects while Cy acts as a pure antiandrogen without side effects. Presumably the gestagenic side effects of CyA stop the production of testosterone by negative feedback mechanisms. This negative feedback combined with the antiandrogenic activity seems to account for the effects of CyA on behavior. Cy has no gestagenic side effect but is antiandrogenic with respect to blocking of androgen receptors. The organism tries to compensate for this deficit by increasing the testosterone production. The antiandrogenic activity of Cy probably is neutralized by this stimulated testosterone production.     

Behavioral and mammary responses of adult female rhesus to strange infants

Approximately 90% of gonadally intact, ovariectomized, or postmenopausal feral-born multiparous rhesus macaques immediately behaved maternally and displayed strong attachment to unfamiliar neonatal rhesus infants offered to them, even though the females had not lived with infants for at least 12 months. Females showing such behavior and attachment also showed fluid secretion from their nipples even, in some cases, without oral stimulation of the nipples by the infant. Adult laboratory-reared nulliparous females did not adopt infants, although identically reared primiparous females adequately cared for their own first infants.     

Effects of male paragonial gland secretion on sexual receptivity and courtship behaviour of female Drosophila melanogaster

Female Drosophila melanogaster show a switch-off in sexual receptivity and an increase in oviposition rate following impregnation. These effects are also observed in unfertilized virgin females which receive transplants of intact male paragonia into the abdominal body cavity. Virgin Amherst wildtype females show a repertoire of responses to male courtship characterized by high rates of kicking and fending and a low rate of genital extrusion. Fertilized females show low rates of kicking and fending but a high rate of genital extrusion. Virgin female hosts receiving paragonial gland implants show an altered pattern of courtship rejection with low rates of kicking and fending. Studies on these host females, and on females homozygous for the mutant allele female-sterile, suggest that the expression of genital extrusion depends, in addition to the paragonial gland substance, upon additional information input from abdominal stretch receptors or from the ovary.     

Identification of the components of Dufour gland secretion of the ant Myrmica rubra and responses to them

The Dufour gland secretion consists of a solution of volatile oxygenated compounds in a mixture of higher hydrocarbons and sesquiterpenoid alkenes. Methanol, butenone, 2-methylpropanal, and 1-butanol have now been identified as the remaining major volatile components. These substances have no strong behavioural effect upon ants, nor do they induce trail following behaviour. The principal activity of the Dufour gland can be traced to the three more abundant volatile components, ethanal, acetone, and butanone, together with the minor component ethanol.     

Progesterone receptor in the forebrain of female gray short-tailed opossums: Effects of exposure to male stimuli

Progesterone receptor immunoreactivity (PRir) in brain areas involved in reproductive behavior in eutherian species was examined for the first time in a female marsupial, the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica, hereinafter, opossum). PRir in nuclei of neurons, measured as area covered by stained nuclei, was seen in the arcuate nucleus (Arc); anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPv); bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST); medial preoptic area (MPOA), and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), but not in control areas adjacent to the hypothalamus or cortex. Female opossums are induced into cytological, urogenital sinus (UGS), estrus by male pheromones and into behavioral estrus, i.e., receptivity, by pairing with a male, and both estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) are involved in induction of receptivity in intact and ovariectomized females. PRir in the AVPv, MPOA, and VMH was very low in females that had never been exposed to males or their scent marks, i.e., naïve anestrous (NVA) females, and either previous or current exposure to males or their scent marks was associated with elevated PRir. PRir was significantly higher in the AVPv and MPOA of anestrous females with previous but no current exposure to males and their scent marks, i.e., experienced anestrous (EXPA) females, than in NVA females, but PRir was significantly lower in the MPOA and VMH of EXPA females than in females that were behaviorally receptive and had recently copulated, i.e., behavioral receptive estrous (BRE) females. PRir was higher in the VMH of both UGS estrous (UGSE) and BRE females compared to that in EXPA animals, but PRir did not differ between UGSE and BRE females in any of the 3 brain areas examined, including the MPOA These results provide evidence that pheromonal induction of estrus and sexual receptivity in opossums is associated with elevation of PRir in the VMH and MPOA and that prior exposure to males or their pheromones, even in the absence of current male stimuli, is associated with persistent elevation of PRir in the AVPv and MPOA.     

The function of female accessory reproductive gland secretion and a cost to polyandry in the yellow dung fly

Abstract Female yellow dung flies have large paired accessory reproductive glands, the function of which remains unclear. However, gland contents are secreted during copula and egg laying. Other female flies produce a range of anti-bacterial substances in their accessory reproductive glands that protect them and their eggs from pathogens, and it is possible that gland secretion acts similarly in yellow dung flies. A series of experiments was conducted to test this idea. Because the volume of secretion remaining in the glands is negatively related to copula duration, egg hatchability and longevity of females was compared in groups that copulated experimentally once or three times. A zone inhibition assay was used to see if gland extract inhibited bacterial growth. Egg number was positively associated with female body size, but the proportion of eggs hatching was not. Neither copula number nor duration influenced egg number or hatch number or proportion. In accordance with this, gland extract did not inhibit bacterial growth. However, female longevity was reduced in females that copulated with more males. This suggests that gland secretion does not serve to protect eggs, but as with a number of taxa, copula is costly to female yellow dung flies.     

Spatial distributions of male and female strawberry poison frogs and their relation to female reproductive resources

In many species with a resource-based mating system, males defend resources to increase their attractiveness to females. In the strawberry poison frog, Dendrobates pumilio, suitable tadpole-rearing sites appear to be a limited resource for females. Territorial males have been suggested to defend tadpole-rearing sites to increase their access to females. In this study we investigate the spatial association between tadpole-rearing sites and the sexes as well as the spatial association of males and females. If strawberry poison frogs have resource defense polygyny, we expect males and females to be associated with tadpole-rearing sites and that females will deposit their offspring in tadpole-rearing sites inside the territories of their mates. To test this hypothesis, home range and core area sizes were calculated for both sexes and the association patterns were compared in two areas that differed in their abundance of tadpole-rearing sites. Home ranges and core areas of females were much larger than male home ranges. Females showed a clumped distribution in the vicinity of tadpole-rearing sites. Males were not clumped and were less associated with tadpole-rearing sites. Females generally did not use tadpole-rearing sites in the territory of their mates and we therefore conclude that males did not defend tadpole-rearing sites for females. Our data are consistent with the general assumption that female distribution is influenced by resource distribution and that male distribution depends on female distribution. Nevertheless, the distribution of D. pumilio females was also influenced by male spacing patterns. Males probably initially establish their core areas where female density is high and then females move among territories to sample males. Males compete vigorously for places with high female density, the defense of which is likely important for enhancing their mating success. In general, the spacing patterns did not differ between populations but the sex ratio was strongly female biased in the habitat with more tadpole-rearing sites, reflecting the direct reliance of females on these resources.