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1.
Time constraints and multiple choice criteria in the sampling behaviour and mate choice of the fiddler crab,Uca annulipes 总被引:9,自引:0,他引:9
Active female sampling occurs in the fiddler crab Uca annulipes. Females sample the burrows of several males before remaining to mate in the burrow of the chosen partner. Females time larval
release to coincide with the following nocturnal spring tide and must therefore leave sufficient time for embryonic development
after mating. Here we show how this temporal constraint on search time affects female choosiness. We found that, at the start
of the sampling period (when time constraints are minimal), females selectively sample the larger males in the population.
Towards the end of the sampling period (when the temporal constraints increase the costs of sampling), females are less selective.
Furthermore, we suggest that the number of males sampled (and other indices of ‘‘sampling effort’’) may not be reliable indicators
of female choosiness and may not reflect the strength of female mating preferences under certain conditions. Burrow quality
also emerged as an important criterion in final mate choice. Burrow structure potentially influences reproductive success,
and mate acceptance based on burrow structure appears to involve a relatively invariant threshold criterion. Since there is
no relationship between male size and burrow quality, females are using at least two independent criteria when choosing potential
mates. We envisage mate choice as a two-stage process. First, females select which males to sample based on male size. They
then decide whether or not to mate with a male based on burrow features. This sampling process explains how two unrelated
variables can both predict male mating success.
Received: 23 March 1995/Accepted after revision: 14 January 1996 相似文献
2.
Matteo Pizzolon Maria B. Rasotto Carlotta Mazzoldi 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(4):521-528
Female ornamentation may be directly sexually selected, by male choice or female competition, or occurs as the result of a
genetic correlation, arising from sexual selection on males. However, increasing evidence supports the former hypothesis,
suggesting that males actively choose their partner preferring traits indicative of female quality. In the lagoon goby, Knipowitschia panizzae, a polygynous species whose males perform parental care to eggs, body length and the size of a sex-specific yellow patch
on the belly are known to be reliable indicators of female fecundity. In this paper, we tested, using dummies, the male’s
mating preferences for female body and yellow belly patch sizes. The two experimental trials in which a single female trait
was variable showed that males prefer a larger belly patch and a larger body size, indicating that both these characters are
selected by male mate choice. However, when faced with dummies exhibiting an inverse combination of body and belly patch sizes
(experiment 3), males significantly preferred the smaller ones with larger yellow belly patches. A calculation of dummy theoretical
fecundity reveals that in the first two experiments, males would have received an immediate benefit from their choice in terms
of egg number, whereas in the third one, males chose partners that would have provided them with fewer eggs. The male lagoon
goby preference for females with larger belly patches, regardless of their size, suggests that this trait, in addition to
indicating fecundity, conveys information about other aspects of female and/or egg quality. 相似文献
3.
Sexual signalling and viability in a wolf spider (Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata): measurements under laboratory and field conditions 总被引:4,自引:0,他引:4
Janne S. Kotiaho Rauno V. Alatalo Johanna Mappes Silja Parri 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,46(2):123-128
This study examined the crucial prediction of the conditional-handicap theory, the relationship between male sexual trait
size and male viability, in the wolf spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata. In this species, males court females by drumming dry leaves with their abdomen, and males with the highest drumming rate
enjoy highest mating success. We determined male drumming rate, body mass, and mobility, which reflects mate-searching activity,
in relation to male survival. Because it is often difficult to know how results obtained from laboratory studies reflect the
natural world, particularly when the measured variable is survival, we repeated our study in both laboratory and field conditions.
Males drumming at the highest rate survived better than males drumming at a lower rate in both laboratory and field conditions.
These results are in accordance with the predictions of conditional-handicap models of sexual selection. Survival was independent
of male body mass and there was no significant correlation between male drumming activity and body mass. However, large males
moved further than smaller males, and males moving longer distances lost less mass than those moving shorter distances. These
results suggest that, moving, and consequently mate-searching activity, may be a condition-dependent trait and that there
may be a advantage for large males in mate searching.
Received: 22 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 28 January 1999 / Accepted: 14 February 1999 相似文献
4.
