An experimental test of female choice relative to male structural coloration in eastern bluebirds

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.     

Fighting success and attractiveness as predictors of male mating success in the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus: the effectiveness of no-choice tests

Females are generally assumed to prefer larger, more dominant males. However, a growing number of studies that control for male-male competition have shown no correlation between dominance and attractiveness. Aggressive males can interfere with female mate preference either by physically coercing females into mating or by driving submissive males away and restricting mate choice. The most common method of assessing female mate choice is by using simultaneous two-choice tests. These control for male-male interactions, but usually interfere with physical and chemical cues involved in mate selection or alter male behaviour. They are therefore unsuitable for many study species, especially insects. Another method is the no-choice test that measures a females latency to mating when placed with a single male as an indication of male attractiveness. No-choice tests control for male-male aggression while allowing full contact between pairs (they allow actual mating to be directly observed rather than to occur based on a correlated behaviour). So far, however, no study has confirmed that males that entice females to mate sooner actually enjoy increased longer-term mating success. As such, the accuracy of no-choice tests as a method of examining mate choice remains untested. Here, we used no-choice tests on the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus, to show that (1) females did not prefer males that won fights (dominant males), and (2) latency to mating predicts actual mating success. We have clearly demonstrated the usefulness of no-choice tests and, considering the advantages of this method, they should be more often considered for a wider variety of taxa.Communicated by D. Gwynne     

Territory quality affects female preference in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish

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.     

Do female bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) mate multiply to improve on previous mates?

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.     

The effects of age and relatedness on mating patterns in thornbug treehoppers: inbreeding avoidance or inbreeding tolerance?

The social environment of many species includes synchronous maturation of siblings in family groups, followed by limited dispersal of adults from their natal site. Under these conditions, females may experience high encounter rates with same-age siblings during mate searching, increasing their risk of inbreeding. If inbreeding depression occurs, mating with a sibling is often considered maladaptive; however, in some contexts, the inclusive fitness benefits of inbreeding may outweigh the costs, favoring females that tolerate some level of inbreeding depression. We evaluated mating patterns in the treehopper Umbonia crassicornis, a semelparous species in which females encounter same-age siblings during mate searching. A female U. crassicornis that mates with a brother suffers from inbreeding depression. We used a free-choice mating design that offered females simultaneous mating opportunities with three groups of males: siblings, same-age nonsiblings, and older nonsiblings. These groups represent the types of males typically encountered by females during mate searching. Our goal was to assess whether mating patterns were influenced by inbreeding avoidance by evaluating two hypotheses: kin discrimination and age-based mating (older males cannot be siblings in this species). There was no difference in the proportions of females mating with siblings vs nonsiblings, suggesting an absence of kin discrimination. However, females mated with a greater proportion of older vs younger males. Given that females do not avoid siblings as mates despite a cost to inbreeding, our results provide a possible example of inbreeding tolerance. We also discuss some factors that may have contributed to the mating advantage of older males.     

Female sensory bias may allow honest chemical signaling by male Iberian rock lizards

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.     

Social network theory: new insights and issues for behavioral ecologists

Until recently, few studies have used social network theory (SNT) and metrics to examine how social network structure (SNS) might influence social behavior and social dynamics in non-human animals. Here, we present an overview of why and how the social network approach might be useful for behavioral ecology. We first note four important aspects of SNS that are commonly observed, but relatively rarely quantified: (1) that within a social group, differences among individuals in their social experiences and connections affect individual and group outcomes; (2) that indirect connections can be important (e.g., partners of your partners matter); (3) that individuals differ in their importance in the social network (some can be considered keystone individuals); and (4) that social network traits often carry over across contexts (e.g., SN position in male–male competition can influence later male mating success). We then discuss how these four points, and the social network approach in general, can yield new insights and questions for a broad range of issues in behavioral ecology including: mate choice, alternative mating tactics, male–male competition, cooperation, reciprocal altruism, eavesdropping, kin selection, dominance hierarchies, social learning, information flow, social foraging, and cooperative antipredator behavior. Finally, we suggest future directions including: (1) integrating behavioral syndromes and SNT; (2) comparing space use and SNS; (3) adaptive partner choice and SNS; (4) the dynamics and stability (or instability) of social networks, and (5) group selection shaping SNS. This contribution is part of the special issue “Social networks: new perspectives” (Guest Editors: J. Krause, D. Lusseau and R. James).     

