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1.
Adult dung beetles (Onthophagus acuminatus) exhibit continuous variation in body size resulting from differential nutritional conditions experienced during larval development. Males of this species have a pair of horns that protrude from the base of the head, and the lengths of these horns are bimodally distributed in natural populations. Males growing larger than a threshold body size develop long horns, and males that do not achieve this size grow only rudimentary horns or no horns at all. Previous studies of other horned beetle species have shown that horned and hornless males often have different types of reproductive behavior. Here I describe the mating behaviors of the two male morphs of O. acuminatus during encounters with females. Females excavate tunnels beneath dung, where they feed, mate and provision eggs. Large, horned males were found to guard entrances to tunnels containing females. These males fought with all other males that attempted to enter these tunnels. In contrast, small, hornless males encountered females by sneaking into tunnels guarded by other males. In many instances, this was accomplished by digging new tunnels that intercepted the guarded tunnels below ground. Side-tunneling behavior allowed sneaking males to enter tunnels beneath the guarding male, and mate with females undetected. Both overall body size and relative horn length significantly affected the outcome of fights over tunnel ownership. These results suggest that alternative reproductive tactics may favor divergence in male horn morphology, with long horns favored in males large enough to guard tunnels, and hornlessness favored in smaller males that adopt the “sneaking” behavioral alternative. Received: 12 October 1996 / Accepted after revision: 8 August 1997  相似文献   

2.
Male dung beetles, Onthophagus taurus, are dimorphic for a secondary sexual trait, head horns. Horned males participate in the production of brood masses while hornless male do not. Here we examine the reproductive performance of females mated with males exhibiting alternative horn morphologies. We found that exposure to males may be costly for females in that it reduced the total number of brood masses produced. However, females paired with horned males produced significantly larger brood masses than females paired with hornless males or females producing broods alone. We discuss the possible selection pressures that may underly horn evolution in this genus. Received: 22 August 1997 / Accepted after revision: 19 January 1998  相似文献   

3.
Field observation and laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate sperm competition and patterns of sperm fertilization under different experimental conditions in the carrion ball-roller beetle Canthon cyanellus cyanellus. Males in nature can mate with females whose spermathecae contains fertile sperm from other males. Sperm precedence was investigated using a visible genetic marker. The progeny of red (homozygous recessive) virgin females mated once with a red male and afterward, once with a green beetle (homozygous dominant) and vice versa, revealed that regardless of its color, the last male to mate fertilized c.a. 50% of the eggs, suggesting strong sperm competition. Males were able to achieve higher levels of paternity (more than 80%) when mated ad libitum with previously mated females, although large amount of variance in paternity does not exclude the possibility of first male sperm precedence or female cryptic choice. These results suggest that repeated mating and sperm replacement are the mechanisms by which last males achieve sperm precedence.  相似文献   

4.
The tropical spirostreptid millipede Alloporus uncinatus has a polygynandrous mating pattern that is apparently shaped by sperm competition (Telford and Dangerfield 1990, 1993a). In the present study radioisotopic labelling of ejaculates was used to quantify the temporal effects of double mating sequences on sperm precedence patterns. Ejaculates of successive males mix completely within the sperm storage organs and are concentrated close to the site of fertilisation, the spermathecal-oviduct junction. When matings follow each other immediately (experiment 1), equal volumes of the ejaculates of each male are stored within the spermathecae, and both males have equal probability of paternity. Where matings are separated by a 24-h delay (experiment 2), the volumetric contribution of the first male is reduced by 54.8 % and last male precedence operates. Although the distal ends of the gonopods play a primary role in the redistribution of ejaculates (Barnett and Telford 1994), by using a single mating sequence we show that they are not responsible for the reduction in ejaculate volume. The most likely explanation is absorption and/or ejection of the first male's ejaculate by the female. Genital functional morphology is used to reconstruct the mechanism of ejaculate distribution.  相似文献   