Variance in female quality, operational sex ratio and male mate choice in a bushcricket 总被引:8,自引:0,他引:8
Male bushcrickets, Kawanaphila nartee, exercise mate choice when nutrients are limited. Male mate choice is associated with a female-biased operational sex ratio
(OSR) that arises from an increased relative paternal investment under nutrient limitation. However, increased male choosiness
could be attributable to the fact that females vary more in fecundity, and consequently in mate quality, when nutrient limited.
Our objective was to experimentally partition the influences of OSR (male or female bias) and variance in mate quality (high
or low) and to assess their relative influence on the intensity of mate choice by male bushcrickets. Female quality was manipulated
by controlled feeding regimes that directly affected female fecundity. We found that males and females engaged in sexual interactions
sooner under a male-biased than a female-biased OSR. Males were more likely to reject females on their first encounter when
variance in female quality was high. However, the effect of quality variance on the total number of rejections during a 4-h
observation period was dependent on the perceived OSR. A male's prior experience of variance in female quality did not influence
male choosiness. Our observed rates of mate rejection conformed well with those predicted from recent theoretical models of
sexual differences in choosiness. In conclusion, our results show that the opportunity for selection via male mate choice
is influenced by an interaction between OSR and the variance in mate quality that arises within nutrient-limited populations
of females.
Received: 5 January 1998 / Accepted after revision: 25 October 1998 相似文献
5.
Association patterns of sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna): alternative hypotheses 总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3
Caitlin Gabor 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,46(5):333-340
Individuals may associate with each other due to a variety of selective forces, such as intra- and intersexual selection,
and conspecific recognition. Previous studies have concluded that mate choice governs association behavior in polygynous species
of fish. I examined whether mate choice underlies the preference for larger individuals by examining preference for association
(time spent in proximity to a fish) not only between opposite-sex individuals but also between same-sex individuals of the
live-bearing sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna). Males and females from three size classes were tested with a large and a small object fish of the same and opposite sex.
Females preferred to associate with larger over smaller males. Males also preferred to associate with larger over smaller
females, as expected. The same female and male test fish also preferred to associate with larger over smaller fish of the
same sex. Moreover, females demonstrated no significant difference in their strength of preference (large–small) when offered
males or females. The same held true for males. When males and females were subsequently tested with one large male and one
large female, females tended to prefer large males while males showed no significant preference for association based on sex.
In another experiment, females were tested with a large female and a small male, and significantly preferred the former. These
findings suggest that association patterns may have arisen under a variety of conditions, such as predation pressures, shoaling
behavior, and associative preference behavior. The assumption that association behavior is a uniformly sufficient predictor
of mate choice in fish needs to be re-examined for P. latipinna and other species.
Received: 6 November 1998 / Received in revised form: 12 May 1999 / Accepted: 12 May 1999 相似文献
6.
Female distribution affects mate searching and sexual selection in male northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Mating systems and sexual selection are assumed to be affected by the distribution of critical resources. We use observations
of 312 mating aggregations to compare mate-searching success of male northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) in two marshes in which differences in mating substrate availability resulted in more than fourfold differences in female
dispersion. Reproductive males had significantly larger home ranges where females were dispersed than where females were clumped.
The number of females encountered by males increased significantly with male home range size where females were dispersed,
and decreased significantly where females were clumped. Where females were clumped, males were more likely to encounter other
males when they located females. We found no evidence in either population that mate searching was energetically expensive
or that males with relatively more energy had larger home ranges. However, males with greater fat reserves at the start of
the season participated in more mating aggregations when females were dispersed, suggesting that fat reserves could affect
a male’s willingness to attempt mating or to persist in aggregations. When females were dispersed there was weak stabilizing
selection acting to maintain male body size (β=–0.14), but strong directional selection favoring larger (β=0.50) and fatter
(β=0.37) males. Over 7 years, the intensity of selection favoring larger males varied substantially (β=0.14–1.15), but that
variation was not related to variation in the operational sex ratio. We found no evidence of directional selection on either
body size (β=0.05) or fat reserves (β=0.10) of males when females were spatially clumped. Overall, the distribution of females
had a pronounced effect on male behavior, on the factors that affected male success in locating females, and probably on the
extent of sperm competition once females had been located.
