A hormone-related female anti-aphrodisiac signals temporary infertility and causes sexual abstinence to synchronize parental care

Katharina C. Engel, Johannes Stökl, Rebecca Schweizer, Heiko Vogel, Manfred Ayasse, Joachim Ruther and Sandra Steiger ()
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Katharina C. Engel: Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm
Johannes Stökl: Institute of Zoology, University of Regensburg
Rebecca Schweizer: Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm
Heiko Vogel: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Manfred Ayasse: Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm
Joachim Ruther: Institute of Zoology, University of Regensburg
Sandra Steiger: Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The high energetic demand of parental care requires parents to direct their resources towards the support of existing offspring rather than investing into the production of additional young. However, how such a resource flow is channelled appropriately is poorly understood. In this study, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of the physiological mechanisms coordinating parental and mating effort in an insect exhibiting biparental care. We show a hormone-mediated infertility in female burying beetles during the time the current offspring is needy and report that this temporary infertility is communicated via a pheromone to the male partner, where it inhibits copulation. A shared pathway of hormone and pheromone system ensures the reliability of the anti-aphrodisiac. Female infertility and male sexual abstinence provide for the concerted investment of parental resources into the existing developing young. Our study thus contributes to our deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying adaptive parental decisions.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11035

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