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1.
Ingo Schlupp Rüdiger Riesch Michael Tobler Martin Plath Jakob Parzefall Manfred Schartl 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(11):1849-1855
Female choice can often drive the elaboration of male traits, leading to the evolution of secondary sexual traits. In the
Mexican molly, Poecilia sphenops (Poeciliidae), some males exhibit a mustache-like structure on the upper maxilla, the function of which has not been previously
recognized. The mustache consists of epidermal outgrowths at the edge of the scales that appear to have no sensory function.
Trait expression varies within as well as among populations of P. sphenops, but is not linked to male body size polymorphism. In mate choice experiments, female P. sphenops exhibited a visual mating preference for males with mustaches, suggesting that the trait may be sexually selected. Since
the mating behavior of P. sphenops involves contact of the male’s snout and the female genital region prior to copulation, we hypothesize that the mustache
may also convey tactile signals to the female. 相似文献
2.
Black spots and female association preferences in a sexual/asexual mating complex (Poecilia, Poeciliidae, Teleostei) 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Michael Tobler Martin Plath Heike Burmeister Ingo Schlupp 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2006,60(2):159-165
We investigated whether female association preferences for males are influenced by black spot disease (BSD), a parasite induced change of the host phenotype. We compared three different species of fish: a gynogenetic hybrid species, Poecilia formosa (amazon molly) and two sexual species (Poecilia latipinna and Poecilia mexicana), which were involved in the natural hybridisation leading to the amazon molly. Contrary to their sexual relatives, asexual amazon mollies significantly avoided images of males infected with black spot disease. We propose that amazon molly females have direct fitness benefits from choosing healthy males. The adaptive significance of the preference for BSD-uninfected males in the asexual amazon molly is yet unclear but may involve avoidance of predation or parasite infection as well as increased sperm availability. 相似文献
3.
Female mate choice is a complex process involving both genetic and social factors. Extrinsic cues may play a role in determining how these factors interact. Mate-choice copying is a socially influenced mate-choice strategy in which females observe other females during mate choice and choose the same male as those females. Previous studies have shown that female sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna) prefer larger over smaller males, and this preference is assumed to be genetically based. In this study we tested, first, whether sailfin molly females changed their mate preference in favour of smaller males when they could obtain more information by observing two model females sequentially for 5 min each or one model female for 20 min next to the smaller male. Second, we tested if females that had changed their preferences in favour of smaller males maintained this learned preference afterwards. In copying experiments, females changed their preferences in favour of smaller males both when they could observe two model females each for 5 min near by a smaller male and when they could observe one model female for 20 min near the smaller male. In the latter case, females maintained this learned preference for smaller males up to 5 weeks after the copying experiment. This shows that mate-choice copying has a long-lasting effect on mate-choice decisions in sailfin molly females and that mate-choice copying can serve as a mechanism for cultural inheritance of mate preferences in females. 相似文献
4.
David Bierbach Vanessa Sassmannshausen Bruno Streit Lenin Arias-Rodriguez Martin Plath 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2013,67(4):675-683
Selection imposed by male competition (intrasexual selection) and female choice (intersexual selection) can be con- or discordant. Specifically, females may or may not prefer mating with dominant males, and direct costs of interacting with dominant (and possibly more harassing) males have been suggested to explain avoidance of dominant males. Here, we exemplify that inter- and intrasexual selection may normally act in the same direction, but can be temporarily conflicting when social information becomes available. Using video playback techniques, we presented females of the Mexican livebearing fish Poecilia mexicana with two size-matched males and established association preferences. Half of the females could then observe the same two males fight and establish dominance, while control females saw both males side by side, but physically separated, and female preferences were subsequently re-evaluated. Females in the control group showed a significant preference for future winners in the subsequent testing, confirming an innate or acquired preference for male traits that are indicative of physical superiority, even when body size as a choice criterion is excluded. When allowed to eavesdrop on male fights, however, females did not show a preference for observed winners and even decreased time spent with them relative to the control treatment in which no fight was shown. A subsequent experiment found contest winners to show elevated levels of sexual behavior, so we argue that the temporary offset of the intrinsic female preference for dominant males after having observed a fight is indeed driven by direct costs females expect from more harassing contest winners. 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.
