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The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Sexual harassment studies in insects suggest that females can incur several kinds of costs from male harassment and mating. Here, we examined direct and indirect costs of male harassment on components of female fitness in the predominantly monandrous mosquito Aedes aegypti. To disentangle the costs of harassment versus the costs of mating, we held females at a low or high density with males whose claspers were modified to prevent insemination, and compared these to females held with normal males and to those held with females or alone. A reduced longevity was observed when females were held under high density conditions with males or females, regardless if male claspers had been modified. There was no consistent effect of harassment on female fecundity. Net reproductive rate (R0) was higher in females held at low density with normal males compared to females held with males in the other treatments, even though only a small number of females showed direct evidence of remating. Indirect costs and benefits that were not due to harassment alone were observed. Daughters of females held with normal males at high density had reduced longevity compared to daughters from females held without conspecifics. However, their fitness (R0) was higher compared to females in all other treatments. Overall, our results indicate that A. aegypti females do not suffer a fitness cost from harassment of males when kept at moderate densities, and they suggest the potential for benefits obtained from ejaculate components.

SUBMITTER: Helinski ME

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4276144 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito <i>Aedes aegypti.</i>

Helinski Michelle E H ME Harrington Laura C LC

Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 20120801 8

Sexual harassment studies in insects suggest that females can incur several kinds of costs from male harassment and mating. Here, we examined direct and indirect costs of male harassment on components of female fitness in the predominantly monandrous mosquito <i>Aedes aegypti</i>. To disentangle the costs of harassment versus the costs of mating, we held females at a low or high density with males whose claspers were modified to prevent insemination, and compared these to females held with norma ...[more]

PMID: 25544799

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Project description:Globally invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes disseminate numerous arboviruses that impact human health. One promising method to control Ae. aegypti populations is transinfection with the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia pipientis, a symbiont that naturally infects ~40-52% of insects but is normally absent from Ae. aegypti. Transinfection of Ae. aegypti with the wMel Wolbachia strain induces cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), allowing infected individuals to rapidly invade native populations. Further, wMel Wolbachia-infected females display refractoriness to medically relevant arboviruses. Thus, wMel Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti are being released in several areas to replace native populations, thereby suppressing disease transmission by this species. Wolbachia is reported to have minimal effects on Ae. aegypti fertility, but its influence on other reproductive processes is unknown. Female insects undergo several post-mating physiological and behavioral changes required for optimal fertility. Post-mating responses (PMRs) in female insects are typically elicited by receipt of male seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) transferred with sperm during mating, but can be modified by other factors, such as adult age, nutritional status, and microbiome composition. To assess how Wolbachia infection influences Ae. aegypti female PMRs, we collected wMel Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti from the field in Medellín, Colombia and introduced the bacterium into our laboratory strain. We found that Wolbachia influences female fecundity, fertility, and re-mating incidence. Further, we observed that Wolbachia significantly extends longevity of virgin females. Changes in female PMRs are not due to defects in sperm transfer by infected males, or sperm storage by infected females. Using proteomic methods to examine the seminal proteome of infected males, we found that Wolbachia infection has a moderate effect on SFP composition. However, we identified 125 Wolbachia proteins that are paternally transferred to females by infected males. Surprisingly, the CI factor proteins (Cifs), were not detected in the ejaculates of Wolbachia-infected males. Our findings indicate that Wolbachia infection of Ae. aegypti alters female post-mating responses, potentially influencing control programs that utilize Wolbachia-infected individuals.

Dataset Information

The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Publications

The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito <i>Aedes aegypti.</i>

Similar Datasets

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