An integrative multidisciplinary approach to understanding cryptic divergence in Brazilian species of the Anastrepha fraterculus complex (Diptera: Tephritidae).

An integrative multidisciplinary approach was used to delimit boundaries among cryptic species within the Anastrepha fraterculus complex in Brazil. Sexual compatibility, courtship and sexual acoustic behaviour, female morphometric variability, variation for the mitochondrial gene COI, and the presence of Wolbachia were compared among A. fraterculus populations from the Southern (Vacaria, Pelotas, Bento Gonçalves, S~ao Joaquim) and Southeastern (Piracicaba) regions of Brazil. Our results suggest full mating compatibility among A. fraterculus populations from the Southern region and partial pre-zygotic reproductive isolation of these populations when compared with the population from the Southeastern region. A. fraterculus populations from both regions differed in the frequency of courtship displays and aspects of the calling phase and mounting acoustic signal. Morphometric analysis showed differences between Southern region and Southeastern region samples. All populations analyzed were infected with Wolbachia. The trees generated from the COI sequencing data are broadly congruent with the behavioural and morphometric data with the exception of one Southern population. The likely mechanisms by which A. fraterculus populations might have diverged are discussed in detail based on behavioural, morphometric, molecular genetics, and biogeographical studies

The influence of perpetrator and victim intoxication on perceivers' ratings of a sexual perpetrator's own awareness of wrongdoing for his sexually aggressive behaviour

Rape-perception studies have examined the influence of alcohol intoxication on perpetrator blame attributions: However, no studies have examined how intoxication affects perceptions of a sexual perpetrator’s awareness of the wrongfulness of his behaviour despite its relevance to the conceptualisation of responsibility and blame. This experiment investigated the impact of perpetrator and victim intoxication on perceptions of a perpetrator’s own awareness of wrongdoing for acquaintance rape. Undergraduate students (N = 314) read one of four rape-scenarios in which intoxication was manipulated and rated the perpetrator’s awareness of the consequences and wrongfulness of his sexual aggression. Findings supported the hypothesis that participants would assign less awareness of wrongdoing to an intoxicated, compared to sober, perpetrator. Further, males ascribed more awareness of wrongdoing to the perpetrator of an intoxicated, compared to sober, victim. Findings indicate that intoxicated sexual perpetrators are seen as not fully aware of the nature and consequences of their crime.

Diel variation in a dynamic sexual display and its association with female mate-searching behaviour

Dynamic sexual signals often show a diel rhythm and may vary substantially with time of day. Diel and short-term fluctuations in such sexual signals pose a puzzle for condition capture models of mate choice, which assume a female preference for male traits that reliably reflect a male's quality. Here we experimentally manipulated the food supply of individual male field crickets Gryllus campestris in their natural habitat in two consecutive seasons to determine (i) the effect of male nutritional condition on the fine-scaled variation of diel investment in acoustic signalling and (ii) the temporal association between the diel variation in male signalling and female mate-searching behaviour. Overall food-supplemented males signalled more often, but the effect was only visible during the daytime. In the evening and the night, signal output was still high but the time spent signalling was unrelated to a male's nutritional condition. Females' mate-searching behaviour also showed a diel rhythm with peak activity during the afternoon, when differences among calling males were highest, and where signal output reliably reflects male quality. These findings suggest that males differing in nutritional condition may optimize their investment in signalling in relation to time of day as to maximize mating success.

Mounting behaviour in finishing pigs: Stable individual differences are not due to dominance or stage of sexual development

Every year around 100 million male piglets are castrated in the EU, usually without anaesthesia or post-operative analgesia. This surgical intervention is painful and stressful. Several main players within the pig industry have voluntarily agreed to end the practice of surgical pig castration in the EU by 2018. One alternative to castration is entire male pig production. However, entire males behave differently than castrates, for example, by performing more mounting behaviour, which is suggested to be a welfare problem. The aim of our study was to develop a comprehensive ethogram of different types of mounting and to investigate properties, causes and consequences of mounting behaviour in finishing pigs. The study included 80 entire male and 80 female pigs from two farrowing batches born six weeks apart. Mixed sex and single-sex housing of pigs are both common in pig farming, so to ensure our study was representative, the 160 pigs were assigned to social groups of 20 in three treatments: entire male pigs only (MM, 2 groups, n = 40), entire females only (FF, 2 groups, n = 40) and entire males and females mixed together (MF, 4 groups, n = 80). Measurements took place during the final six weeks before slaughter (between 63.5 and 105.5 kg). Observations of mounting behaviour on 12 days per batch suggested that: (i) males mounted more than females, (ii) within sex, there was no effect of treatment on the amount of mounting (although the statistical power of the study to detect these effects was low), and (iii) there were individual differences in mounting that were stable over time (within sex). Classification of mounting into different categories revealed that sexual mounting was most common overall and in males but only rare in females. Compared to other types of mounting (e.g. caused by crowding or during a fight), sexual mounts lasted longer and provoked more screaming by the recipient. There were no relationships between mounting behaviour on the one hand and dominance rank in food competition tests, the circulating levels of sex hormones (oestradiol, testosterone and progesterone) at the end of the study, the health scores (lameness and scratches) or weight gain on the other hand. The stable individual differences of mounting over time suggest that mounting behaviour is a trait of the individual rather than the appearance of random outbreaks. However, these differences in mounting cannot be explained by dominance behaviour or by differences in sex hormone concentrations that could indicate the onset of puberty. Mounting behaviour and in particular sexual mounting provoked high pitched screaming of the recipients indicating that mounting is a welfare problem. For the welfare assessment of entire male pig production the performance of mounting behaviour should be considered. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sexual abuse, antisocial behaviour and substance use: gender differences in young community adolescents

