Meeting Abstract

57.2  Sunday, Jan. 5 13:45  The environmental and genetic effect on two sexually selected traits in a cactus bug SASSON, DA*; MILLER, CW; University of Florida; University of Florida dsasson@ufl.edu

An organism’s genetic make-up and natal environment can play a large role in its morphological, physiological, and behavioral development. However, work examining the role of both genes and the environment on sexually selected traits are rare. In this study, we have explored the effect of the environment, genes, and the gene by environment interactions (GEI) on body and testis size in a cactus bug, Narnia femorata. These two traits contribute to male pre and post copulatory reproductive success, respectively. We are interested in three questions: 1) How does the environment affect body and testis size and do males from different environments differentially allocate resources to body and testis size? 2) Are body and testis size heritable and does the environment affect heritability of each trait? 3) Are there GEIs on body and testis size so that families differ in their response to each environment? We investigated these questions using a half-sib split brood design across three ecologically relevant nutritional environments. Results suggest that natal environment greatly affects both testes and body size and that the environment may affect resource allocation decisions . Additionally, significant heritability was only found in the highest quality natal environment. Finally, we found no evidence for GxE interactions in either testes or body size, likely due to the little heritability and low genetic variation for these traits in the low quality environments.