5.
A comprehensive understanding of sexual selection requires knowledge of the traits and mechanisms responsible for increasing a male’s paternity share (proportion of progeny sired) relative to that of other males mating with the same female. In this study we manipulated by starvation the expression of traits that might influence male paternity share in Tribolium castaneum. We then conducted experiments to examine how male starvation affects male performance during sequential episodes of sexual selection from mating to progeny production, and investigated female control over specific stages by using live vs dead females. Comparison of starved vs fed males revealed that T. castaneum females have control over spermatophore transfer during mating, as live females rejected inseminations by starved (“low quality”) males. None of the measured male copulatory behaviors (leg-rubbing frequency, asymmetry, and percent of time spent rubbing) affected the probability of successful insemination, but the last two were positively associated with male paternity share. Spermatophore positioning within the female reproductive tract was not affected by male treatment (starved/fed), by female treatment (live/dead), or by male copulatory behaviors. Starvation, however, had a dramatic effect on male reproductive physiology, decreasing both accessory gland size and total number of sperms transferred (but not sperm viability in seminal vesicles). In addition, females who mated to starved males stored fewer sperms in their spermathecae, which, together with decreased ejaculate size, may explain the reduced paternity share of starved males compared to fed males. This study elucidates some cryptic mechanisms influencing male reproductive success and aids our understanding of trait evolution through sexual selection.  相似文献   

6.
Sperm competition in horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus)   总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3  
Male horseshoe crabs have two mating tactics. Some males come ashore attached to a female (clasping the posterior margin of the females' carapace with their modified pedipalps) and nest with her on the intertidal portion of the beach during the high tide. Other males come ashore unattached and crowd around nesting couples. Fertilization is external and unattached males that are in contact with a pair, i.e. satellite males, release sperm, so the assumption has been that they are fertilizing eggs. We conducted a paternity analysis to determine the proportion of eggs fertilized by attached and satellite males. Pairs with one satellite were observed during nesting on beaches in Florida and Delaware and their eggs were collected and reared to the late trilobite or first instar horseshoe crab stage. DNA was extracted from these offspring and from each adult (female, attached and satellite male) for use in paternity analysis. A Limulus-specific hypervariable microsatellite locus was identified and primers were constructed to amplify this locus via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genotypes of putative parents and offspring were determined by resolving length variants of these PCR products on acrylamide gels. This allowed us to determine parentage of the offspring. We demonstrate that satellite males fertilized 40% of the eggs on average, attached males fertilized 51% and 4% of the eggs that were laid by the female were fathered neither by the attached male nor by the satellite (and 5% could not be determined unambiguously). There is high variability in the success of satellite males, ranging from 0 to 88%. Part of this variability can be explained by the position of the satellite relative to the attached male. We discuss the mechanics of fertilization and the possible advantages for multiple mating in this species.  相似文献   

7.
Summary The adaptation of defensive secretions to their target organisms was examined for the abdominal gland secretions ofBledius furcatus, B. spectabilis andB. arenarius. Therefore the target organisms of the secretion of theseBledius species (i.e. their predators) had to be identified. At the collection sites examined these were the earwigLabidura riparia, the antCataglyphis bicolor, the flyLispe candicans, different carabids of the generaPogonus, Dichirotrichus, Dyschirius, Bembidion andCalathus and the wading birdsHaematopus ostralegus andCalidris alba. The secretion of the abdominal glands contains the toxin ptoluquinone dissolved in either-dodecalactone and 1-undecene (B. furcatus andB. spectabilis) or in octanoic acid and octyloctanoate (B. arenarius). The ratio of these solvents is species-specific. Application experiments using some of the natural insect predators (L. riparia, C. bicolor, Pogonus, Di. gustavii, Dyschirius) revealed that these solvent ratios provided a more effective deterrent than other possible ratios. Thus by combining the solvents in certain ratios, the capability of cuticular penetration and therefore the effectiveness of the defensive secretions are adapted to their natural targets.  相似文献   

