动物的求偶喂食行为

动物的求偶喂食行为是雄性动物在求偶时向求偶对象奉献食物礼品的现象,这种行为在昆虫、蜘蛛和鸟类中最为常见。介绍了求偶喂食行为的概念,列举了一些实例,并讨论了这种行为的生物学功能和进化过程。     

北京南海子麋鹿体型的性二型及生长发育

动物的部分身体结构和功能特征在生长发育过程中雌、雄两性之间出现差异,即产生性二型现象。动物体型的性二型现象是自然界长期进化和动物适应环境变化的结果,具有重要的进化学和生态学意义。麋鹿Elaphurus davidianus是典型的性二型哺乳动物。本文对147头麋鹿(♀57头,♂90头),幼体、亚成体和成体及0~4岁以上雌性5个年龄段、0~5岁以上雄性6个年龄段的14个体型参数进行测量分析。结果表明:北京南海子麋鹿种群幼体不存在体型性二型现象;各体型参数中,体质量的体型性二型现象最明显,其性二型指数在幼体、亚成体和成体3个发育阶段分别为0.995、1.381和1.423,显著递增;0~2岁期间麋鹿生长发育迅速,但不存在雌、雄两性之间的显著差异;雌性麋鹿1~2岁达到性成熟,3岁达到成年;雄性麋鹿5岁以上达到成年。受食物状况、种群密度、气候条件、温度等生境因子的影响,麋鹿体型大小和体型性二型性指数存在区域差异。     

昆虫的雌雄二型现象

对发生雌雄二型现象的昆虫类群、生态因子及进化进行了概括总结;还特别介绍了长足虻科昆虫雌雄二型的相关方面;并简要讨论了雌雄二型与性选择的关系。     

蜘蛛的网和它的捕食策略

蜘蛛的网和捕食策略的进化是令人感兴趣的一个课题,本文对蛛网的类型和进化,以及蜘蛛的捕食策略及其演变化一简要介绍。     

蜘蛛人工饲养中食物来源和解决途径

蜘蛛的食物来源及其解决途径是饲养蜘蛛的关键。介绍解决蜘蛛食物的11种方法。     

维管植物导管及其穿孔板的研究进展

介绍了导管及其穿孔板的研究进展,包括导管的特征(穿孔板的类型、多穿孔板与侧壁穿孔板、纹孔膜残留),导管的起源与穿孔板的演化,蕨类植物、裸子植物与被子植物导管的比较,并就导管进化与穿孔板演化．导管的二型性现象、侧壁穿孔板、多穿孔板与穿孔中纹孔膜．生态对导管进化的影响等方面以及对今后的研究作了展望。     

新书速递：《蜘蛛学》

正《蜘蛛学》一书由湖南师范大学颜亨梅、彭贤锦等撰写,是迄今国内外第一部系统描述、全方位研究蜘蛛的著作。该书汇集前人及作者数十年研究蜘蛛的资料而成,主要内容包括:蜘蛛多样性与人类关系、蜘蛛文化、简史、蜘蛛学内容与范围;蜘蛛的起源与进化;蜘蛛形态学;蜘蛛生物学;蜘蛛生态学;蜘蛛分类学;蜘蛛体表感受器官的微形态特征及功能;蜘蛛优势种成因及其对农药重金属胁迫的适应性;蜘蛛捕食及其控虫效能;蜘蛛的研究方法。     

雌性偏好促进象型类的性别异时进化（英文）

性双型的特征通常被认为产生于种内争夺交配优先权的斗争。例如,现生和化石的雄性长鼻类动物具有较大的体型和较粗壮的上门齿。本研究阐释了如下现象:化石象型类动物(Elephantiformes,长鼻类的主要类群)一些性双型特征与其进化历史具有相关性,而与性别竞争并非直接相关。在中新世的葛氏铲齿象(Platybelodon grangeri)和狭齿嵌齿象(Gomphotherium angustidens)中,雄性比雌性倾向于具有进化中更进步的特征,如同雄性在进化中领先雌性一步。这种现象可能与雌性偏好的机制相耦合。在象型类动物进化的早期(繁荣期),性别选择压促使雄性比雌性产生更加显著的进步特征;然而,在它们进化的晚期(衰退期),性别选择压似乎减弱,性别的异时进化也减少。这种新的发现或许在大型有蹄类的演化过程中有一定的普遍意义,因为那些繁荣的类群中通常性双型显著,如鹿科和牛科;而衰落的类群中通常性双型不显著。     

