Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0001-1512-516X

Graduation Year

2023

Date of Submission

5-2023

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biology

Reader 1

Keri Wilson

Reader 2

Patrick Ferree

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism can encourage co-evolution between males and females of a given species. In house crickets (Acheta domesticus), unattractive (smaller) and attractive (larger) males seem to use differential allocation of prostaglandin E2 in their spermatophore to pursue different propagation strategies in influencing female oviposition. This study aims to determine the means by which attractive and less attractive males press their reproductive advantage by focusing on prostaglandin E2. To test the hypothesis that the difference in prostaglandin E2 concentration is essential for female reproductive manipulation, spermatophores were retrieved from 21 pairs of mated crickets. Using an ELISA assay, the prostaglandin content of each spermatophore was determined. In support of my hypothesis, the results show a negative relationship between male size and prostaglandin levels. Additionally, unattractive males on average spent a higher percent of their time chirping in comparison to attractive males. While both results did not show significance, their promising trends indicate that further research may confirm the negative relationship between male size and prostaglandin levels as well as chirping duration consistency.

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