| Title: | Inbreeding affects sexual signalling in males but not females of Tenebrio molitor |
| Author(s): | Polkki M; Krams I; Kangassalo K; Rantala MJ; |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. mapolk@utu.fi" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1744-957X (Electronic) 1744-9561 (Print) 1744-9561 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In many species of animals, individuals advertise their quality with sexual signals to obtain mates. Chemical signals such as volatile pheromones are species specific, and their primary purpose is to influence mate choice by carrying information about the phenotypic and genetic quality of the sender. The deleterious effects of consanguineous mating on individual quality are generally known, whereas the effect of inbreeding on sexual signalling is poorly understood. Here, we tested whether inbreeding reduces the attractiveness of sexual signalling in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, by testing the preferences for odours of inbred and outbred (control) individuals of the opposite sex. Females were more attracted to the odours produced by outbred males than the odours produced by inbred males, suggesting that inbreeding reduces the attractiveness of male sexual signalling. However, we did not find any difference between the attractiveness of inbred and outbred female odours, which may indicate that the quality of females is either irrelevant for T. molitor males or quality is not revealed through female odours" |
| Keywords: | "Animal Communication Animals Female Inbreeding Male Odorants/analysis Pheromones/*metabolism Sexual Behavior, Animal Smell Tenebrio/genetics/*physiology;" |
| Notes: | "MedlinePolkki, Mari Krams, Indrikis Kangassalo, Katariina Rantala, Markus J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2012/01/13 Biol Lett. 2012 Jun 23; 8(3):423-5. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.1135. Epub 2012 Jan 11" |