Objective: To investigate gender-specific relationships between self-reported sexual abuse, antisocial behaviour and substance use in a large community sample of adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study of students aged, on average, 13 (n = 2596), 14 (n = 2475) and 15 years (n = 2290), from 27 schools in South Australia with a questionnaire including sexual abuse, frequency and severity of substance use, depressive symptomatology (CES-D), family functioning (McMaster Family Assessment Device), and antisocial behaviour (an adapted 22-item Self-Report Delinquency Scale). Logistic regression analyses using HLM V5.05 with a population-average model were conducted. Results: In the model considered, reported sexual abuse is significantly independently associated with antisocial behaviour, controlling for confounding factors of depressive symptomatology and family dysfunction, with increased risks of three- to eightfold for sexually abused boys, and two- to threefold for sexually abused girls, compared to nonabused. Increased risks of extreme substance use in sexually abused girls (age 13) and boys (ages 13-15) are more than fourfold, compared to nonabused. Age differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Childhood sexual abuse is a risk factor for the development of antisocial behaviour and substance use in young adolescents. Clinicians should be aware of gender differences.

Sexual selection in a tropical fruit fly : role of a plant derived chemical in mate choice

The specific mechanisms by which selective pressures affect individuals are often difficult to resolve. In tephritid fruit flies, males respond strongly and positively to certain plant derived chemicals. Sexual selection by female choice has been hypothesized as the mechanism driving this behaviour in certain species, as females preferentially mate with males that have fed on these chemicals. This hypothesis is, to date, based on studies of only very few species and its generality is largely untested. We tested the hypothesis on different spatial scales (small cage and seminatural field-cage) using the monophagous fruit fly, Bactrocera cacuminata. This species is known to respond to methyl eugenol (ME), a chemical found in many plant species and one upon which previous studies have focused. Contrary to expectation, no obvious female choice was apparent in selecting ME-fed males over unfed males as measured by the number of matings achieved over time, copulation duration, or time of copulation initiation. However, the number of matings achieved by ME-fed males was significantly greater than unfed males 16 and 32 days after exposure to ME in small cages (but not in a field-cage). This delayed advantage suggests that ME may not influence the pheromone system of B. cacuminata but may have other consequences, acting on some other fitness consequence (e.g., enhancement of physiology or survival) of male exposure to these chemicals. We discuss the ecological and evolutionary implications of our findings to explore alternate hypotheses to explain the patterns of response of dacine fruit flies to specific plant-derived chemicals.

Teachers reporting suspected child sexual abuse : results of a three-state study

Over 3000 cases of child sexual abuse are identified every year in Australia, but the real incidence is higher still. As a strategy to identify child sexual abuse, Australian States and Territories have enacted legislation requiring members of selected professions, including teachers, to report suspected cases. In addition, policy-based reporting obligations have been developed by professions, including the teaching profession. These legislative and industry-based developments have occurred in a context of growing awareness of the incidence and consequences of child sexual abuse. Teachers have frequent contact and close relationships with children, and possess expertise in monitoring changes in children’s behaviour. Accordingly, teachers are seen as being well-placed to detect and report suspected child sexual abuse. To date, however, there has been little empirical research into the operation of these reporting duties. The extent of teachers’ awareness of their duties to report child sexual abuse is unknown. Further, there is little evidence about teachers’ past reporting practice. Teachers’ duties to report sexual abuse, especially those in legislation, differ between States, and it is not known whether or how these differences affect reporting practice. This article presents results from the first large-scale Australian survey of teachers in three States with different reporting laws: New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. The results indicate levels of teacher knowledge of reporting duties, reveal evidence about past reporting practice, and provide insights into anticipated future reporting practice and legal compliance. The findings have implications for reform of legislation and policy, training of teachers about the reporting of child sexual abuse, and enhancement of child protection.

A Sexual Health Programme Implemented in a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit

Research has shown that people with a mental illness are an at-risk group for sexually transmitted infections. A programme for preventing risk behaviours for sexually transmitted infections among people with psychiatric disorder was designed and implemented by mental health occupational therapists. This programme used an interactive didactic approach to provide education and awareness of sexual health issues to acute psychiatric inpatients. Twenty-four participants completed a sexual health questionnaire, which was designed for this study, both before and after attending the programme. They had a higher than expected knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and safe sex practices at pre-test. The education programme resulted in a statistically significant but modest increase in sexual health knowledge. These findings indicate that there are benefits in providing sexual health education to clients with a mental illness. Further programme development should be directed towards sexual health decision-making and behaviour change.

