Sex-Specific Response to Predator Auditory Cues in Asian Corn Borer (Ostrinia furnacalis)

Predation risk has profound effects on prey from phenotype to gene expression. Prey may respond differently to predation risk on the basis of sex, especially those species with obvious sexual size dimorphism. However, whether such responses are sex-specific still lacks systematic research. In this study, we continuously exposed a female-larger species Asian corn borer (ACB, Ostrinia furnacalis) to bat foraging ultrasound from the larval stage through adulthood, monitoring phenotypic and gene expression changes in exposed males and females compared to normally reared adults. The results revealed that adults in the ultrasound-stressed group exhibited significant changes in both phenotypic traits and gene expression profiles, with marked sex-specific responses to auditory predation cues. Specifically, males demonstrated significant increases in body weight, body length, and ecdysteroid titer, whereas females displayed a marked reduction in fecundity (egg production). Female adults exhibited a predominance of downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with greater total DEG numbers compared to males. Male adults showed primarily upregulated DEG profiles. Females appear to utilize LOC114365575 and LOC114352210 as key regulators in modulating growth and juvenile hormone levels, whereas males may rely on LOC114349799 and LOC114351933 to regulate growth and electrophysiological response amplitude under predation risk. Our results suggest that sex-specific responses may be an important component of inter-individual differences in prey responses to risk and influence prey population growth and demography.