9224910 Sakaluk This award supports Professor Scott Sakaluk of Illinois State University to collaborate in behavioral ecology research with Professor Josef K. Mueller of the Institute of Zoology, Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany. The objective of their research is to test various hypotheses about the reproductive strategies and parental behavior of male "burying beetles" (Nicrophorus vespilloides). They will carry out field experiments manipulating various factors that influence reproductive behavior in order to test the effect of male assistance on brood success. Paternal care is rare in insects, and the factors favoring its evolution remain unclear. Burying beetles are one of only a few arthropod taxa exhibiting biparental care, in which both parents obtain food for the developing young. There are several hypotheses to explain the continued presence of the male; however, field studies to examine the effects of the male's presence on the number of surviving young have not been done. This research will test two competing hypotheses (paternal care and mating effort) and attempt to improve understanding of this area of insect behavior. ***