When two closely related species are sympatric the process of species recognition (identifying conspecifics) and mate-quality recognition (increased fitness benefits) can yield a conflict when heterospecifics resemble high-quality conspecifics. Conflict in species versus mate-quality recognition may serve as a possible mechanism for the persistence of unisexual, gynogenetic Amazon mollies (Poecilia formosa). Amazon mollies require sperm from closely related species (e.g., sailfin mollies, P. latipinna) to start embryogenesis but inheritance is strictly maternal. When choosing mates, male sailfin mollies from populations sympatric with Amazon mollies may rely on traits indicating species identity rather than those indicating mate quality. Conversely, males from allopatric populations may rely more on traits indicating mate quality. Previous work has found that male sailfin mollies in sympatry exhibit a significantly greater mating preference for female sailfin mollies over Amazon mollies compared to males in allopatry. In addition, male sailfin mollies prefer to associate with and produce more sperm in the presence of larger conspecific females, which are more fecund. We hypothesized that male sailfin mollies experience a conflict in species recognition and mate-quality recognition in the presence of Amazon mollies that are relatively larger than female sailfin mollies. To test this hypothesis, we paired males from sympatric and allopatric populations with a larger Amazon molly and a smaller female sailfin molly. We scored the number of mating attempts that males directed to conspecific and heterospecific females. Males in most sympatric and allopatric populations demonstrate no clear preference for conspecifics. In addition, we found some evidence for a difference in mating preference between allopatric and sympatric populations with males from allopatry showing a greater heterospecific mate preference. These results indicate a conflict between species and mate-quality recognition. In sympatry this conflict may contribute to the persistence of gynogenetic Amazon mollies. 相似文献
7.
Martin Plath Katja U. Heubel Francisco J. García de León Ingo Schlupp 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2005,58(2):144-151
We examined the preference of Atlantic molly females (Poecilia mexicana) to associate with a well-fed or a starved male in simultaneous choice tests. Females from three different populations were tested in three treatments: (1) the females could choose on the basis of multiple cues from the males (visual plus non-visual); (2) only non-visual cues could be perceived in darkness, (3) only visual cues were presented. The three tested populations differ clearly in their ecology: one population occurs in a typical river habitat, the second one in a milky sulfur creek outside a cave, and the third population occurs in a cave habitat (cave molly). In the river-dwelling population, females never showed a preference. In the population from the sulfur creek, females preferred to associate with the well-nourished male when visual cues from the males were available. Only cave molly females exhibited a strong preference for well-nourished males in all treatments. A morphological comparison demonstrated that wild-caught males from river habitats are typically in a good nutritional state. In the sulfur creek, males showed signs of starvation. Cave molly males were in an even worse nutritional state. In the cave population, saturated males probably indicate high fitness, thereby driving the evolution of the preference for good male nutritional state.Communicated by K. Lindström 相似文献
8.
Fleur E. Champion de Crespigny Nina Wedell 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2007,61(8):1229-1235
The maternally inherited bacterium Wolbachia pipientis generates strong reproductive incompatibilities between uninfected females and infected males (cytoplasmic incompatibility),
significantly reducing both female and male reproductive success. Such fitness costs are thought to place selective pressure
on hosts to evolve pre-copulatory preferences for mating with compatible mates, thereby enabling them to avoid the reproductive
incompatibilities associated with Wolbachia. Therefore, uninfected females are predicted to prefer mating with uninfected males, whereas infected males are predicted
to prefer mating with infected females. Despite these predictions, previous investigations of pre-copulatory mate preferences
in Wolbachia-manipulated Drosophila have not found evidence of female preference for uninfected or compatible males. However, none of these studies utilised
a design where focal individuals are provided with a simple choice in a relatively non-competitive situation. We examined
both female and male pre-copulatory mate preference based on mate infection status in Drosophila simulans and D. melanogaster using simple choice assays involving between 30–50 replicates per treatment. Although we found no evidence of female pre-copulatory
mate preferences in either species, male D. simulans exhibited some preference for mating with females of the same infection status. However, this preference was not evident
when we repeated the experiment to confirm this finding. Consequently, we conclude that neither male nor female D. melanogaster and D. simulans exhibit significant Wolbachia-associated pre-copulatory mate preferences. 相似文献
9.
