1,720,971 research outputs found
Copula duration and sperm economy in the large thistle aphid, Uroleucon cirsii (Hemiptera : Aphididae)
No full textExperiments on copula duration indicate that the nature of mate competition and sperm storage in the large thistle aphid, Uroleucon cirsii (L.), differs from that in the well-studied yellow dung fly, Scatophaga stercoraria (L.). Unlike the situation in the dung fly, second copulas are shorter on average than first copulas for both individual males and females. This suggests that male aphids have a limited amount of sperm at their disposal and that the females capacity to store sperm is limited as could be expected when males were not able to displace sperm from former copulas
Copula duration and sperm economy in the large thistle aphid, Uroleucon cirsii (Hemiptera : Aphididae)
No full textExperiments on copula duration indicate that the nature of mate competition and sperm storage in the large thistle aphid, Uroleucon cirsii (L.), differs from that in the well-studied yellow dung fly, Scatophaga stercoraria (L.). Unlike the situation in the dung fly, second copulas are shorter on average than first copulas for both individual males and females. This suggests that male aphids have a limited amount of sperm at their disposal and that the females capacity to store sperm is limited as could be expected when males were not able to displace sperm from former copulas
Sex ratio adjustment and maternal condition in two aphid species
No full textWe analyzed how offspring sex ratio varies with maternal condition in order to obtain evidence on the population structure in two aphid species with different life cycles. When fitness returns per unit investment differ for the production of daughters and sons, selection will favor an increasing investment into the sex with the higher returns. Therefore, the offspring sex ratios of individual mothers should become more biased towards the sex with the higher fitness returns as their condition or fecundity improves. The pattern of sex ratio adjustment we found in Uroleucon cirsii indicates local mate competition among males, while the pattern we found in Rhopalosiphum padi suggests local resource competition among sexual females. This might be the first evidence for local resource competition among females in an invertebrate species. Local mate competition means that fitness returns are limited by the availability of females as mates within local breeding groups, whereas local resource competition means that fitness returns are limited by the availability of resources for females competing within local groups. We discuss how the life cycles of both species fit to these hypotheses
Unconventional bed mates: Gaia and the selfish gene
No full textIn this forum, David M. Wilkinson argued that Gaia-type phenomena can be explained by conventional ecological ideas meaning that such phenomena do not require major changes to existing ecological or evolutionary theory. Overstating my case a little, I will argue that a reconciliation between Gaia and Darwinism will not be conventional in the sense of mainstream ecology. The main addition of this essay is an exploration in how far the claim that the atmosphere is an extension of life on Earth is logically correct. In a thought experiment, the idea of extended phenotypes by Richard Dawkins can be integrated with the one of Gaia. The problem of cheats remains pertinent, however, because the atmosphere will not select differentially between cheats and non-cheats. Conclusion: Gaia-type phenomena will be by-products of naturally selected traits. As such they are not jeopardised by cheats, because side effects can be free to self-organise, while the main effects will be naturally selected for evolutionarily stable states. Understanding the laws of self-organisation of such side effects will be of major importance to all environmental sciences
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