Received: 23 November 1998 / Received in revised form: 9 August 1999 / Accepted: 18 August 1999 相似文献
7.
Several experimental studies have shown that female birds use ornamental melanin and carotenoid plumage coloration as criteria
in mate choice. Whether females choose mates based on natural variation in structural coloration, however, has not been well
established. Male eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) display brilliant ultraviolet (UV)-blue plumage coloration on their head, back, wings, and tail, which is positively correlated
with condition, reproductive effort, and reproductive success. We experimentally tested the hypothesis that female eastern
bluebirds prefer as mates males that display brighter structural coloration by presenting breeding-condition females with
males of variable coloration. We conducted two types of mate-choice experiments. First, females chose between males whose
coloration was manipulated within the natural range of variation in the population; feathers were either brightened with violet
marker or dulled with black marker. Second, females chose between males with naturally dull or bright plumage coloration.
In both manipulated and unmanipulated coloration trials, female choice did not differ significantly from random with respect
to structural coloration. We found no support for the hypothesis that the UV–blue coloration of male eastern bluebirds functions
as a criterion in female mate choice. 相似文献
8.
S. D. Goldsworthy D. J. Boness R. C. Fleischer 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,45(3-4):253-267
When closely related species breed in sympatry, and where hybrids have lower fitness, reinforcement theory predicts that
selection should favour mechanisms that reduce the probability of interspecific matings. If this situation arises among species
that exhibit resource defence polygyny where males and females of different species reside in the same territories, there
may be some conflict between mate choice based on territory-holding ability (sexual selection) and mate choice for correct
species. We investigated this in a population of fur seals where three species are sympatric and where some females breed
in the territories of heterospecific males, and where interspecific matings and hybrid pups are observed. The territorial
status of males and the birthing sites of females were determined during daily observations, as were the movements of males
and females, the location of matings and mating partners. DNA extracted from skin samples was used to determine paternities
using DNA fingerprinting and the mtDNA genotype of individuals. Individuals were also classed on the basis of species-typical
phenotype. We found that extra-territory inseminations (ETIs) were significantly more prevalent (67%) when territorial males
and resident females were of different phenotype than when of similar phenotype (27%), but mtDNA genotype had no effect on
the rate of ETIs. ETIs were probably by males with the same phenotype, as pups born to these females in the following season
had the same phenotype as their mothers, suggesting they were not hybrids. These results suggest that within the resource
defence polygynous mating system of these sympatric fur seals, female mate choice is more influenced by male phenotype than
genotype. Contrary to our predictions, our study indicates that potential conflict between mate choice based on sexual selection
and species recognition is unlikely, because females have some capacity to discriminate between males both within and between
species on phenotypic traits additional to those under sexual selection. Although at least 25% of the pups born in this study
were hybrid, this study can only support reinforcement theory if hybrids have reduced fitness. The fitness of hybrids among
the species studied is currently unknown.
Received: 19 January 1998 / Accepted after revision: 12 September 1998 相似文献
9.
Facultative traits that have evolved under sexual selection, such as the acoustic ornaments present in the advertisement signals
of male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus), offer a unique opportunity to examine selection for trait exaggeration with a focus on individual differences amongst signalers.
By contrast, many studies of mate choice use experimental designs that obscure the inter-individual variation amongst signalers
available for selection to act on—through the use of “typical” or average signals from the population. Here, we use dichotomous
female phonotaxis choice tests to determine how the value of male call embellishment varies across 20 individual males frogs
recorded from the wild—a sample which captures the acoustic diversity present in the population. We tested 20 females for
each male call pair (i.e., 400 females). The results show widespread preference amongst females for ornamented calls (“whine–chucks”)
over simple calls (“whines”), yet also demonstrate substantial variation in the relative benefits for individual male frogs—some
males enjoy appreciable benefits by using ornaments while others (30% of males in this study) do not. We also show that the
relative amplitude of the chuck to the whine correlates positively with the value of call elaborations across these 20 males.
