Protein Stores Regulate When Reproductive Displays Begin in the Male Caribbean Fruit Fly.

ABSTRACT: Many animals exhibit reproductive behavior that requires expenditure of valuable nutrients. In males of many species, competitive energetically demanding displays and the development of sexual ornaments require prior accumulation of nutrient stores. Males must coordinate nutrient stores with ornament development and reproductive displays or they risk depleting their resources mid-development or mid-display, reducing their chance of mating. Males may use nutrient stores to regulate their reproductive behavior. Amino acid reserves may be important for reproduction, but the roles of amino acid stores in initiating maturation and reproductive behavior are less studied than fat stores. Insects store amino acids as hexamerin storage proteins. Many fly species use a specific hexamerin, larval ser

SUBMITTER: Short CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7424033 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature