Data from: RNA interference reveals that male nuptial gift proteins affect female behavior to increase male paternity share in decorated crickets

In response to sexual conflict, males have evolved strategies to
manipulate female behavior and physiology to increase their paternity. One
hypothesis posits that males of some insects use nuptial food gifts given
to females at copulation to achieve this. In decorated crickets, Gryllodes
sigillatus, the male’s nuptial gift, the spermatophylax, is consumed by
the female after mating, prior to her removing a sperm-containing ampulla.
Spermatophylax feeding deters premature termination of sperm transfer,
thereby enhancing male paternity. We hypothesized that spermatophylax
(SPX) proteins play a key role in sexual conflict and are a route through
which males manipulate female future reproductive behavior to their own
fitness benefit. We used RNA interference to knock down gene expression of
SPX1 and SPX2, the most abundant SPX proteins, assessing focal male mating
and female remating. Males with reduced SPX1/2 expression had lower mating
success, and females fed for a shorter time on their spermatophylaxes.
Moreover, females mated with SPX1/2 knockdown males had reduced latency to
remate and fed longer on spermatophylaxes upon remating. Our results
provide evidence that spermatophylax proteins play important roles in
mediating sexual conflict, enhancing a male’s paternity share by
increasing his sperm transfer time, while decreasing that of competitors
in subsequent matings.