Male seahorses (genus Hippocampus) provide all post-fertilization parental care, yet despite high levels of paternal investment, these species have long been
thought to have conventional sex roles, with female mate choice and male–male competition. Recent studies of the pot-bellied
seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) have shown that sex-role reversal occurs in high-density female-biased populations, indicating that male mating preferences
may lead to sexual selection on females in this species. Egg size, egg number, and offspring size all correlate positively
with female body size in Hippocampus, and by choosing large mating partners, male seahorses may increase their reproductive success. While male brood size is
also positively correlated with body size, small H. abdominalis males can carry exceptionally large broods, suggesting that the fecundity benefits of female preference for large partners
may be limited. We investigated the importance of body size in reproductive decisions of H. abdominalis, presenting focal individuals of both sexes with potential mating partners of different sizes. Mating preferences were quantified
in terms of time spent courting each potential partner. Male seahorses were highly active throughout the mate-choice trials
and showed a clear behavioral preference for large partners, while females showed significantly lower levels of activity and
equivocal mating preferences. The strong male preferences for large females demonstrated here suggest that sexual selection
may act strongly on female body size in wild populations of H. abdominalis, consistent with predictions on the importance of female body size for reproductive output in this species.
An erratum to this article can be found at 相似文献
10.
Some mate choice theories propose that only male signals that are honest and condition-dependent can be stable, while another
hypothesis states that males evolve signals that exploit the sensory system of females. However, sensory traps might evolve
into honest signals if they are differentially costly for males. We tested whether a pre-existing sensory bias for food chemicals
explained chemosensory preferences of female Iberian rock lizards for male scents. We manipulated hunger levels of females
and found that food-deprived females had increased chemosensory responses to chemical stimuli from both invertebrate prey
and femoral secretions of males, but not to control water. Further tests suggested that cholesta-5,7-dien-3-ol (provitamin
D3), a lipid found in both prey and males’ scent, may be one of the chemicals eliciting these responses. Moreover, hungry females
spent more time on scent marks of males that had experimentally increased cholesta-5,7-dien-3-ol than on scent marks of males
alone, whereas for control females this effect was not significant. We suggest that preexisting sensory bias for essential
nutrients (i.e., provitamin D) may be the origin of similar female responses to male chemicals. However, previous studies
have suggested that the allocation of these chemicals to ornaments is costly and only high quality males can afford it. Therefore,
preexisting sensory bias for essential nutrients may further allow the evolution and maintenance of honest sexual displays. 相似文献
11.
Mark Pyron 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1995,37(6):407-412
Neither size nor breeding color correlated with spawning success of male orangethroat darters, Etheostoma spectabile (Pisces, Percidae), under natural field conditions. When females were presented experimentally with a simultaneous choice they spent no more time in proximity to large than small males, and were subsequently no more likely to spawn with large than with small males. Females also displayed no preference for bright versus dull males. Males and females did not differ significantly in size. Etheostoma spectabile may lack sexual size dimorphism as a result of the lack of female choice for size and the ineffectiveness of male attempts to monopolize females, or selection may be for increased size of females. Males are not dwarfs because of sperm competition. Contest competition among males appeared to be important in initiating spawnings but many males obtained spawnings by participating in ongoing spawning events. Etheostoma spectabile is an example of a sexually dimorphic species with no evident female preference for male size or color. 相似文献
12.
K. A. Spencer J. H. Wimpenny K. L. Buchanan P. G. Lovell A. R. Goldsmith C. K. Catchpole 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2005,58(4):423-428
Developmental stress has recently been shown to have adverse effects upon adult male song structure in birds, which may well act as an honest signal of male quality to discriminating females. However, it still remains to be shown if females can discriminate between the songs of stressed and non-stressed males. Here we use a novel experimental design using an active choice paradigm to investigate preferences in captive female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Nine females were exposed to ten pairs of songs by previously stressed and non-stressed birds that had learned their song from the same tutor. Song pairs differed significantly in terms of song complexity, with songs of stressed males exhibiting lower numbers of syllables and fewer different syllables in a phrase. Song rate and peak frequency did not differ between stressed and non-stressed males. Females showed a significant preference for non-stressed songs in terms of directed perching activity and time spent on perches. Our results therefore indicate that developmental stress affects not only the structure of male song, but that such structural differences are biologically relevant to female mate choice decisions. 相似文献
13.
