Jiminy Cricket may not actually hold the door open for his lady friends, but he can still be _____1_____ : researchers from the University of Exeter discovered that when threatened by predators, a male field cricket will protect his mate by letting her enter their burrow first. The work is published in the journal Current Biology.

Using microphones and _____2_____ cameras, researchers monitored a Spanish cricket population for three seasons. They identified each cricket with a tiny numbered nametag and a DNA fingerprint taken from a sample of its leg. This Big Brother _____3_____ revealed the details of cricket relationships, from their courtship time to how they conducted their affairs.

Previous studies of crickets’ behavior examined them in a lab setting, where males acted aggressively towards other males and mates alike. In the wild, however, males still brawled with rivals. But they formed long-term relationships by protecting, not _____4_____, their partners.

So why guard his gal? A gentlemanly cricket fosters a longer relationship, with more mating and more offspring. So chivalry may not be dead—but it’s not entirely altruistic either.
【視聽(tīng)版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
chivalrous infrared scrutiny dominating
小蟋蟀家的門(mén)，可不會(huì)為女性朋友們永遠(yuǎn)敞開(kāi)，但當(dāng)她們?cè)獾揭u擊時(shí)，彬彬有禮的蟋蟀男士們立即展開(kāi)保護(hù)行動(dòng)，讓女士先鉆進(jìn)自己的小洞避難，這項(xiàng)研究由?？巳卮髮W(xué)研究者提供，并在《現(xiàn)代生物》刊物上發(fā)表。 三個(gè)季度內(nèi)，研究員們通過(guò)麥克和紅外攝像頭緊密觀察一支西班牙種群的蟋蟀。研究員對(duì)每一只蟋蟀編號(hào)，并從腿部取樣做DNA腳印標(biāo)記。對(duì)這一群蟋蟀做完仔細(xì)標(biāo)記后，從蟋蟀求愛(ài)到結(jié)婚的一系列，研究員確定了蟋蟀的家族血統(tǒng)關(guān)系。 之前在實(shí)驗(yàn)室設(shè)備里研究了蟋蟀行為，雄性間更趨向于暴力，即使是同家族間雄性都很沖動(dòng)。而野外的蟋蟀，雖然雄性間暴力仍然存在，但家族間的蟋蟀更互相保護(hù)并長(zhǎng)期維護(hù)家族關(guān)系。 蟋蟀為什么保護(hù)自己的女朋友？因?yàn)轶巴ㄟ^(guò)紳士風(fēng)度來(lái)贏得交配和繁衍后代機(jī)會(huì)，由此來(lái)維護(hù)自己的家族關(guān)系，所以擁有紳士風(fēng)度就擁有永遠(yuǎn) —— 但這不完全就可以說(shuō)紳士蟋蟀就是大公無(wú)私的。