Hou Zehai, Wei Songshan, Wei Cong
Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Management of the Ministry of Education, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Curr Zool. 2022 Feb 3;68(6):716-725. doi: 10.1093/cz/zoac007. eCollection 2022 Dec.
Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees. Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited. We investigated the effects of both acoustical features and morphological traits on mate choice in an East Asian cicada . Males produce high-rate calling songs that attract females, then produce low-rate courtship songs to secure mating when a female is attracted. Higher calling song rate (CR), shorter single-pulse duration, and shorter pulse period of the calling song, together with lower courtship song rate and longer echeme period of the courtship song, are the most desirable traits used by females to choose a mate. These traits indicate that the more a male can raise the rate of song production, the higher the probability he is sexually selected by the female. No correlation was found between morphological traits and mating success. After mating, a minority of males started emitting calling songs again, but the CR was significantly lower than before mating and none of them attracted a new mate later. This promotes females mating with unmated males. We hypothesize that may have the best of both worlds due to the unique song modulation and the mechanism of female mate choice: males change energetically, costly acoustic signals to achieve mates, while females choose a mate based on males' acoustic properties. Our results contribute to better understanding the diversity of mating preference and enrich the mechanism of mate choice in acoustic insects.
蝉通常在树木较高的部位鸣叫和交配。关于不同声学信号对蝉科昆虫配偶选择影响的研究非常有限。我们研究了声学特征和形态特征对一种东亚蝉配偶选择的影响。雄性发出高速率的求偶鸣叫以吸引雌性，当吸引到雌性后，会发出低速率的求偶歌曲以确保交配。较高的求偶鸣叫速率（CR）、较短的单脉冲持续时间和求偶鸣叫的较短脉冲周期，以及较低的求偶歌曲速率和求偶歌曲的较长片段周期，是雌性用于选择配偶的最理想特征。这些特征表明，雄性提高鸣叫产生速率的能力越强，被雌性进行性选择的概率就越高。未发现形态特征与交配成功率之间存在相关性。交配后，少数雄性再次开始发出求偶鸣叫，但CR显著低于交配前，且它们之后都没有吸引到新的配偶。这促进了雌性与未交配的雄性交配。我们推测，由于独特的鸣叫调制和雌性配偶选择机制，可能实现了两全其美：雄性改变能量消耗大、成本高的声学信号来获得配偶，而雌性则根据雄性的声学特性选择配偶。我们的研究结果有助于更好地理解交配偏好的多样性，并丰富声学昆虫的配偶选择机制。
