Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus

Abstract Same-sex sexual behaviour occurs across diverse animal taxa, but adaptive explanations can be difficult to determine. Here we investigate male-male mounting (MMM) behaviour in female-deprived desert locust males infected with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum. Over a four-week...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Lisa M. Clancy, Amy L. Cooper, Gareth W. Griffith, Roger D. Santer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9561bd0fb8db4f519d1b233d8159e20c
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:9561bd0fb8db4f519d1b233d8159e20c
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9561bd0fb8db4f519d1b233d8159e20c2021-12-02T16:07:05ZIncreased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus10.1038/s41598-017-05800-42045-2322https://doaj.org/article/9561bd0fb8db4f519d1b233d8159e20c2017-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05800-4https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Same-sex sexual behaviour occurs across diverse animal taxa, but adaptive explanations can be difficult to determine. Here we investigate male-male mounting (MMM) behaviour in female-deprived desert locust males infected with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum. Over a four-week period, infected locusts performed more MMM behaviours than healthy controls. Among infected locusts, the probability of MMM, and the duration of time spent MMM, significantly increased with the mounting locust’s proximity to death. In experimental trials, infected locusts were also significantly more likely than controls to attempt to mount healthy males. Therefore, we demonstrate that MMM is more frequent among infected than healthy male locusts, and propose that this may be explained by terminal reproductive effort and a lowered mate acceptance threshold in infected males. However, during experimental trials mounting attempts were more likely to be successful if the mounted locusts were experimentally manipulated to have a reduced capacity to escape. Thus, reduced escape capability resulting from infection may also contribute to the higher frequency of MMM among infected male locusts. Our data demonstrate that pathogen infection can affect same-sex sexual behaviour, and suggest that the impact of such behaviours on host and pathogen fitness will be a novel focus for future research.Lisa M. ClancyAmy L. CooperGareth W. GriffithRoger D. SanterNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Lisa M. Clancy Amy L. Cooper Gareth W. Griffith Roger D. Santer Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus
description	Abstract Same-sex sexual behaviour occurs across diverse animal taxa, but adaptive explanations can be difficult to determine. Here we investigate male-male mounting (MMM) behaviour in female-deprived desert locust males infected with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum. Over a four-week period, infected locusts performed more MMM behaviours than healthy controls. Among infected locusts, the probability of MMM, and the duration of time spent MMM, significantly increased with the mounting locust’s proximity to death. In experimental trials, infected locusts were also significantly more likely than controls to attempt to mount healthy males. Therefore, we demonstrate that MMM is more frequent among infected than healthy male locusts, and propose that this may be explained by terminal reproductive effort and a lowered mate acceptance threshold in infected males. However, during experimental trials mounting attempts were more likely to be successful if the mounted locusts were experimentally manipulated to have a reduced capacity to escape. Thus, reduced escape capability resulting from infection may also contribute to the higher frequency of MMM among infected male locusts. Our data demonstrate that pathogen infection can affect same-sex sexual behaviour, and suggest that the impact of such behaviours on host and pathogen fitness will be a novel focus for future research.
format	article
author	Lisa M. Clancy Amy L. Cooper Gareth W. Griffith Roger D. Santer
author_facet	Lisa M. Clancy Amy L. Cooper Gareth W. Griffith Roger D. Santer
author_sort	Lisa M. Clancy
title	Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus
title_short	Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus
title_full	Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus
title_fullStr	Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus
title_full_unstemmed	Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus
title_sort	increased male-male mounting behaviour in desert locusts during infection with an entomopathogenic fungus
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/9561bd0fb8db4f519d1b233d8159e20c
work_keys_str_mv	AT lisamclancy increasedmalemalemountingbehaviourindesertlocustsduringinfectionwithanentomopathogenicfungus AT amylcooper increasedmalemalemountingbehaviourindesertlocustsduringinfectionwithanentomopathogenicfungus AT garethwgriffith increasedmalemalemountingbehaviourindesertlocustsduringinfectionwithanentomopathogenicfungus AT rogerdsanter increasedmalemalemountingbehaviourindesertlocustsduringinfectionwithanentomopathogenicfungus
_version_	1718384732342845440

Increased Male-Male Mounting Behaviour in Desert Locusts during Infection with an Entomopathogenic Fungus

Ejemplares similares