陷阱法调查棉田蜘蛛的分布动态

采用陷阱法系统调查棉田各发育期的蜘蛛群落分布型,运用5种聚集度指标、Taylor的幂法则以及m*--x的回归关系综合分析。结果显示:(1)陷阱法所采集的蜘蛛绝大多数为游猎型蜘蛛。(2)棉田游猎性蜘蛛群落在整个棉花发育期都呈随机分布。     

蜘蛛的精子发生

通过研究蜘蛛的精子形态和精子发生来探讨蜘蛛目的的系统发生,目前已越来越受到各国学者的重视。本文介绍国外近二十年来在这一领域的研究进展和成果,希望有助于在我国加速开展这方面的研究,深化对蜘蛛目的系统进化研究工作。     

Multivariate morphometries and sexual dimorphism in the orb-web spider Metellina segmentata (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae, Metidae)

Sexual dimorphism in body size and leg length was investigated in a common orb-weaving spider of Ireland and northern Europe, Metellina segmentata (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae, Metidae). Univariate and multivariate analyses of sexual dimorphism revealed that a greater proportion of between sex variation (sexual dimorphism) was attributable to variation in shape than in size. Significant differences were found in the scores for males and females for the first two principal components. PCI (shape) accounted for 44.25% of the variation and PC2 (size) 13.01% of the variation. Although M. segmentata has been attributed with minimal sexual size dimorphism, females were markedly heavier, possibly a reflection of differential reproductive investment between the sexes, but males had markedly longer legs and broader prosoma. The results are discussed with regard to existing theories of natural and sexual selection, particularly those concerning sexual cannibalism and differential life history traits in males and females. Models that attempt to explain the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in spiders and of the web builders in particular, fail to account for the multivariate nature of dimorphism, especially with respect to shape.     

Sexual dimorphism in leg length among orb-weaving spiders: a possible role for sexual cannibalism

The degree and direction of sexual dimorphism across different species is commonly attributed to differences in the selection pressures acting on males and females. The extent of these differences is especially apparent in species that practise sexual cannibalism, where the female attempts to capture and eat a courting male. Here, we investigate the relationship between sexual dimorphism in size and leg length, sexual cannibalism and courtship behaviour in three taxonomic groups of orb-weaving spiders, using morphological data from 249 species in 36 genera. Females are larger than males in all three taxonomic groups, and males have relatively longer legs than females in both the Araneinae and Tetragnathidae. Across genera within each taxonomic group, male body size is positively correlated with both female body size and male leg length, and female body size is positively correlated with female leg length. Sexual size dimorphism is negatively correlated with relative male leg length within the Araneinae, but not within either the Tetragnathidae or the Gasteracanthinae. There was no negative correlation between sexual size dimorphism and relative female leg length in any taxonomic group. We argue that the relationship between sexual size dimorphism and relative male leg length within the Araneinae may be the result of selection imposed by sexual cannibalism by females.     

SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM AND REPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT BY FEMALE SPIDERS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

We investigate the association between female reproductive investment, absolute size, and sexual size dimorphism in spiders to test the predictions of the fecundity-advantage hypothesis. The relationships between absolute size and sexual size dimorphism and aspects of female reproductive output are examined in comparative analyses using phylogenetically independent contrasts. We provide support for the idea that allometry for sexual dimorphism is the result of variation in female size more so than male size. Regression analyses suggest selection for increased fecundity in females. We argue that fecundity selection provides the only general explanation for the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in spiders.     

