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.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
chivalrous infrared scrutiny dominating
小蟋蟀家的门，可不会为女性朋友们永远敞开，但当她们遭到袭击时，彬彬有礼的蟋蟀男士们立即展开保护行动，让女士先钻进自己的小洞避难，这项研究由埃克塞特大学研究者提供，并在《现代生物》刊物上发表。 三个季度内，研究员们通过麦克和红外摄像头紧密观察一支西班牙种群的蟋蟀。研究员对每一只蟋蟀编号，并从腿部取样做DNA脚印标记。对这一群蟋蟀做完仔细标记后，从蟋蟀求爱到结婚的一系列，研究员确定了蟋蟀的家族血统关系。 之前在实验室设备里研究了蟋蟀行为，雄性间更趋向于暴力，即使是同家族间雄性都很冲动。而野外的蟋蟀，虽然雄性间暴力仍然存在，但家族间的蟋蟀更互相保护并长期维护家族关系。 蟋蟀为什么保护自己的女朋友？因为蟋蟀通过绅士风度来赢得交配和繁衍后代机会，由此来维护自己的家族关系，所以拥有绅士风度就拥有永远 —— 但这不完全就可以说绅士蟋蟀就是大公无私的。