Hubei Insect Resources Utilization and Sustainable Pest Management Key Laboratory, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.
J Insect Physiol. 2012 Nov;58(11):1485-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.09.001. Epub 2012 Sep 15.
Many insect taxa show conspicuous sexual dimorphism in which females lack functional wings and are therefore incapable of flight. In fireflies, this loss of female flight is correlated with male production of spermatophore nuptial gifts, with species with flightless females also lacking gift production. In this study we further examined the relationship between sexual dimorphism and nuptial gifts by examining the reproductive ecology of two Asian fireflies, the sexually monomorphic Aquatica ficta (Luciolinae) and dimorphic Pyrocoelia pectoralis (Lampyrinae). We describe the reproductive anatomy of P. pectoralis males and females, and the time course of A. ficta spermatophore transfer. Through a series of mating experiments, we determined the effect of the number of matings on female fecundity, egg hatching success and female lifespan. The spermatophore-producing A. ficta was found to be monandrous, and female lifespan doubled as a result of that single mating. P. pectoralis was found to lack spermatophores but females were polyandrous and fecundity and egg hatching success both increased with additional matings. These results contradict patterns known from North American firefly species and provide insight into the role of male-derived substances in mating systems.
许多昆虫类群在性二态性方面表现出明显的特征，其中雌性缺乏功能性翅膀，因此无法飞行。在萤火虫中，这种雌性飞行能力的丧失与雄性产生精荚婚礼物有关，无飞行能力的雌性物种也缺乏礼物产生。在这项研究中，我们通过检查两种亚洲萤火虫的生殖生态学，进一步研究了性二态性和婚礼物之间的关系，这两种萤火虫是性单态的 Aquatica ficta（Luciolinae）和二态的 Pyrocoelia pectoralis（Lampyrinae）。我们描述了 P. pectoralis 雄性和雌性的生殖解剖结构，以及 A. ficta 精荚转移的时间过程。通过一系列交配实验，我们确定了交配次数对雌性繁殖力、卵孵化成功率和雌性寿命的影响。结果发现，产生精荚的 A. ficta 是单配偶的，由于单次交配，雌性寿命增加了一倍。而 P. pectoralis 则没有精荚，但雌性是多配偶的，繁殖力和卵孵化成功率都随着额外的交配而增加。这些结果与北美萤火虫物种的已知模式相矛盾，并提供了对交配系统中雄性衍生物质作用的深入了解。