Extra-pair paternity and sexual dimorphism in birds

Differences in the strength of sexual selection between males and females can lead to sexual dimorphism. Extra-pair paternity (EPP) can increase the variance in male reproductive success and hence the opportunity for sexual selection. Previous research on birds suggests that EPP drives the evolution of dimorphism in plumage colour and in body size. Because EPP increases the intensity of sexual selection in males, it should lead to increased dimorphism in species with larger or more colourful males, but decreased dimorphism in species with larger or more colourful females. We explored the covariation between EPP and sexual dimorphism in wing length and plumage colouration in 401 bird species, while controlling for other, potentially confounding variables. Wing length dimorphism was associated positively with the frequency of EPP, but also with social polygamy, sex bias in parental behaviour and body size and negatively with migration distance. The frequency of EPP was the only predictor of plumage colour dimorphism. In support of our prediction, high EPP levels were associated with sexual dichromatism, positively in species in which males are more colourful and negatively in those in which females are more colourful. Contrary to our prediction, high EPP rates were associated with increased wing length dimorphism in species with both male- and female-biased dimorphism. The results support a role for EPP in the evolution of both size and plumage colour dimorphism. The two forms of dimorphism were weakly correlated and predicted by different reproductive, social and life-history traits, suggesting an independent evolution.     

Sexual Selection in the Water Spider: Female Choice and Male–Male Competition

The water spider Argyroneta aquatica is the only spider spending its whole life under water, and one of the few spider species in which males are larger than females. Previous studies indicated that males can cannibalize females, which is uncommon among spiders. Here we aimed to further test for a potential influence of sexual selection on male body size. We examined the importance of female choice by testing whether females prefer the larger of two simultaneously presented males as mating partners. Further, we examined the influence of male–male competition by comparing the fighting behaviour between large and small males when alone or when together with a female, and we determined the outcome of fights. We found that females approach and choose large males as mating partners, despite the risk of male cannibalism. Additionally, males intensively compete for females, and large males clearly win against smaller ones. Hence sexual selection seems to be important for the evolution of the peculiar sexual size dimorphism of water spiders, as large size is beneficial for males in both the intra‐ and intersexual context. Previous studies have suggested an important role of natural selection in the sex‐specific body size of water spiders, but natural and sexual selection mechanisms apparently work in the same direction, favouring large male size.     

Consequences of sexual size dimorphism on energetics and locomotor performance of Grammostola rosea (Araneae; Teraphosidae)

Most male spiders are smaller than females; during sexual maturity, males change their behaviour, abandoning their web or nest to seek out receptive females actively, whereas females stalk prey near their web or nest and tend not to move away from it. Considering this behavioural difference to be associated with increased locomotor activity at maturity, it may be hypothesized that males will have traits that increase locomotor performance. The present study examines the kinetics and energetics of the movements of the mygalomorph spider Grammostola rosea Walckenaer, a large spider with sexual size dimorphism. It is found that males have a higher maximum aerobic speed, average speed, distance travelled and critical angle of climbing than females, indicating better performance. Males also have lower costs of transport than females. These results support the hypothesis that sexual dimorphism in wandering spiders with active males, which are characterized by smaller body size and longer legs than the larger and more static females, is associated with low transport cost, high velocity and better locomotor performance.     

Sexual dimorphism and the differential mortality model: is behaviour related to survival?

There are numerous hypotheses to explain the evolution of sexual dimorphism in spiders. One of the most controversial is the differential mortality model (DMM) which proposes that differing rates of (adult) male and female mortality can result in a skewed operational sex ratio and lead to the evolution of small males. This hypothesis has been examined using a comparative approach which assumes that the behaviour of males and females could be used as a surrogate measure of mortality. We tested this assumption using two model species, Hogna helluo and Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae) that differ in the degree of sexual dimorphism both in terms of body size and level of activity. Our data demonstrate that differences in male and female behaviour are not predictive of differences in mortality. Rather, as in other organisms, mortality is a complex phenomenon dependent on activity as well as size. These data call into question the methods previously used to test the DMM and suggest that understanding sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in spiders will require evaluation of historical constraints as well as how size currently influences fitness in each sex.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 78 , 97−103.     