Limitations to colour-based sexual preferences in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Female three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are suggested to select mates based on their red nuptial coloration, males with a redder display being more preferred. Although
there are both laboratory and field data to support this view, there are also published accounts where females do not show
a preference for the redder male. Here we report the results of a series of 19 trials where receptive gravid female three-spined
sticklebacks were allowed to choose between two size-matched rival males. We used photographic and image analysis techniques
to quantify male nuptial coloration to investigate how the magnitude of the colour difference between the two alternative
males influenced female preferences. Using the amount of time a female spent oriented towards each male as a measure of his
attractiveness to her, females were not always found to select the redder of the two presented males. We did, however, find
that that the relative difference in coloration of the two males in each pair was important in determining the level of coloration-based
preference, with females only selecting redder males consistently when the difference in coloration was sufficiently large.
Received: 26 October 1999 / Received in revised form: 10 January 2000 / Accepted: 13 February 2000 相似文献
14.
Craig A. Walling Nick J. Royle Jan Lindström Neil B. Metcalfe 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(4):541-548
Sexual selection acting on male traits through female mate choice is commonly inferred from female association preferences
in dichotomous mate choice experiments. However, there are surprisingly few empirical demonstrations that such association
preferences predict the likelihood of females reproducing with a particular male. This information is essential to confirm
association preferences as good predictors of mate choice. We used green swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri) to test whether association preferences predict the likelihood of a female reproducing with a male. Females were tested
for a preference for long- or short-sworded males in a standard dichotomous choice experiment and then allowed free access
to either their preferred or non-preferred male. If females subsequently failed to produce fry, they were provided a second
unfamiliar male with similar sword length to the first male. Females were more likely to reproduce with preferred than non-preferred
males, but for those that reproduced, neither the status (preferred/non-preferred) nor the sword length (long/short) of the
male had an effect on brood size or relative investment in growth by the female. There was no overall preference based on
sword length in this study, but male sword length did affect likelihood of reproduction, with females more likely to reproduce
with long- than short-sworded males (independent of preference for such males in earlier choice tests). These results suggest
that female association preferences are good indicators of female mate choice but that ornament characteristics of the male
are also important. 相似文献
15.
Peter D. Dijkstra Els M. van der Zee Ton G. G. Groothuis 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(5):747-755
Mate preferences on male colour have been implicated in generating and maintaining species diversity among haplochromine cichlid
fish. Their lek-like mating system suggests that not only male colour but also territory quality is instrumental in mate choice.
We assessed the relative importance of territory quality and male colour in mate choice by testing whether territory quality
can override the female preference for males of her own colour in the Lake Victoria cichlid genus Pundamilia. First, we showed in experimental groups that the dominant male preferentially monopolised a large tube relative to a small
tube. The situation mimics quality difference in rocky crevices that serves as a focal point for male courtship display. Second,
in mate-choice tests, Pundamilia nyererei females were allowed to choose between closely related P. nyererei and P. pundamilia males; these species differ strikingly in male nuptial coloration, but little else. We gave either both males the same small
tube or one of them a large tube. The preference of P. nyererei females for P. nyererei males in the control situation (where both males had a small tube) was significantly diminished in favour of P. pundamilia males when the latter had the large tube. The results provide experimental evidence that differences in territory quality
can override the female preference for males of her own colour. This finding is critical for a recent hypothesis proposing
that male competition for mating territories can facilitate the process of sympatric speciation by sexual selection. 相似文献
16.
Summary In some species of fishes with paternal care, females prefer to spawn with males already defending eggs. Such female preference appears to have resulted in adoption of unrelated eggs as a male mating strategy in several species. Page and Swofford (1984) proposed that such female preference may have also resulted in the evolution of male egg-mimics in several species of darters (Percidae); however, their hypothesis has not been tested. We examined female preference in the fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare) and found that females preferred males with eggs over males without eggs, and males with egg-mimics over males without egg-mimics. Thus it appears that female preference for males already guarding eggs may have led to the evolution of specialized egg-mimicking morphology in males. 相似文献
17.