Finally, by manipulating the relative amplitude of whines and chucks using both natural and synthetic calls, we demonstrate
directly that this single call parameter is key to determining the relative value of call elaborations across males. 相似文献
10.
Commonly, female birds use the brightly coloured patches on males to choose the best-quality mates. Coloured wing patches, however, have received little attention or have been previously related to social behaviour (as a signal to recruit conspecific individuals at feeding patches) or foraging (to flush prey) contexts, rather than to sexual selection. Here we provide evidence that in siskins (Carduelis spinus), wing patches function in mate choice. Mate-choice experiments showed that females were attracted by the size of the yellow wing stripe of the male, but not by the size of its black bib, body size, general plumage brightness or age. Experiments on birds with manipulated yellow wing stripes showed that females were sensitive to the size of this colour patch, irrespective of other male qualities. The preference of female siskins for males with larger wing patches when searching for a mate may be explained by the relationship of this trait to foraging ability, which would ensure females good parental investment from the chosen male.Communicated by W.A. Searcy 相似文献
11.
Does female aggression prevent polygyny? An experiment with pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The female aggression hypothesis states that resident females may be able to prevent polygyny by behaving aggressively towards
intruding females. A critical test of the hypothesis is to provide prospecting females with a choice between displaying mated
males some of which have initial mates with artificially reduced levels of aggressiveness. Here we present a mate choice experiment
on pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca. The species is a cavity nester, and resident females were prevented from behaving aggressively by enclosing them within
their own nestboxes: narrowing the entrance hole so that they could not escape but could still let their head out and have
some contact with their mate. This treament had only a minor influence on male behaviour. We studied whether the experimental
males were better able to attract a new female than a control group of mated males. Four predictions from the female aggression
hypothesis were supported. (1) Mating success of control males was positively related to the distance between their primary
and secondary territory. (2) For experimental males, mating success was unrelated to interterritorial distance. (3) Experimental
males had higher mating success than control males when the interterritorial distance was short but (4) not when it was long.
Experimental males had much lower mating success than unmated males, as would be expected if prospecting females are able
to discover male mating status from cues other than visits by primary females to their mates' secondary nest sites.
Received: 5 January 1998 / Accepted after revision: 30 December 1998 相似文献
12.
Kathrin P. Lampert Ximena E. Bernal A. Stanley Rand Ulrich G. Mueller Michael J. Ryan 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2006,59(6):796-804
In most sexually reproducing animals, the behavior of one or both sexes during courtship critically influences the success
at mating of the opposite sex. This behavior is often interpreted as “mate choice,” and there is great interest in why such
choices are exercised. The explanation for the evolution of mate choice that has received the most attention and generated
the most controversy is based on assumed genetic effects. In this study, we investigated whether female túngara frogs, which
choose mates based on acoustic cues, have a preference for genetically less related males. Specifically, we determine if there
is disassortive mating based on microsatellite markers, if there is information in the advertisement call that could be used
to assess genetic similarity, and if females exhibit acoustic-based mating preferences that would promote choice for genetic
diversity. Using seven microsatellite markers, we found no correlation of male call similarity and male genetic relatedness.
Female choice experiments showed no female preference for calls of less related males, and there was no evidence for inbreeding
avoidance in the field. Our results do not support the hypothesis of mate choice based on information about genetic relatedness
conveyed by acoustic signals in túngara frogs. 相似文献
13.
Matti Hovi Rauno V. Alatalo Pirkko Siikamäki 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1995,37(4):283-288
Male-male competition is assumed to limit female choice of mates, but it may also help females to choose the most vigorous males. We studied the mate sampling behaviour of female black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) at spatially unstable leks on ice-covered lakes. In the absence of territories and site-dependence in outcomes of fights, the male dominance hierarchy is very evident on ice. When being courted by dominant males, females frequently tried to approach other males. This was frequently prevented because (1) the courting male and the approached male were involved in physical fight, or (2) the dominant male followed the female and the approached male escaped and avoided contact with him. These behaviours express dominance relationships, and the female behaviour could be considered as incitive. Rank in dominance hierarchy was a significant predictor of male mating success. In this case competition between males and female choice worked in parallel favouring male traits correlated with dominance. 相似文献
14.
