Trumbo Stephen T, Robinson Gene E
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Waterbury, CT 06702, USA.
J Insect Physiol. 2008 Mar;54(3):630-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2007.12.012. Epub 2008 Jan 4.
We investigated the interaction of social and nonsocial stimuli on juvenile hormone (JH) titer in male burying beetles (Nicrophorus orbicollis). The initial JH response to discovery of a carcass was substantial (10-15-fold increase over controls) and rapid (<1h), and occurred whether or not a female was present. By 3h after discovery, JH titers were declining, the decline being more pronounced when a female was not present. We also tested the effect of larval stimulation on JH titer in care-giving males by removing a male's brood and replacing it with a brood of first or third instar larvae. Males initially providing care for begging first instar larvae continued to maintain high titers of JH when the replacement broods were first but not third instars. Males caring for third instar larvae (normally low JH titers) maintained low levels of JH regardless of the developmental stage of the replacement brood. This suggests that once males begin to care for nutritionally independent third instar larvae, JH titers remain low regardless of subsequent larval stimulation. Burying beetles are socially and hormonally complex organisms in which stimuli from a breeding resource, mating partners, rivals and young interact to alter the JH profile of breeding adults.
我们研究了社会刺激和非社会刺激对雄性埋葬甲虫（Nicrophorus orbicollis）保幼激素（JH）滴度的相互作用。对发现一具尸体时JH的初始反应显著（比对照组增加10 - 15倍）且迅速（<1小时），无论是否有雌性在场都会发生。发现尸体3小时后，JH滴度开始下降，当没有雌性在场时下降更为明显。我们还通过移除雄性的幼虫并替换为一龄或三龄幼虫的幼虫群，测试了幼虫刺激对照顾幼虫的雄性甲虫JH滴度的影响。最初照顾乞食一龄幼虫的雄性，当替换的幼虫群是一龄而非三龄时，会继续维持较高的JH滴度。照顾三龄幼虫（通常JH滴度较低）的雄性，无论替换幼虫群的发育阶段如何，都维持较低水平的JH。这表明，一旦雄性开始照顾营养上独立的三龄幼虫，无论随后幼虫的刺激如何，JH滴度都会保持较低水平。埋葬甲虫是社会和激素方面复杂的生物，来自繁殖资源、交配伙伴、竞争对手和幼虫的刺激相互作用，改变繁殖成虫的JH特征。