8.
Sperm competition can be a powerful selective force in the evolution of reproductive strategies and mating systems. In studies on sperm competition, patterns of sperm use are typically reported as the mean species value of P 2, determined as the proportion of offspring sired by the second male to copulate with a doubly mated female. However, the within-species variance in P 2 has mostly been ignored, although taking this variance into account may be crucial for understanding the underlying mechanisms of sperm competition. Paternity analysis among the offspring of doubly mated females of Panorpa germanica (Mecoptera, Panorpidae) revealed a relationship between relative copulation durations of both males and the proportion of offspring each male will sire. This correlation between proportional copulation durations and paternity suggests mixing of sperm from different males inside the female’s spermatheca. Yet, sperm mixing appears to be incomplete, as paternity was overall slightly shifted towards the second male on average fathering a higher proportion of the offspring than its relative copulation duration would predict in case of complete sperm mixing. For individual males, however, the outcome of sperm competition is rather unpredictable as the intraspecific variance in P 2 was found to be very high, irrespective of copulation durations. Possible causes of the observed variance in P 2 and the partial last male sperm precedence are discussed.  相似文献   

9.
We investigated male mate preferences in relation to the perceived risk of sperm competition in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a freshwater fish with a promiscuous mating system. Our laboratory experiments revealed that male mate choice behaviour is not influenced by the presence of rival males that are merely in close proximity to a potential mate, as there was no significant difference in the amount of time that males spent with females that were recently either alone or in close proximity to four rival males. Male mate choice behaviour was, however, strongly influenced by the presence of rival males in a second experiment, where those rivals were permitted to copulate with one of the females. In that situation, males spent significantly more time with, and directed significantly more sigmoid courtship displays toward, females that they had recently seen alone compared to females they had seen receiving forced copulations from up to four rival males. Our results therefore indicate that male guppies are sensitive to the risk of sperm competition and alter their mate choice behaviour in an adaptive fashion.Communicated by K. Lindström  相似文献   

10.
Male fertilisation success in relation to male size and the mating situation (ordinary pair formation with a single, nonvirgin female vs. take overs) was examined in the fly Dryomyza anilis. In ordinary matings, large males achieved higher fertilisation success than small ones when they were the second to mate with the female. Take overs differ from ordinary pair formation in that the second male experiences intensified sperm competition. This is because in take overs the female is not able to discharge any of the sperm inseminated by the first male as she usually does before a new mating. Compared with ordinary matings, take overs reduced the fertilisation success of the second male by 8–10%, whereas that of the first male was 7–14% higher in take overs. Even though the intruder was always larger than the paired male his superior fertilisation success did not compensate for the effect of the sperm already present in the female. In D. anilis, males can increase their fertilisation success by tapping the female's external genitalia with their claspers or having several copulation bouts per mating. Thus, in a take over, the intruder could respond to the intensified sperm competition by performing more tapping sequences per copulation bout or more copulation bouts per mating. In matings observed in the wild, males performed more tapping sequences after a take over than after pair formation with a single female, although the difference was not significant. The results show that there are differences in fertilisation success between males of different size. In addition, different mating situations can result in considerable variation in the fertilisation success of an individual male. Higher fertilisation success for the first male after a take over may be significant, in particular, for the reproductive success of small males, which frequently lose their females to large males.  相似文献   

