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March 11th, 2008, Prof.dr. Mike Siva-Jothy
March 11th, 2008, Prof.dr. Mike Siva-Jothy
March 11th, 2008
Prof.dr. Mike Siva-Jothy
University of Sheffield
Dept. of Animal & Plant Sciences
Title: "Female responses to sexually antagonistic male traits."
Summary
Bed bug males traumatically inseminate females - a behaviour that has dramatic anatomical and immunological consequences for females. In this talk I will examine the reproductive biology of the bed bug before presenting empirical evidence that suggests females have evolved subtle physiological, and not-so-subtle anatomical, responses to offset the costs of traumatic insemination. I hope to show that the bizarre biology of this organism provides important generic insights into the outcome of antagonistic interactions between genders during reproduction.
