Comparative morphological trade-offs between pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection in Giant hissing cockroaches (Tribe: Gromphadorhini)

Sperm competition theory predicts that animals face a trade-off between investment in weaponry and investment in ejaculate composition. Within the Madagascan giant hissing cockroaches (Tribe Gromphadorhini) differences in morphology exist that may indicate differing strategies of male-male competition. We compared relative pronotal horn length using high-resolution X-ray CT scanning data, relative testes mass, and male-male agonistic behaviour between two species of hissing cockroaches, Gromphadorhina oblongonota and Aeluropoda insignis. The gross morphology and behaviour of these two species indicated that G. oblongonota is selected for pre-copulatory mate acquisition and that A. insignis is selected for post-copulatory sperm competition. We found evidence for a trade-off when investing in testes mass vs. horn length between the species. The large, aggressive G. oblongonota follows a strategy of greater investment in weapons at the expense of testes mass while the smaller, less-aggressive A. insignis invests in relatively greater testes mass and less in pronotal weapon length. We also found evidence of a trade-off within each species, where individuals invest more heavily in weapon length at the expense of testes mass. These findings support the predictions of pre- and postcopulatory competitive investment trade-offs for a relatively understudied Tribe of cockroaches

Synthesis of 2-Arylaminopyrimidines from 1,4,6-Trisubstituted Pyrimidine-2(1H)-Thiones

A method for the synthesis of 2-anilino-substituted pyrimidines via Dimroth-type ring transformation of 1,4,6-trisubstituted pyrimidine-2(1H)-thiones has been developed

Synthesis and Reactions of Methyl 8-Aryl-6-Methyl-9-Oxo-8,9-Dihydro-5H-Dibenzo[4,5:6,7]Cyclohepta[1,2-B]Pyridine-7-Carboxylates

A method for the synthesis of methyl 4-aryl-6-methyl-9-oxo-8,9-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[4,5:6,7]cyclohepta[1,2-b]pyridine-7-carboxylates from 6-arylidenedibenzo[a,c][7]annulene- 5,7(6H)-diones and methyl 3-aminocrotonate has been developed. The alkylation, oxidation, and reduction of the obtained annulated dihydropyridines were studied