Developmental diet irreversibly shapes male post-copulatory traits in the neriid fly (Telostylinus angusticollis)

Nutrient availability has been shown to influence investment in many fitness related traits, including male reproductive success. Many studies have demonstrated that a reduction in nutrient availability alters male post-copulatory trait expression, with some studies demonstrating an effect of developmental nutrients and others, an effect of adult nutrients. However, few studies have manipulated both developmental and adult nutrients in the same experiment. Therefore, it is not clear what life-stage has the greatest effect on post-copulatory trait expression, and if the effects of developmental and adult nutrients can interact. Here, we investigate effects of developmental and adult nutrition on male testes and accessory gland size, sperm movement within the female reproductive tract and sperm length in the neriid fly, Telostylinus angusticollis. We found that males fed a nutrient-poor developmental diet produced sperm with a reduced tail beat frequency and had smaller testes and accesso...已有研究证实，养分可获得性会影响生物体对诸多适合度相关性状的资源投入，其中包括雄性繁殖成功率。多项研究已表明，养分可获得性降低会改变雄性交配后性状（post-copulatory trait）的表达；部分研究关注发育阶段养分的调控效应，其余则聚焦成虫阶段养分的作用。然而，鲜有研究在同一实验中同时操控发育阶段与成虫阶段的养分供给。因此，目前仍无法明确哪个生命阶段对雄性交配后性状表达的影响最为显著，也难以判定发育阶段与成虫阶段的养分效应是否存在交互作用。本研究以细脚蝇科物种窄颈细脚蝇（Telostylinus angusticollis）为实验对象，探究发育阶段与成虫阶段的营养状况对雄性睾丸及附腺大小、雌性生殖道内精子运动能力以及精子长度的影响。研究发现，喂食低养分发育饲料的雄性个体，其精子的尾部摆动频率显著降低，同时睾丸及附腺体积更小……