11.
Variation in traits closely related to fitness is expected to be low. This is because these traits are under directional selection and the best genotype should prevail. However, there have been a number of studies demonstrating the existence of considerable variance in sexually selected traits, which is generally known as the lek paradox. Accordingly, earlier studies found substantial variation in sperm transfer rates in Panorpa vulgaris. Aiming at finding the mechanism that maintains this variation, we analyzed the condition dependence and the narrow sense heritability of sperm transfer rates. Food deprivation in the larval/adult phase caused a decrease in the males’ capability of saliva secretion resulting in shorter copulations and a reduced number of transferred sperm. There was a positive correlation between mean sperm transfer rates and mean body mass. Additionally, intermale variation in sperm transfer rates decreased with increasing food availability. Hence, we suggest that sperm transfer rates in P. vulgaris are influenced by adult feeding history. Heritability analyses of sperm transfer rates did not provide significant results, which is consistent with the general hypothesis that additive genetic variance in traits closely related to fitness is small. Since a trait’s potential to respond to selection is proportional to the amount of contained additive genetic variance, the ascertained small heritability provides a satisfying explanation for the maintenance of substantial variation in sperm transfer rates.  相似文献   

12.
Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males compete to fertilize the egg/s of a particular female. Males of some species respond to a high risk of sperm competition by increasing the number of sperm in their ejaculates. Males may accomplish such a response by increasing the intensity or duration of contraction of the cauda epididymidis and vas deferens. During emission (first phase of the ejaculatory process), the vas deferens receives sperm from the cauda epididymidis and propels the sperm to the urethra. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that males exposed to a high risk of sperm competition mobilize larger numbers of sperm from the cauda epididymidis to the vas deferens before initiation of copulatory behavior. This accumulation of sperm in the vas deferens would result in a larger number of sperm in the ejaculate. To test this hypothesis, we exposed male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, to either low or high risks of sperm competition using soiled bedding of conspecific individuals. At three different times after this exposure (15, 30, or 60 min), we removed both vasa deferentia and counted the sperm within them. We found a significant increase in sperm numbers in the vas deferens of males after 30 min of being exposed to a high risk of sperm competition. The lower sperm numbers after 15 and 60 min of exposure suggest that the observed response is relatively slow and that sperm mobilized to the vasa deferentia may return to the cauda epididymides if ejaculation does not occur some time after the observed response. Our results indicate that the physiological response that may result in high sperm numbers in the ejaculate in relation to high risk of sperm competition can occur before initiation of copulatory behavior.  相似文献   

13.
Comparative analyses have found that relative testis size is a strong predictor of the prevalence of sperm competition for many taxa, including mammals, yet underlying this pattern is the assumption that intraspecific variation in testis size is related to individual fitness. Because intraspecific variation in ejaculate investment underlies interspecific patterns, it is critical to understand the causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in ejaculate investment. We examined relationships between ejaculate investment (testis size and sperm length) and reproductive success, body size and condition in the yellow-pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus), a small ground squirrel in which sperm competition occurs. We examined genetic estimates of male reproductive success from a wild population of yellow-pine chipmunks and determined that males with large testes had higher annual reproductive success than males with small testes. This result provides empirical support for the numerous comparative studies that indicate testis size is associated with the intensity of sperm competition. In addition, males in good condition had relatively larger testes than males in poor condition, but there was no evidence of sperm length being dependent on condition. Finally, contrary to many predictions, males that invested more in sperm production (relatively heavy testes) produced shorter sperm, not longer sperm, than males that invested less.Communicated by P.M. Kappeler  相似文献   

14.
The common shrew (Sorex araneus) is a solitary small mammal with a promiscuous mating system. Previous studies of this species suggest that females typically mate multiply, and that males may adopt alternative mate-searching tactics. We studied two generations of common shrews in a population near Oxford, England. Males were found to adopt two different mate-searching tactics. Those classed as type A occupied relatively small exclusive ranges during March, and made repeated long-distance movements to visit female ranges around the time of first oestrus in April. Males classed as type B established large overlapping ranges in areas of relatively high female density during March, and maintained these ranges throughout April. Type B males were larger than type A males at an early stage of sexual maturation, but there was no difference in the adult body size of the two types of male. Type A males had significantly higher epididymal sperm counts than type B males. Paternity analyses of litters born during the first year of the study reveal that the mean number of offspring fathered by type B males was greater than the mean number fathered by type A males. It is concluded that different mate-searching tactics may be conditional upon the timing of sexual maturation. Differences in sperm production are discussed in relation to sperm competition theory.  相似文献   