Individuals of species that change sex from male to female may gain a “size advantage” from that sex change; that is, as males
become larger, they become female, thus increasing their fecundity with their size. However, males could also gain an early
and different reproductive size advantage by choosing large females as mates. While male preference for large females has
been observed in many dioecious species, we know little about male size preference in sex-changing species. In choice experiments,
we examined whether males of two congeneric species of marine sex-changing snails, Crepidula fornicata and C. convexa, chose large females over small ones as partners. We also used choice tests to see whether males of C. fornicata, a species whose members form long-term, multi-animal stacks, would choose two females in a stack over a single female. Surprisingly,
males of neither species showed a preference for large females, in spite of the documented fecundity advantage associated
with large female-size. Males of C. fornicata chose slightly, but not significantly, more single females than stacks, suggesting that neither number nor size drives mate
choice in these animals. Key factors that may influence this lack of size preference include long association time, the likelihood
of sperm competition, and the cost of extended mate search; it may also be that sex-change itself, the very factor that creates
female-biased sexual size dimorphism in these species, prevents size preference, as males may gain sufficient reproductive
advantage from eventually becoming large females themselves to offset any benefit of choosing large females. 相似文献
18.
Sabra L. Klein H. Ray Gamble Randy J. Nelson 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,45(5):323-329
Females may choose mates based on secondary sex traits that reflect disease resistance. Accordingly, females should be able
to distinguish between unparasitized and parasitized males, and should prefer to mate with unparasitized individuals. Mate
and odor preferences for uninfected males or males infected with the nematode, Trichinella spiralis, were examined among prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus). In a 15-min odor preference test, only female meadow voles distinguished between bedding from parasitized and unparasitized
conspecific males, and preferred to spend time with bedding from unparasitized males. Although T. spiralis infection influenced odor preference in female meadow voles, there was no effect of infection status on mate preference among
either species. Testosterone and corticosterone concentrations were not different between parasitized and unparasitized males.
However, among prairie voles, males that spent an increased amount of time with females during the mate preference test had
elevated testosterone concentrations. Taken together, these data suggest that (1) female meadow voles can discriminate between
unparasitized and parasitized males, (2) the effects of infection on steroid hormone concentrations may be masked by the effects
of social interactions, and (3) parasites may represent a selective constraint on partner preference in voles; however, the
life cycle of parasites may influence female preference and should be considered in studies of female preference.
Received: 23 April 1998 / Accepted after revision: 25 October 1998 相似文献
19.
Kathryn B. McNamara Julia L. McKenzie Mark A. Elgar Therésa M. Jones 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2012,66(8):1141-1147
Male mating status can affect female reproductive output if male ejaculate investment declines over consecutive matings. Accordingly, females are predicted to mate preferentially with virgin males. In mildly polyandrous lepidopterans, female fitness is less affected by reduced male investment than in more polyandrous species, and so the predictions for female mating preferences are less clear. We examined female mating preferences in the mildly polyandrous almond moth, Cadra cautella, in which ejaculate size does not affect female reproductive output. First, we allowed females to mate with virgin or once-mated males, in which the males were presented individually or simultaneously. We recorded the latency to mating and, in the case of the simultaneously presented trials, the identity of the successful, copulating male. We found that females mated more frequently with mated males (when simultaneously presented with both males), yet females did not differ in the time taken to initiate copulation with any male. We further examined if this mated male advantage was due to differential mate detection or locomotory behaviour of the male treatments. We tested the ability of virgin and mated males to locate a receptive female within a wind tunnel using long-distance pheromone cues and recorded their activity budget. We found no difference in the ability of mated or virgin males to locate or approach a receptive female, or in their activity levels. These data suggest a female preference for mated males in this species, a preference that may minimise other potential costs of mating. 相似文献
20.
Female choice of large males in the treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis: the importance of identifying the scale of choice 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Molly R. Morris 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1989,25(4):275-281
Summary In this study, I detected the presence of female choice for larger males in the treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis. Mated males were larger than unmated males at the scales females could have assessed males: local groups (males found within 2 meters of a mated pair) and the nightly chorus. In addition, females were observed to initiate amplexus with the larger males in local groups. Mated males were larger than unmated males for two of the four seasons studied. Seasonal mating success was also analyzed with a multiple regression model that included size and chorus attendance (nights spent at the breeding site). The partial selection coefficients, which represent the relative magnitude of directional selection, were significant for size in only one season and for chorus attendance in all four seasons. Therefore, there are two possible advantages to being a large male: increased likelihood of obtaining a mate due to female preference, and increased likelihood of mating even if no female preference because of a greater number of opportunities to obtain a mating if matings occurred at random. 相似文献