Phylogeny suggests nondirectional and isometric evolution of sexual size dimorphism in argiopine spiders

Sexual dimorphism describes substantial differences between male and female phenotypes. In spiders, sexual dimorphism research almost exclusively focuses on size, and recent studies have recovered steady evolutionary size increases in females, and independent evolutionary size changes in males. Their discordance is due to negative allometric size patterns caused by different selection pressures on male and female sizes (converse Rensch's rule). Here, we investigated macroevolutionary patterns of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in Argiopinae, a global lineage of orb‐weaving spiders with varying degrees of SSD. We devised a Bayesian and maximum‐likelihood molecular species‐level phylogeny, and then used it to reconstruct sex‐specific size evolution, to examine general hypotheses and different models of size evolution, to test for sexual size coevolution, and to examine allometric patterns of SSD. Our results, revealing ancestral moderate sizes and SSD, failed to reject the Brownian motion model, which suggests a nondirectional size evolution. Contrary to predictions, male and female sizes were phylogenetically correlated, and SSD evolution was isometric. We interpret these results to question the classical explanations of female‐biased SSD via fecundity, gravity, and differential mortality. In argiopines, SSD evolution may be driven by these or additional selection mechanisms, but perhaps at different phylogenetic scales.     

Sexual size dimorphism and selection in the wild in the waterstrider Aquarius remigis: Body size,components of body size and male mating success

Sexual size dimorphism is assumed to be adaptive and is expected to evolve in response to a difference in the net selection pressures on the sexes. Although a demonstration of sexual selection is neither necessary nor sufficient to explain the evolution of sexual size dimorphism, sexual selection is generally assumed to be a major evolutionary force. If contemporary sexual selection is important in the evolution and maintenance of sexual size dimorphism then we expect to see concordance between patterns of sexual selection and patterns of sexual dimorphism. We examined sexual selection in the wild, acting on male body size, and components of body size, in the waterstrider Aquarius remigis, as part of a long term study examining net selection pressures on the two sexes in this species. Selection was estimated on both a daily and annual basis. Since our measure of fitness (mating success) was behavioral, we estimated reliabilities to determine if males perform consistently. Reliabilities were measured as ? statistics and range from fair to perfect agreement with substantial agreement overall. We found significant univariate sexual selection favoring larger total length in the first year of our study but not in the second. Multivariate analysis of components of body size revealed that sexual selection for larger males was not acting directly on total length but on genital length. Sexual selection for larger male body size was opposed by direct selection favoring smaller midfemoral lengths. While males of this species are smaller than females, they have longer genital segments and wider forefemora. Patterns of contemporary sexual selection and sexual size dimorphism agree only for genital length. For total length, and all other components of body size examined, contemporary sexual selection was either nonsignificant or opposed the pattern of size dimporhism. Thus, while the net pressures of contemporary selection for the species may still act to maintain sexual size dimorphism, sexual selection alone does not.     

Sexual size dimorphism predicts the frequency of sexual cannibalism within and among species of spiders

Sexual cannibalism varies widely among spiders, but no general evolutionary hypothesis has emerged to explain its distribution across taxa. Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) also varies widely among spiders and could affect the vulnerability of males to cannibalistic attacks by females. We tested for a relationship between SSD and sexual cannibalism within and among species of spiders, using a broad taxonomic data set. For most species, cannibalism was more likely when males were much smaller than females. In addition, using phylogenetically controlled and uncontrolled analyses, there was a strong positive relationship between average SSD of a species and the frequency of sexual cannibalism. This is the first evidence that the degree of size difference between males and females is related to the phylogenetic distribution of sexual cannibalism among a broad range of spiders.