15.
The importance of male plumage coloration as a signal of male dominance and a cue for female choice in the monogamous yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, was tested in two sets of experiments in an indoor aviary. Dominance was tested by introducing two individuals, with no previous experience of each other, in an aviary with food and water. Aggression occurred more often between two males than between a male and a female and more frequently between pairs of males including at least one old male than between two young males. Dominance was not related to male colour in trials between males of the same age class, but it was in trials between an old and a young male, often differing in colour. Thus, age may be a more important determinant of dominance than colour. Female preference for more colourful males was tested by allowing hormone-induced females to choose between a more and a less colourful dummy male. Females spent more time in front of more colourful than drabber males and also more often perched beside colourful males than duller individuals. Although male colour cannot be ruled out as a dominance signal, the results suggest that male colour is primarily used as a signal in mate choice. Female choice may hence be responsible for maintenance of bright plumage in the male yellowhammer.  相似文献   

16.
Under sperm competition, a males fertilization success depends largely on the ejaculate characteristics of competing males. Theoretical models predict that, in external fertilizers, increased risk of sperm competition should result in selection for increased sperm swimming speed. To test this prediction, we studied the behavior of sperm from parental and sneaker male bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), a fish species characterized by high levels of cuckoldry due to alternative reproductive tactics of males (parentals and cuckolders). Because cuckolders (sneakers and satellites) always spawn in the presence of a parental male, but the reverse is not true, cuckolders experience the greater risk of sperm competition. We show here that the spermatozoa of sneakers have faster initial swimming speeds but shorter periods of motility than the sperm of parental males. Moreover, we show that sperm swimming speeds shortly after activation (when most fertilization occurs) are correlated with starting ATP levels in spermatozoa, suggesting that sperm competition has selected for higher energetic capacity in the sperm of sneakers. Thus, the higher energetic capacity and initial swimming speed of sneaker sperm may explain why, despite having fewer sperm per ejaculate than parentals, sneakers fertilize more eggs than parental males when they compete to fertilize a clutch of eggs.Communicated by L.W. Simmons  相似文献   

17.
Summary Ips duplicatus withI. typographus co-inhabiting Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) would benefit from a pheromone blend distinct from that of the larger competitorI. typographus. GC-MS analysis showed thatI. duplicatus males feeding in the host produced ipsdienol (Id),cis-verbenol (cV),trans-verbenol (tV), myrtenol (Mt), andE-myrcenol (EM) and traces of 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MB).I. duplicatus produced Id in approximately racemic form (48.9-54.5% (+)-(S)-isomer). The amounts of Id and EM released over a 9 day period had a maximum of 250 and 5 ng/h/male, respectively, on day 2. Exposure ofI. duplicatus males to myrcene and -pinene resulted in the production of small amounts of Id, cV, tV, Mt, andtrans-pinocarveol, but not of EM. In laboratory bioassays with walking beetles, the pheromone component Id alone was weakly attractive while EM was inactive, but in binary combination with Id strongly synergized attraction. A combination of EM and Id at a release rate equivalent to 100–200 males was more attractive in the field than 70 unmated males in a spruce log. The addition of myrcene ( a suggested pheromone precursor of Id) to Id did not enhance trap caches, while addition of EM increased catches > 10-fold. Subtracting EM from a blend of Id, EM, cV and MB drastically reduced trap catches while subtraction of cV or MB or both had no significant effect. Addition of EM over a wide concentration range to the synthetic pheromone ofI. typographus did not reduce the attraction of females of this species in the laboratory. A two-species pheromone interaction field test releasingI. typographus pheromone components (MB + cV) at 10–1000 male equivalents (ME) andI. duplicatus pheromone (Id + EM) at 0, 10–1000 ME in all possible combinations showed both positive intraspecific dose-response effects and an interspecific inhibition. Higher release rates of EM appeared to inhibitI. typographus, especially males. In a tree colonization model, the response of the two competing species to their respective pheromones show a good separation during the mass-attack with a small initial cross-attraction. It remains to be shown whether either of the two pheromone systems have in fact evolved in the present sympatry, or if they are an incidental effect of ancestry of these phylogenetically distantIps.  相似文献   

