The phenotypic expression and fitness consequences of behaviors that are exhibited during social interactions are especially sensitive to their local social context. This context-dependence is expected to generate more variation in the sign and magnitude of selection on social behavior than that experienced by static characters like morphology. Relatively few studies, however, have examined selection on behavioral traits in multiple populations. We estimated sexual selection in the wild to determine if the strength and form of selection on social phenotypes is more variable than that on morphology. We compared selection gradients on social network position, body size, and weaponry of male forked fungus beetles (Bolitotherus cornutus) as they influenced mating success across nine natural subpopulations. Male horn length consistently experienced positive sexual selection. However, the sign and magnitude of selection on individual measures of network centrality (strength and betweenness) differed significantly among subpopulations. Moreover, selection on social behaviors occurred at local scale ("soft selection"), whereas selection on horn length occurred at the metapopulation scale ("hard selection"). These results indicate that an individual with a given social phenotype could experience different fitness consequences depending on the network it occupies. While individuals seem to be unable to escape the fitness effects of their morphology, they may have the potential to mediate the pressures of selection on behavioral phenotypes by moving among subpopulations or altering social connections within a network.

中文翻译：

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在分叉真菌甲虫的野生亚群中，社交网络位置经历了比武器更多的可变选择

在社会交往过程中表现出的行为的表型表达和健康后果对其当地社会背景特别敏感。与静态特征（如形态）相比，这种上下文依赖性预计会在社会行为的选择符号和幅度上产生更多变化。然而，相对较少的研究检查了多个人群中行为特征的选择。我们估计了野外的性选择，以确定社会表型的选择强度和形式是否比形态上的选择更具可变性。我们比较了雄性分叉真菌甲虫 (Bolitotherus cornutus) 在社交网络位置、体型和武器方面的选择梯度，因为它们影响了九个自然亚群的交配成功。雄性角长度一直经历积极的性选择。然而，网络中心性（强度和介数）的个体测量的选择符号和幅度在亚群之间存在显着差异。此外，对社会行为的选择发生在局部尺度（“软选择”），而对角长度的选择发生在集合种群尺度（“硬选择”）。这些结果表明，具有特定社会表型的个体可能会经历不同的健康后果，具体取决于它所占据的网络。虽然个体似乎无法摆脱其形态的适应性影响，但他们可能有潜力通过在亚群之间移动或改变网络内的社会联系来调节行为表型的选择压力。