Pleiotropy between male signals and female preferences can facilitate evolution of sexual communication by maintaining coordination between the sexes. Alternatively, it can favor variation in the mating system, such as a reproductive polymorphism. It is unknown how common either of these scenarios is in nature. In Pacific field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) on Kauai, Hawaii, a mutation (flatwing) that segregates as a single locus is responsible for the rapid loss of song production in males. We used outbred cricket colonies fixed for male wing morph to investigate whether homozygous flatwing and normal‐wing (wild‐type) females differ in responsiveness to male calling song and propensity to mate when paired with either a flatwing or normal‐wing male in the presence or absence of courtship song. Flatwing females were less likely to mount a male than normal‐wing females. Females of both genotypes showed a preference for normal‐wing males and were more likely to mate in the presence of courtship song; normal‐wing females were particularly likely to mate with song. Our results show that negative pleiotropy between obligate male silence and female mating behavior can constrain the evolution of sexual signal loss and contribute to the maintenance of a male reproductive polymorphism in the wild.

中文翻译：

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蟋蟀雄性生殖多态性的性信号丢失、多效性和维持

男性信号和女性偏好之间的多向性可以通过维持两性之间的协调来促进性交流的进化。或者，它可能有利于交配系统中的变异，例如生殖多态性。目前尚不清楚这两种情况在自然界中有多普遍。在夏威夷考艾岛的太平洋蟋蟀 (Teleogryllus Oceanicus) 中，分离为单个基因座的突变 (平翅) 是导致雄性歌曲生产迅速丧失的原因。我们使用固定为雄性翅膀变形的远交蟋蟀群落来研究纯合平翅和正常翅（野生型）雌性在与平翅或正常翅雄性配对时对雄性鸣叫的反应和交配倾向是否不同或没有求爱歌。与正常翅雌性相比，平翅雌性不太可能安装雄性。两种基因型的雌性都表现出对正常翼雄性的偏好，并且更有可能在求爱歌曲存在时交配；正常翅膀的雌性特别有可能与鸣人交配。我们的结果表明，专性雄性沉默和雌性交配行为之间的负多效性可以限制性信号丢失的进化，并有助于维持野生雄性生殖多态性。