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. 2012 Jun 23;8(3):423-5.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.1135. Epub 2012 Jan 11.

Inbreeding affects sexual signalling in males but not females of Tenebrio molitor

Mari Pölkki  1 , Indrikis Krams, Katariina Kangassalo, Markus J Rantala
Affiliations

Inbreeding affects sexual signalling in males but not females of Tenebrio molitor

Mari Pölkki et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

In many species of animals, individuals advertise their quality with sexual signals to obtain mates. Chemical signals such as volatile pheromones are species specific, and their primary purpose is to influence mate choice by carrying information about the phenotypic and genetic quality of the sender. The deleterious effects of consanguineous mating on individual quality are generally known, whereas the effect of inbreeding on sexual signalling is poorly understood. Here, we tested whether inbreeding reduces the attractiveness of sexual signalling in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, by testing the preferences for odours of inbred and outbred (control) individuals of the opposite sex. Females were more attracted to the odours produced by outbred males than the odours produced by inbred males, suggesting that inbreeding reduces the attractiveness of male sexual signalling. However, we did not find any difference between the attractiveness of inbred and outbred female odours, which may indicate that the quality of females is either irrelevant for T. molitor males or quality is not revealed through female odours.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The average time that males (n = 45; outbred: mean = 107.3, s.d. = 121.6; inbred: mean = 99.3, s.d. = 115.6) and females (n = 53; outbred: mean = 145.9, s.d. = 125.5; inbred: mean = 90.5, s.d. = 103.3) spent on odour discs of the opposite sex (grey bar, inbred; black bar, outbred).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The number of visits that males (n = 41; outbred: mean = 6.4, s.d. = 4.3; inbred: mean = 5.3, s.d. = 5.2) and females (n = 53; outbred: mean = 6.3, s.d. = 4.5; inbred: mean = 4.9, s.d. = 4.2) made on odour discs of the opposite sex (grey bar, inbred; black bar, outbred).
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