18.
The most frequently investigated defence mechanism among larvae of tortoise beetles is protection by faecal shields, which generally present chemicals that are directly sequestered and/or modified from larval host-plants. In the present work we investigate the tortoise beetle Chelymorpha reimoseri that feeds on the leaves of Ipomoea carnea fistulosa (Convolvulaceae), seeking for the importance of this mechanism to their larvae. We show that 4th instar larvae suffer low predation regardless of the presence of shields in field and laboratory bioassays with ants and chicks. Chloroform extract from larvae without shields provided high protection against predation as shown in bioassays in the field, as well as against chicks, suggesting that C. reimoseri does not rely on the shield for protection. The aqueous extract of the shields did not show activity in such bioassays. The compounds responsible for this protection have yet to be identified, and it remains an open question as to whether they are sequestered from the host plant or de novo biosynthesized. This is the first record of chemical defence in cassidine beetles without the need for faecal shields. These findings indicate that more attention should be paid to chemicals present in the tissues of larvae and/or adults of tortoise beetles; the protective compounds sequestered from host plants or de novo biosynthesized can provide an alternative or complementary strategy against predation in these insects.  相似文献   

19.
We experimentally studied the relative importance of plumage, dominance status, and courtship behavior in determining male pairing success in the northern pintail Anas acuta and assessed whether these traits function in female choice, male-male competition or both. In an experiment (experiment IA) that eliminated the confounding effects of male-male competition and social courtship, females chose males with pure white breasts and colorful scapular feathers. When the same group of birds were free to interact (experiment 1B), male behavior was more important: females chose males that courted them intensely and were attentive to them, although preferred males again had whiter breasts and more colorful scapulars. In a second experiment (experiment 2), testing the effect of age on pairing success, females showed a significant preference for 2-year-old males over yearlings: 2-year-old males courted more and were more attentive to the female than yearlings; they were also more colorful than yearlings in a number of plumage measurements. Although males (in both experiments 1B and 2) were aggressive to one another while courting the female and dominant males were sometimes able to exclude subordinates from social courtship, contrary to expectation, we found no relationship between initial dominance rank and pairing success or dominance rank and age. In addition, dominance was not correlated with any of the morphological traits measured. Once chosen, however, subordinate males typically initiated fights with the higher-ranked male(s) and quickly achieved dominance. These results suggest that (1) females choose males based on a suite of morphological and behavioral characteristics, (2) male dominance relationships do not constrain active female choice, (3) a male's position in a dominance hierarchy is largely a result rather than a cause of female choice, and (4) female choice plays a more significant role than male-male competition in the evolution of several secondary sexual traits in male northern pintails.  相似文献   

20.
Summary The attraction of Old World leaf beetles in the genusAulacophora to kairomones and parakairomones which are effective lures for New WorldDiabrotica andAcalymma were investigated. Beetles captured on sticky traps baited with single and multicomponent lures were no different from the control traps for two species ofAulacophora. Yellow colored traps and squash blossoms are attractive toAulacophora beetles which detect sub-microgram quantities of cucurbitacins on silica gel. Leaf feeding behavior and flight activity data are correlated with varietal preference of threeAulacophora species. The common response byDiabrotica andAulacophora to cucurbitacins reinforces the two groups' coevolutionary association with the Cucurbitaceae. The apparent lack of a common response toCucurbita blossom volatiles suggests recent evolutionary pathways are substantially different for these two groups of beetles.  相似文献   

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