Honors College Senior Thesis Presentations
Sex and environmental effects on chemical signals of Gryllus rubens
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Biology
Minor
Chemistry
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Oliver Beckers, PhD.
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Many animals communicate with one another in the context of reproduction, utilizing different modalities. In some cases more than one modality is used by the sender and receiver. Each modality can provide different sets of information, or function in a different context. Importantly, no matter the modality, the signals should be clearly distinguishable between males and females and need to be reliable even in the face of environmental changes. In field crickets, there are two major modes of communication. For long range communication, the males produce acoustic signals to attract females. At short range, chemical communication involving cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in males and females are added as a communication modality. In crickets, acoustic and chemical signals are used in the context of mate choice, which includes the distinction between males and females, conspecific vs. heterospecific species, and higher vs. lower quality males. Even though much is known about acoustic signals, very little is known about the chemical communication in crickets and my study is focused on further exploring this modality in crickets. I hypothesized that CHCs differ between males and females to allow for distinction between the sexes and that the CHC signature is not affected by environmental changes because of its important role in sexual communication. I collected CHCs from the body surface of male and female Gryllus rubens crickets the day after capture and for a subset after 14 days being kept under lab conditions. I ran the samples through a mass spectrometer and analyzed the chemical composition of each individual. I expect that males and females will have clearly distinguishable CHC signatures. I also expect that the lab-kept crickets will have similar CHC signatures as the wild crickets, allowing for honest signaling between the sexes. This experiment will help to better understand the chemical communication in insects and if and how the environment is capable of affecting mating signals.
Spring Scholars Week 2023 Event
Honors College Senior Thesis Presentations
Sex and environmental effects on chemical signals of Gryllus rubens
Many animals communicate with one another in the context of reproduction, utilizing different modalities. In some cases more than one modality is used by the sender and receiver. Each modality can provide different sets of information, or function in a different context. Importantly, no matter the modality, the signals should be clearly distinguishable between males and females and need to be reliable even in the face of environmental changes. In field crickets, there are two major modes of communication. For long range communication, the males produce acoustic signals to attract females. At short range, chemical communication involving cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in males and females are added as a communication modality. In crickets, acoustic and chemical signals are used in the context of mate choice, which includes the distinction between males and females, conspecific vs. heterospecific species, and higher vs. lower quality males. Even though much is known about acoustic signals, very little is known about the chemical communication in crickets and my study is focused on further exploring this modality in crickets. I hypothesized that CHCs differ between males and females to allow for distinction between the sexes and that the CHC signature is not affected by environmental changes because of its important role in sexual communication. I collected CHCs from the body surface of male and female Gryllus rubens crickets the day after capture and for a subset after 14 days being kept under lab conditions. I ran the samples through a mass spectrometer and analyzed the chemical composition of each individual. I expect that males and females will have clearly distinguishable CHC signatures. I also expect that the lab-kept crickets will have similar CHC signatures as the wild crickets, allowing for honest signaling between the sexes. This experiment will help to better understand the chemical communication in insects and if and how the environment is capable of affecting mating signals.