Delclos Pablo J, Bouldin Tammy L, Tomberlin Jeffery K
Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77004, USA.
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Insects. 2020 Dec 26;12(1):11. doi: 10.3390/insects12010011.
Sensory cues predicting resource quality are drivers of key animal behaviors such as preference or aversion. Despite the abundance of behavioral choice studies across the animal kingdom, relatively few studies have tested whether these decisions are driven by preference for one choice or aversion to another. In the burying beetle , adult pairs exhibit parental care to raise their offspring on a small carrion resource. We tested whether carrion decomposition stage affected brood quantity and quality and found that mating pairs had significantly more offspring on fresher carcasses. To determine whether this observed reproductive benefit correlates with maternal preference behavior, we conducted a series of olfactory trials testing mated female preferences for mouse carcasses of differing decomposition stages. When given the option between fresh and older carcasses, females associated significantly more with fresher, 1-day old carcasses. However, this behavior may be driven by aversion, as females that were given a choice between the 7-day old carcass and a blank control spent significantly more time in the control chamber. We characterized volatile organic compound profiles of both carcass types, highlighting unique compounds that may serve as public information () conveying resource quality information to gravid beetles.
预测资源质量的感官线索是诸如偏好或厌恶等关键动物行为的驱动因素。尽管动物界有大量的行为选择研究，但相对较少的研究测试了这些决策是由对一种选择的偏好还是对另一种选择的厌恶所驱动。在埋葬甲虫中，成年甲虫对会表现出亲代抚育行为，以便在一小块腐肉资源上养育它们的后代。我们测试了腐肉的分解阶段是否会影响育雏数量和质量，结果发现交配的甲虫对在更新鲜的尸体上有显著更多的后代。为了确定这种观察到的繁殖益处是否与母体偏好行为相关，我们进行了一系列嗅觉试验，测试已交配的雌性对不同分解阶段小鼠尸体的偏好。当在新鲜尸体和较陈旧尸体之间进行选择时，雌性与更新鲜的、1日龄的尸体的关联显著更多。然而，这种行为可能是由厌恶驱动的，因为在7日龄尸体和空白对照之间进行选择的雌性在对照室中花费的时间显著更多。我们对两种尸体类型的挥发性有机化合物谱进行了表征，突出了可能作为公共信息（）向怀孕甲虫传达资源质量信息的独特化合物。
