Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2012;7(2):e31713. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031713. Epub 2012 Feb 15.
Sexual conflict drives the coevolution of sexually antagonistic traits, such that an adaptation in one sex selects an opposing coevolutionary response from the other. Although many adaptations and counteradaptations have been identified in sexual conflict over mating interactions, few are known for sexual conflict over parental investment. Here we investigate a possible coevolutionary sequence triggered by mate desertion in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, where males commonly leave before their offspring reach independence. Rather than suffer fitness costs as a consequence, our data suggest that females rely on the male's absence to recoup some of the costs of larval care, presumably because they are then free to feed themselves on the carcass employed for breeding. Consequently, forcing males to stay until the larvae disperse reduces components of female fitness to a greater extent than caring for young singlehandedly. Therefore we suggest that females may have co-evolved to anticipate desertion by their partners so that they now benefit from the male's absence.
性冲突推动了性拮抗特征的共同进化，以至于一个性别的适应选择了另一个性别的相反的共同进化反应。尽管在交配相互作用的性冲突中已经发现了许多适应和反适应，但在亲代投资的性冲突中却知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了一种可能的共同进化序列，这种序列是由埋葬甲 Nicrophorus vespilloides 的配偶遗弃引发的，在这种甲虫中，雄性通常在后代独立之前就离开。然而，我们的数据表明，雌性并没有像预期的那样因为这种适应而遭受适应性代价，而是依靠雄性的缺席来弥补幼虫照顾的部分成本，这可能是因为它们可以自由地在用于繁殖的尸体上觅食。因此，迫使雄性一直待到幼虫分散，会比独自照顾幼虫更严重地降低雌性的适应度成分。因此，我们认为，雌性可能已经进化到可以预测伴侣的遗弃，从而从雄性的缺席中受益。
