Love Buzz

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Mar 21, 2015 - W. Simmons, eds. Oxford University ... W. Simmons, synthesizes the major advances in this ... Bruno Buzatto, Joseph Tomkins, and. Simmons ...
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Love Buzz The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems. David M. Shuker and Leigh W. Simmons, eds. Oxford University Press, 2014. 339 pp., illus. $58.46. (ISBN: 9780199678020 cloth). ove Buzz,” a song covered by the US rock band Nirvana, seems to describe particularly well the mating system of bed bugs, the tiny blood-sucking insects that live in old beds and cause skin rashes and allergies: “Would you believe me when I tell you/You’re the queen of my heart/ Please don’t deceive me when I hurt you/Just ain’t the way it seems.” Female bed bugs are usually unfaithful to their partners, and males have developed one of the most extraordinary means of copulation to assure that their sperm fertilize their lover’s eggs. Instead of using the female’s genitals, male bed bugs stab their lover’s abdomen with a pointy penis to ejaculate as close to the eggs as is possible. Because the wounds inflicted by the males can seriously harm females, causing them infections, dehydration, and an eventual early death, biologist have named this type of mating traumatic insemination. To fight back, females have evolved a secondary genital system on their abdomens called the spermalege, which contains immunologically active cells that reduce infections and ameliorate the costs of traumatic insemination. The spermalege thus allows females to mate safely with multiple males and profit from the beneficial properties of some compounds found in the male’s ejaculate, which help delay senescence and promote reproductive rate. The bizarre intimacy of bed bugs is just one example of the astonishing diversity of mating systems found in insects, which have puzzled many biologists, agronomists, and nature lovers over the past century. Insects are the most diverse group in the animal kingdom, with nearly 1 million http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org

The first three chapters provide the necessary theoretical background to understand the evolution of insect mating systems. Benjamin Normak describes the diversity in the modes of insect reproduction, and Shuker provides an overview of core concepts in sexual selection theory. Hanna Kokko, Hope Klug, and Michael Jennions then introduce the concept and classification of mating systems, offering

a historical overview of mating system theory and proposing to unify traditional measures of sexual selection by incorporating the temporal aspect of how frequently mating occurs. I would have liked to have seen a graphical representation of the different genetic systems found across insects, as well as a conceptual framework to integrate pre- with postcopulatory sexual selection. I particularly enjoyed the last chapter of the section and think it provides a solid base for the following. The mechanisms behind mating systems are then addressed before the book turns to the most colorful examples of sexual selection in insects. Michael Ritchie and Roger Butlin provide an overview of the genetics of insect mating systems, and Patricia Moore discusses some of the developmental and hormonal mechanisms underlying reproductive physiology. Although I agree on the importance of system approaches to relate genotype to phenotype, the work would have benefited from a table summarizing key genes or gene families found to be associated with specific mating systems in insects. Moore’s chapter, however, does not provide a clear conceptual framework with which to study reproductive physiology in insects. Douglas Emlen then explains which conditions resulted in the evolution of extreme weapons in insects, while Bruno Buzatto, Joseph Tomkins, and Simmons focus on the intrasexual variation in behaviors and morphologies that drive the evolution of alternative means by which individuals achieve fertilization. I believe this last chapter is particularly informative, because it summarizes the proposed models for the evolution and maintenance of alternative mating phenotypes, and it provides an extensive review of the occurrence of such phenotypes across insects. John Hunt and Scott Sakaluk explore why and how females choose XXXX XXXX / Vol. XX No. X • BioScience 1

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described species and many more awaiting description (Grimaldi and Engel 2005). They are also important providers of ecosystem services (Losey and Vaughan 2006) and pest agents of several commercial crops (Hill 1987). Although not as sexy as lions, dolphins, or birds of paradise, insects offer excellent model systems with which to study the evolution of mating systems, because they are abundant, can be easily manipulated and kept in laboratory conditions, have copulation habits that are often easy to observe, and have mating behaviors that are readily quantifiable (Wilson 1971, Thornhill and Alcock 1983, Alcock 2013). The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems, edited by David M. Shuker and Leigh W. Simmons, synthesizes the major advances in this field since the publication of the classic book of the same title by Randy Thornhill and John Alcock in 1983. The book contains a collection of chapters by leading scientists in the field of insect behavioral ecology, including the editors.

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immune response and selfish genetic elements influence various aspects of insect mating systems. Finally, Boris Baer describes the mating biology of social insects, reviews patterns of paternity, and provides an overview of sexually selected traits across the group. Although I enjoyed the historical overview on how kin selection and sexual selection research developed in parallel until recently, I think Baer could have done a better job linking these fields. The current volume of The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems provides a succinct and comprehensive review of the accumulated knowledge in the field since the publication of the book by Thornhill and Alcock more than 30 years ago. The book covers the most relevant issues regarding insect mating systems and proposes promising avenues for future research. Its chapters are well interconnected, although their clarity and organization varies. I would have appreciated a chapter on applied aspects of insect mating systems, such as implications for pest management (Hill 1987). Also, I think the book would have profited from contributions by researchers working in the tropics (Eberhard 1996, Macedo and Machado 2013), where the majority of insect species are found. Regarding the book’s audience, it seems oriented to graduate students and researchers who already have a solid theoretical background in behavioral ecology. Overall, I believe this work is an important

reference for researchers and graduate students working with insect ecology and evolution and essential reading for those with an inordinate fondness for the insect love buzz. Acknowledgments I thank Glauco Machado and Isis Mejías for comments on this manuscript and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; grant no. 2012/13200-5) for funding. References

Alcock J. 2013. Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach: Sinauer. Eberhard WG. 1996. Female Control: Sexual Selection by Cryptic Female Choice. Princeton University Press. Grimaldi D, Engel MS. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press. Hill DS. 1987. Agricultural Insect Pests of the Tropics and Their Control. Alden Press. Losey JE, Vaughan M. 2006. The economic value of ecological services provided by insects. BioScience 56: 311–323. Macedo RH, Machado G, eds.. 2013. Sexual Selection: Perspectives and Models from the Neotropics. Academic Press. Thornhill R, Alcock J. 1983. The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems. Harvard University Press. Wilson EO. 1971. The Insect Societies. Belknap Press.

RODOLFO JAFFÉ

Rodolfo Jaffé ([email protected]) is affiliated with the Ecology Department at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil.

doi:10.1093/biosci/biv037

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mates. The authors do a good job reviewing recent mate choice studies in insects and extracting general patterns from this literature, so I think this chapter provides a solid foundation from which to design future mate choice studies. Rhonda Snook then summarizes nonadaptive and adaptive hypotheses for the evolution and maintenance of polyandry, although she ignores a large body of literature from the study of social insects. Simmons provides a comprehensive overview of sperm competition across nonsocial insects, arguing that adaptations arising from sperm competition should be viewed across a continuum, with defensive adaptations at one end and offensive adaptations at the other. I found this chapter particularly well written, informative, and stimulating, and I think it provides a clear framework to understand how selection from sperm competition shapes the evolution of male ejaculate expenditure. Finally, Göran Arnqvist addresses cryptic female choice, arguing that differentiating it from sperm competition could help us achieve a better understanding of the evolution of female and male traits. The book closes with three chapters addressing less-studied aspects of insect mating systems. Per Smiseth reviews the diversity in forms of parental care and how they relate to insect mating systems, and Marlene Zuk and Nina Wedell explain how