Differential impacts of ionizing radiation on a sexually dimorphic trait in male and female .

Purpose: In many Orthopteran species, including crickets, forewings exhibit substantial sexual dimorphism driven by sexual selection. In the cricket, females are the 'choosy' sex and males exhibit multiple sexual signals to attract and successfully mate. Male forewings have highly specialized structures critical for acoustic signaling and mating.

Impacts of ionization radiation on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile and mating success of male house crickets ().

Purpose: Ionizing radiation is well known to have drastic impacts on major life history features including survivorship, growth, fertility, and longevity. What is much less appreciated is how radiation stress can cause changes to more subtle traits, such as those associated with sexual signaling, an underappreciated but vital aspect of insect reproduction. In the House Cricket ( cuticular hydrocarbons are vital for sex and species recognition, as well as a possible indicator of stress, making them crucial for successful mating and reproduction.

Trans-Generational Impacts of Paternal Irradiation in a Cricket: Damage, Life-History Features and Hormesis in F1 Offspring.

Animals exposed to significant stress express multi-modal responses to buffer negative impacts. Trans-generational impacts have been mainly studied in maternal lines, with paternal lines having received less attention. Here, we assessed paternal generational effects using irradiated male crickets (, and their F1 offspring (irradiated males mated to unirradiated females).