Naming and claiming workplace sexual harassment in Australia

The persistence of sexual harassment in the workplace and the fact such behaviour remains significantly unreported suggest that legal definitions of sexual harassment may not be well understood. In this paper we explore the naming and claiming of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, drawing on a unique dataset from a national sexual harassment prevalence survey. We compare a group of individuals who stated they had been sexually harassed according to a legal definition with a group who denied having experienced sexual harassment according to this definition but who went on to report sexually harassing behaviours. The study offers important insights into how workplace sexual harassment comes to be defined and understood in the Australian community, as well as some possible explanations for persistently low rates of formal complaints.

The workplace context of sexual harassment in Australia : policing the gender borders

The paper draws on a three year Australian Research Council funded project entitled Sexual Harassment in Australia: Context Outcomes and Prevention. The research to date suggests there is some slippage between legal definitions and community understandings of what constitutes sexual harassment. Moreover, while sexual harassment is often seen by the community and within organisations as the fault of one aberrant individual, in certain workplace contexts sexual harassment is used to ‘police the gender borders’, that is to exclude women and men who do not conform to the dominant workplace gender norms. This type of sexual harassment is a collective form of behaviour often perpetrated by co-workers in male-dominated workplaces which is designed to humiliate ‘outsiders’ so they appear incompetent and will be forced to leave the organisation. While much previous research that has focused on this type of sexual harassment has taken place in military and policing settings, our emerging findings suggest that it is present in a far broader range of workplace contexts. Prevention of this form of sexual harassment is challenging and goes to the heart of organisational culture and work organisation.

Transcriptome Profiling of Sexual Maturation and Mating in the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata

Sexual maturation and mating in insects are generally accompanied by major physiological and behavioural changes. Many of these changes are related to the need to locate a mate and subsequently, in the case of females, to switch from mate searching to oviposition behaviour. The prodigious reproductive capacity of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is one of the factors that has led to its success as an invasive pest species. To identify the molecular changes related to maturation and mating status in male and female medfly, a microarray-based gene expression approach was used to compare the head transcriptomes of sexually immature, mature virgin, and mated individuals. Attention was focused on the changes in abundance of transcripts related to reproduction, behaviour, sensory perception of chemical stimulus, and immune system processes. Broad transcriptional changes were recorded during female maturation, while post-mating transcriptional changes in females were, by contrast, modest. In male medfly, transcriptional changes were consistent both during maturation and as a consequence of mating. Of particular note was the lack of the mating-induced immune responses that have been recorded for Drosophila melanogaster, that may be due to the different reproductive strategies of these species. This study, in addition to increasing our understanding of the molecular machinery behind maturation and mating in the medfly, has identified important gene targets that might be useful in the future management of this pest.

Separation/Divorce Sexual Assault: The Current State of Social Scientific Knowledge

Many contend that the logical solution to woman abuse in marriage/cohabitation is for women to exit through legal separation, divorce, or other means. However, a growing body of empirical work shows that separation or divorce does not necessarily solve the problem of woman abuse. For example, in addition to experiencing lethal or nonlethal forms of physical violence and psychological abuse, many women who try to leave, or who have left their male partners, are sexually assaulted. The main objective of this paper is to critically review the extant empirical and theoretical work on separation/divorcesexual assault. Suggestions for future research and theorizing are also provided.

Evolution of lure response in tephritid fruit flies : phytochemicals as drivers of sexual selection

The males of many Bactrocera species (Diptera: Tephritidae) respond strongly and positively to a small number of plant-derived chemicals (=male lures). Males that have imbibed the lures commonly have a mating advantage over unfed males, but no female benefits have been demonstrated for females mating with lure-fed males. It has been hypothesized that the strong lure response is a case of runaway selection, where males receive direct benefits and females receive indirect benefits via 'sexy sons', or a case of sensory bias where females have a lower threshold response to lures. To test these hypotheses we studied the effects of lure feeding on male mating, remating and longevity; while for females that had mated with lure-fed males we recorded mating refractoriness, fecundity, egg viability and longevity. We used Bactrocera tryoni as our test animal and as lures the naturally occurring zingerone and chemically related, but synthetic chemical cuelure. Feeding on lures provided direct male benefits in greater mating success and increased multiple mating. For the first time, we recorded direct female effects: increased fecundity and reduced remating receptivity. Egg viability did not differ in females mated with lure-fed or unfed males. The life span of males and females exposed to lures was reduced. These results reveal direct, current-generation fitness benefits for both males and females, although the male benefits appear greater. We discuss that while lure response is indeed likely to be a sexual selection trait, there is no need to invoke runaway selection to explain its evolution.