Neuroanatomical differentiation in dimorphic male C. pallida and A. dawsoni bees (volumes)

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) occur when there is categorical variation in the reproductive strategies of a sex within a population. These different behavioral phenotypes can expose animals to distinct cognitive challenges, which may be addressed through neuroanatomical differentiation. The dramatic phenotypic plasticity underlying ARTs provides a powerful opportunity to study how intraspecific nervous system variation can support distinct cognitive abilities. We hypothesized that conspecific animals pursuing ARTs would exhibit dissimilar brain architecture. Dimorphic males of the bee species Centris pallida and Amegilla dawsoni use alternative mate location strategies that rely primarily on either olfaction (large-morph) or vision (small-morph) to find females. This variation in behavior led us to predict increased volumes of the brain regions supporting their primarily chemosensory or visual mate location strategies. Large-morph males relying mainly on olfaction had relative...替代繁殖策略（Alternative Reproductive Tactics, ARTs）指种群内某一性别的个体在繁殖策略上存在分类变异的现象。这类差异化的行为表型会使动物面临截然不同的认知挑战，而此类挑战可通过神经解剖学分化加以应对。支撑ARTs的显著表型可塑性，为研究种内神经系统变异如何支撑差异化认知能力提供了绝佳的研究契机。我们提出假设：采取不同ARTs的同种动物，其大脑结构会存在显著差异。蜂类物种Centris pallida与Amegilla dawsoni的二态雄性个体，采用了差异化的配偶定位策略：大体型雄性主要依靠嗅觉、小体型雄性主要依靠视觉来寻觅雌性配偶。这种行为上的差异让我们预测：支撑其主要化学感受或视觉配偶定位策略的脑区，体积会相应增大。主要依赖嗅觉的大体型雄性，其相对脑容量……