Richard N. C. Milner Michael D. Jennions Patricia R. Y. Backwell 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(7):1419-1424
Non-independent mate selection occurs when the choice behavior of a female is altered by the interactions between other females
and males. In the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi, males court mate-searching females by waving their one greatly enlarged claw. When a female approaches a male, he initiates
high-intensity waving. We conducted one natural mate choice experiment and two mate choice experiments using custom-built
robotic crabs. We show that the decision of one female to approach a group of males increases the probability that another
female will approach and visit a male from the same group. We suggest that this behavior is best explained by the ‘stimulus
enhancement’ hypothesis, where the presence of a female near a group of males makes them more likely to be detected by other
females due to an increase in male display rate. 相似文献
15.
Robert Brooks 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1996,39(5):323-329
Models of sexual selection by female choice require heritable variation in female mating preferences in order for sexual
selection to operate. However, recent theoretical work shows that female preferences which are transmitted non-genetically
can result in exaggeration of male ornamentation. Guppies exhibit both mate copying and considerable heritable variation in
female preferences. I studied the importance of these phenomena by measuring repeatability of female mate choice, which acts
as an estimate of the upper limit to which a feature may be heritable, and the incidence of mate choice reversal in paired-trial
binary mate choice experiments. Mate choice was significantly repeatable except in the treatment where females were given
the opportunity to copy a female that contradicted their original choice. Apart from this, I found no evidence that females
copy the mate choice of others. The differences between males in ornamentation had no effect on the consistency of female
mate choice or the probability that they would reverse their original choice decision (in both controls and the copying experiment).
The interval between choice trials did not influence repeatability significantly, indicating that the independence of choice
decisions is not related to the time interval between them.
Received: 9 February 1996/Accepted after revision: 6 July 1996 相似文献
16.
Tom Tregenza Fathi Attia Saleh Salem Bushaiba 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2009,63(6):817-823
Differences among males in their success in achieving fertilisations when females mate with more than one partner are now
recognised as an important target of sexual selection. However, very few studies have attempted to determine whether particular
males are consistently successful in sperm competition and whether success in sperm competition is a heritable trait. Additionally,
the potential heritability of female traits that influence the outcome of sperm competition has received only limited attention.
Using the polyandrous beetle Tribolium castaneum, we examined repeatability of male success in sperm competition by mating pairs of males carrying different visible genetic
markers to a string of different females. Males showed consistency in their ability to successfully transfer sperm to females,
but not in their success in sperm competition. Furthermore, when we independently compared success in sperm competition of
fathers with their sons, we found no evidence for heritability of this trait. Similarly, females that exhibited high or low
first male sperm precedence did not tend to have daughters that showed the same pattern. Our results suggest that we should
be wary of assuming that success in sperm competition is heritable through either sex. 相似文献
17.
Why do female pied flycatchers mate with already mated males: deception or restricted mate sampling? 总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3
The polygyny threshold model suggests that females make an optimal choice between mated and unmated males. However; in birds in which males provide parental care, the fitness of secondary females is often lower than expected from this model. This has been explained by the deception hypothesis, which states that males hide their mating status and deceive females into polygyny. Yet there is no direct evidence that secondary females are unaware of male mating status when they settle. Alternatively, females settle with mated males as a result of mate competition and costs of searching. We used videofilming at nestboxes defended by males to study mate sampling of female pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca. The females visited on average only 2.74 males (range 1–8, n = 43). Most (16 of 19) of the polygynous matings occurred because females had only visited mated males, or the unmated males visited became occupied by competitors during the sampling period. Among females that could choose between both mated and unmated males, the majority (13 of 16) settled with unmated males. These results lend little support to the deception hypothesis but are consistent with the view that females are able to detect male mating status but sometimes settle with mated males because of cost of searching. Prospecting females seemed willing and able to suffer the cost of fighting with aggressive primary females in the males' secondary territory if no alternative mating options were available. In addition to male mating status, females took male quality (plumage colour, age) into account in mate choice but the former appeared to be the more important.
