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The direct cost of traumatic secretion transfer in hermaphroditic land snails: individuals stabbed with a love dart
Kazuki Kimura1, Satoshi Chiba2
1Department of Environmental Life Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Kawauchi 41, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0862, Japan k.kimura.000@gmail.com.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|March 13, 2015
Summary
Land snails that receive "love darts" during mating experience reduced lifetime reproduction and lifespan. This traumatic dart transfer creates sexual conflict, driving the evolution of mating behaviors in hermaphroditic animals.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Animal behavior
- Reproductive strategies
Background:
- Simultaneously hermaphroditic land snails engage in "love dart" shooting during mating.
- This behavior involves traumatic transfer of secretions, benefiting sperm donors by increasing fertilization success.
- The cost of receiving dart shooting to recipients and its role in sexual conflict remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of receiving "love dart" shooting on the lifetime fecundity and longevity of land snails.
- To examine the role of sexual conflict and antagonistic coevolution in the evolution of traumatic secretion transfer.
Main Methods:
- Experimental comparison of lifetime fecundity and longevity.
- Study focused on individuals that received dart shooting versus those that did not in *Bradybaena pellucida*.
Main Results:
- Snails that received "love dart" shooting exhibited reduced lifetime fecundity.
- Dart reception also led to a decrease in the longevity of the snails.
- These findings indicate a cost associated with receiving traumatic secretions during mating.
Conclusions:
- "Love dart" shooting in land snails represents a costly mating behavior, generating sexual conflict between donors and recipients.
- Sexually antagonistic arms races likely contributed to the evolution of dart-shooting traits.
- The study supports theories of escalating sexual conflict in hermaphroditic species.
