Temperature-induced developmental plasticity in Plodia interpunctella: reproductive behaviour and sperm length.

In both plants and animals, male gametogenesis is particularly sensitive to heat stress, to the extent that a single hot or cold day can compromise crop productivity or population persistence. In animals, heat stress during development can impact a male’s ability to secure copulations and/or his post-copulatory fertility. Despite such observations, relatively few studies have examined the consequences of developmental temperature on the reproductive behaviour and physiology of individuals. Here we report for the first time the effects of developmental temperature on the phenotypic expression of both apyrene and eupyrene sperm and the copulatory behaviour of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella. We show that the length of both apyrene and eupyrene sperm decrease with increasing developmental temperature and that males are less likely to engage in copulation when reared at the highest and lowest temperatures. Where copulation occurred, the duration of copula decreased as male deve...无论植物还是动物，雄性配子发生（gametogenesis）对热胁迫均极为敏感，极端情况下单日的高温或低温即可危及作物产量或种群存续。在动物中，发育阶段的热胁迫会影响雄性获取交配的能力，乃至其交配后的生育力。尽管已有此类观测结果，但针对发育温度对个体生殖行为与生理机能影响的研究仍相对匮乏。本研究首次报道了发育温度对印度谷螟（Plodia interpunctella）无核精子（apyrene sperm）与有核精子（eupyrene sperm）的表型表达，以及其交配行为的影响。结果显示，随着发育温度升高，无核精子与有核精子的长度均会缩短；且当雄性在极高或极低温度下饲养时，其参与交配的概率显著降低。在发生交配的个体中，交配持续时间随雄性发育...