Nutritional geometry provides insight into the dual roles of natural and sexual selection in insect cuticular hydrocarbon evolution

Interactions between natural and sexual selection have been integral to the development of sexual selection theory, yet the role of natural selection in sexual trait evolution has received far less empirical attention than the role of sexual selection, and the extent to which natural and sexual selection are aligned remains an important empirical question. Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) provide a good model for exploring interactions between natural and sexual selection because of their dual roles in sexual signalling and desiccation resistance. We used the geometric framework for nutrition to explore the potential for, and magnitude of trade-offs between male attractiveness, desiccation resistance, and the abundance and blend of CHCs in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Attractiveness and desiccation resistance were both maximized on a diet that was rich in carbohydrate relative to protein. Although maximum expressions occurred at significantly different locations in nutritiona..., , # Data from: Nutritional geometry provides insight into the dual roles of natural and sexual selection in insect cuticular hydrocarbon evolution

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.70rxwdcbh](10.5061/dryad.70rxwdcbh)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

These files contain the data to reproduce the analyses presented in Simmons, L.W., Lovegrove, M., Foo, Y.Z., Du,^^ X.(B.), Ren, Y., and Melissa L. Thomas, M.L. (2025). Nutritional geometry provides insight into the dual roles of natural and sexual selection in insect cuticular hydrocarbon evolution. Functional Ecology.

#### File: Simmons_et_al_2025.csv

**Description:** For each case, a cricket was fed 1 of 24 diets (Diet, column A). The macronutrient composition of each diet can be found in Table S1 of the online supporting material available from the journal website. Within diets, each cricket was given an ID (column B) and its date of eclosion to adulthood noted (Eclosion_date, column C). Cricket weight w...,

自然选择与性选择之间的交互作用始终是性选择理论发展的核心议题，但相较于性选择，自然选择在性征演化中的作用却鲜有实证研究关注，且自然选择与性选择的契合程度仍是一个重要的实证问题。昆虫表皮碳氢化合物（Insect cuticular hydrocarbons, CHCs）兼具性信号传导与抗脱水保护的双重功能，是探究自然选择与性选择交互作用的理想模型体系。本研究依托营养几何框架（geometric framework for nutrition），以大洋蟋（Teleogryllus oceanicus）为研究对象，探究了雄性吸引力、抗脱水能力以及CHCs丰度与组分比例之间权衡关系的可能性与强度。研究发现，在碳水化合物相对蛋白质含量更高的日粮条件下，雄性吸引力与抗脱水能力均达到最大值。尽管其最大表达量在营养...

# 数据来源：Nutritional geometry provides insight into the dual roles of natural and sexual selection in insect cuticular hydrocarbon evolution
数据集数字对象标识符（DOI）：[10.5061/dryad.70rxwdcbh](10.5061/dryad.70rxwdcbh)

## 数据与文件结构说明

### 文件与变量

本数据集包含复现Simmons等人（2025年）发表于《功能生态学》（Functional Ecology）的研究分析所需的全部数据，具体作者为：Simmons, L.W.、Lovegrove, M.、Foo, Y.Z.、Du, X.(B.)、Ren, Y.以及Melissa L. Thomas, M.L.。论文标题为《营养几何框架揭示自然选择与性选择在昆虫表皮碳氢化合物演化中的双重作用》。

#### 文件：Simmons_et_al_2025.csv

**文件说明：** 本数据集每条记录对应一只受试蟋蟀，共设置24种日粮（Diet，列A），每只蟋蟀随机喂食其中一种。每种日粮的宏量营养素组成可查阅期刊官网在线补充材料中的表S1。每只受试蟋蟀均配有专属编号（列B），并记录其羽化为成虫的日期（Eclosion_date，列C）。蟋蟀体重w……