Paternal signature in kin recognition cues of a social insect: concealed in juveniles, revealed in adults

Kin recognition is a key mechanism to direct social behaviours towards related individuals or avoid inbreeding depression. In insects, recognition is generally mediated by cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) compounds, which are partly inherited from parents. However, in social insects, potential nepotistic conflicts between group members from different patrilines are predicted to select against the expression of patriline-specific signatures in CHC profiles. Whereas this key prediction in the evolution of insect signalling received empirical support in eusocial insects, it remains unclear whether it can be generalized beyond eusociality to less-derived forms of social life. Here, we addressed this issue by manipulating the number of fathers siring clutches tended by females of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia, analysing the CHC profiles of the resulting juvenile and adult offspring, and using discriminant analysis to estimate the information content of CHC with respect to the materna...

亲缘识别（Kin recognition）是指导个体向亲属展现社会行为，或规避近交衰退（inbreeding depression）的关键机制。在昆虫中，识别过程通常由表皮碳氢化合物（cuticular hydrocarbon, CHC）介导，这类化合物部分遗传自亲本。然而在社会性昆虫中，来自不同父系谱系的群体成员间潜在的裙带冲突，被预测会对表皮碳氢化合物谱中父系特异性特征的表达产生负选择压力，抑制其显现。尽管昆虫信号演化领域的这一核心预测已在真社会性昆虫（eusocial insects）中获得实验支持，但目前仍不清楚该结论能否推广至真社会性之外、社会演化程度更低的类群。本研究以欧洲蠼螋（Forficula auricularia）的雌性个体抚育的卵簇为对象，通过调控产生该卵簇的父本数量开展实验，分析了由此产生的幼体与成体后代的表皮碳氢化合物谱，并借助判别分析（discriminant analysis）评估了表皮碳氢化合物所携带的与母体相关的……