The sensory trap model of signal evolution suggests that males manipulate females into mating using traits that mimic cues used in a nonsexual context. Despite much empirical support for sensory traps, little is known about how females evolve in response to these deceptive signals. Female sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) evolved to discriminate a male sex pheromone from the larval odor it mimics and orient only towards males during mate search. Larvae and males release the attractant 3-keto petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS), but spawning females avoid larval odor using the pheromone antagonist, petromyzonol sulfate (PZS), which larvae but not males, release at higher rates than 3kPZS. We tested the hypothesis that migratory females also discriminate between larval odor and the male pheromone and orient only to larval odor during anadromous migration, when they navigate within spawning streams using larval odor before they begin mate search. In-stream behavioral assays revealed that, unlike spawning females, migratory females do not discriminate between mixtures of 3kPZS and PZS applied at ratios typical of larval versus male odorants. Our results indicate females discriminate between the sexual and nonsexual sources of 3kPZS during but not outside of mating and show sensory traps can lead to reliable sexual communication without females shifting their responses in the original context.

中文翻译：

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感觉陷阱可以带来可靠的沟通，而不会改变对模型提示的非性反应

信号进化的感觉陷阱模型表明，雄性利用模仿非性环境中使用的线索的特征来操纵雌性进行交配。尽管感官陷阱有很多实证支持，但人们对雌性如何响应这些欺骗性信号而进化知之甚少。雌性海七鳃鳗 (Petromyzon marinus) 进化出能够从其模仿的幼虫气味中辨别雄性性信息素，并在寻找配偶时仅面向雄性。幼虫和雄性会释放引诱剂 3-酮石油醚硫酸盐 (3kPZS)，但产卵的雌性会使用信息素拮抗剂硫酸石油醚 (PZS) 来避免幼虫的气味，幼虫而非雄性的释放速度高于 3kPZS。我们测试了这样的假设，即迁徙的雌性也能区分幼虫气味和雄性信息素，并且在溯河产卵期间仅以幼虫气味为导向，当它们在开始寻找配偶之前使用幼虫气味在产卵流中导航时。流内行为分析表明，与产卵雌性不同，迁徙雌性不会区分以幼虫与雄性气味剂的典型比例施用的 3kPZS 和 PZS 混合物。我们的研究结果表明，雌性在交配期间而非交配外会区分 3kPZS 的性来源和非性来源，并且表明感觉陷阱可以导致可靠的性交流，而雌性不会改变其在原始环境中的反应。