Correspondence to: T. Slagsvold 相似文献
18.
Hybridization is a widespread phenomenon in many vertebrate groups. Prezygotic isolating mechanisms, probably caused by selection against hybrids with reduced fitness, reduce the likelihood of such events. Although hybrid-reduced fitness relatively to parental species is common, hybridization can also be beneficial, and hybrids sometimes outperform the pure species type. In this study, we examined two potential processes, Hubbs’s principle and male–male competition, which could enhance hybridization in the waterfrog complex and thus explain the proportion of heterospecific pairs collected in a natural pond. Firstly, by collecting 791 frogs in the field to study pair and chorus composition, we showed that in a mixed Rana lessonae–Rana esculenta population, the scarcity of hybrid R. esculenta males did not account for the proportion of heterospecific pairs: indeed, when examining pairing composition in six different choruses, we found that hybrid males were always under-represented and that R. esculenta females were found paired with R. lessonae males. Secondly, we investigated experimentally whether or nor male–male competition mechanism could explain pair formation in waterfrogs. Our mating speed experiment highlights mechanisms that could explain heterospecific pairs in a context of promiscuous mating where scramble competition was intense. To measure the rapidity with which a male grasps a female, we placed males in a grid cage with a female, and the dynamics of pair formation was monitored. R. esculenta males showed a lower pairing success than R. lessonae males as a smaller proportion of them amplexed females, and more time was needed for them to get amplexed. Thus, a less adaptative mechanism than female mate choice may also explain the mating pattern observed in waterfrog species. 相似文献
19.
Contrary to classical sexual selection theories, females of many taxa mate with multiple males during one reproductive cycle. In this study, we conducted an experiment on the “trade-up hypothesis”, which proposes that females remate if a subsequently encountered male is potentially superior to previous mates to maximize the genetic quality of their offspring. We presented bank vole females (Clethrionomys glareolus) sequentially with two males of known dominance rank in different orders, i.e., either first subordinate and second dominant, first dominant and second subordinate, or two males that were equal in dominance (high ranking) and observed their mating behavior. We found that 92% of the females mated multiply and did not base their remating decision on male social status. Therefore, polyandry cannot be explained by the “trade-up hypothesis” based on dominance rank in this species. However, we found that dominant males sired significantly more offspring than subordinate males. This varied according to mating order: dominant males sired more offspring when they were second than when they were first. Moreover, litter sizes were significantly smaller when the dominant male was first (smallest relative success of dominant males) compared to litter sizes when mating order was reversed or both males equal in status. Our results suggest that even though multimale mating includes males that are of poorer quality and thus potentially decreases the fitness of offspring, most of a female’s offspring are sired by dominant males. Whether this is due to cryptic female choice, sperm competition, or a combination of both, remains to be tested. 相似文献
20.
Bart Kempenaers G. R. Verheyen André A. Dhondt 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1995,36(1):33-42
This study investigates the importance of mate guarding for males and females in the facultatively polygynous blue tit Parus caeruleus. We present observational data in combination with a paternity analysis using DNA fingerprinting to show that (1) male blue tits guard their mate, since they stay closer to their mate, initiate fewer flights and follow their mate more often during the female's presumed fertile period; (2) polygynous males do not suffer more from lost paternity despite lower mate guarding; (3) in monogamous pairs there is either no relation or a positive relation (depending upon the variable measured) between measures of mate guarding intensity and the proportion of extra-pair young in the nest; and (4) monogamous males that are more often followed by their fertile female suffered less from lost paternity. We conclude that, despite mate guarding, paternity seems to be largely under female control and unattractive males guarding their mate are making the best of a bad situation. Experimental evidence is provided showing that when males were temporarily removed from their territory, their mate suffered from increased harassment from neighbouring males that intruded in the territory and tried to copulate with the female. Almost all of these copulation attempts were unsuccessful because females refused to copulate. We conclude that mate guarding may be beneficial for females because harassment by neigbouring males is prevented. 相似文献