Theory predicts that males and females of dioecious species typically engage in an evolutionary sexual conflict over the frequency and choice of mating partner.Female sexual cannibalism,a particularly dramatic illustr...Theory predicts that males and females of dioecious species typically engage in an evolutionary sexual conflict over the frequency and choice of mating partner.Female sexual cannibalism,a particularly dramatic illustration of this conflict,is widespread in certain animal taxa including spiders.Nevertheless,females of some funnel weaving spiders that are generally aggressive to conspecifics enter a cataleptic state after male courtship,ensuring the males can mate without risk of attack.In this study,we demonstrated that the physical posture and duration,metabo-lites,and central neurotransmitters of females of Aterigena aculeata in sexual catalepsy closely resemble females in thanatosis but are distinct from those in anesthesia,indicating that the courted females feign death to eliminate the risk of potentially aggressive responses and thereby allow preferred males to mate.Unlike the taxonomically widespread thanatosis,which generally represents a deceptive visual signal that acts against the interest of the receivers,sexual catalepsy of females in the funnel weaving spiders may deliver a sexual-receptive signal to the courting males and thereby benefit both the signal senders and receivers.Therefore,sexual catalepsy in A.aculeata may not reflect a conflict butrather a confluence of interest betweenthe sexes.展开更多
基金supported by Natural Science Foundation of China(no.32160243,no.32000301,no.32070429,no.31772423,no.82173799)the Science and Technology Foundation of Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education(no.GJJ190543).
文摘Theory predicts that males and females of dioecious species typically engage in an evolutionary sexual conflict over the frequency and choice of mating partner.Female sexual cannibalism,a particularly dramatic illustration of this conflict,is widespread in certain animal taxa including spiders.Nevertheless,females of some funnel weaving spiders that are generally aggressive to conspecifics enter a cataleptic state after male courtship,ensuring the males can mate without risk of attack.In this study,we demonstrated that the physical posture and duration,metabo-lites,and central neurotransmitters of females of Aterigena aculeata in sexual catalepsy closely resemble females in thanatosis but are distinct from those in anesthesia,indicating that the courted females feign death to eliminate the risk of potentially aggressive responses and thereby allow preferred males to mate.Unlike the taxonomically widespread thanatosis,which generally represents a deceptive visual signal that acts against the interest of the receivers,sexual catalepsy of females in the funnel weaving spiders may deliver a sexual-receptive signal to the courting males and thereby benefit both the signal senders and receivers.Therefore,sexual catalepsy in A.aculeata may not reflect a conflict butrather a confluence of interest betweenthe sexes.