Body mass and parental decisions in the Antarctic petrel Thalassoica antarctica : how long should the parents guard the chick?

In Procellariiformes, the parents guard the chick after it has attained homeothermy. This strategy may reduce the probability that a small chick is taken by predators, but is costly as only one parent can forage at a time. The decision to leave the chick may therefore be a compromise between the chick's vulnerability to predators, the body condition of the parent on the nest and whether the foraging parent returns in time. We studied how the number of days that parents guarded the chick was related to the body mass of the parent at the nest and the time the foraging parent spent at sea in the Antarctic petrel Thalassoica antarctica. We also examined how the body mass of the parent on the nest and the duration of the foraging trips influenced the chicks' body condition at the end of the guarding period. When the foraging parent did not return to the nest in time to relieve its mate, the number of days the parent on the nest kept guarding the chick was positively related to its body mass on arrival in the colony. The number of days the foraging parent spent at sea was positively related to the body mass of its mate, but those that returned in time had a shorter stay at sea relative to their mate's body mass than those that did not return before their mate had left. Apparently, both the body mass of the parent at the nest and the ability of the foraging parent to adjust its stay at sea to the mate's body mass is important for the number of days the parents guard the chick and also the chick's body condition at this point. The inability to return to the nest before the mate has left may be the result of needing a minimum amount of time at sea to find food, or because some parents having low foraging success and therefore prolong their stay at sea. Received: 10 October 1997 / Accepted after revision: 14 March 1998     

From eavesdropping on performance to copying the behavior of others: a review of public information use

Public information (PI), a form of indirect social information, is used by individuals to estimate the quality of environmental parameters. It can be acquired in two ways. One way is by noting the performance of others. The other way it can be acquired is by noting the behavioral decisions of other individuals. Performance-based PI has been observed most often in the context of food and breeding patch estimation, as well as by individuals eavesdropping on contests between others in the context of assessing the fighting ability of opponents and the quality of mates. Evidence for the acquisition of PI from behavioral decisions of others comes mostly from studies of copying behavior, although recent work suggests that it also occurs when individuals estimate the tendency of others to be altruistic. PI use appears to be widespread across many taxa, although most work has been conducted on birds and fish. Absent from the literature are clear examples of PI use in mammals. The use of PI appears to often depend on its cost of acquisition and whether it contradicts an individual’s personal prior experience. PI can be an important benefit of associating with others.     

Re-copulation and post-copulatory mate guarding increase immediate female reproductive output in the dragonfly Nannophya pygmaea Rambur

After copulation, male Nannophya pygmaea dragonflies mate guard by hovering over ovipositing females and repelling conspecific males. Copulation is not always a prerequisite for oviposition in the females of this species because females can store the sperm received during previous visits/copulations. An oviposition episode consists of several bouts of oviposition separated by periods of perching. We conducted two types of male-removal experiments to examine the effects of mating and post-copulatory mate guarding on the oviposition behaviour of females. In the first experiment, we removed all males from the habitat to eliminate the effect of re-copulation, mate-guarding and harassment by males. In the second experiment, we removed males immediately after copulation to eliminate the effects of guarding and other post-copulatory male-female interactions. We compared these experimental data with data obtained under natural conditions. The dipping rate in an oviposition bout was not influenced by copulation or guarding. However, guarded females made more dips per episode than did solitary females. The proportion of time actually spent ovipositing (total bout duration/oviposition episode duration) of guarded females was higher than that of solitary females. Solitary females often oviposited in more than one territorial site, while guarded females usually oviposited within a single territorial site during an oviposition episode. Because males tend to hold territories at sites where egg survival is high, guarded females (and the male guardian) benefit from guarding in terms of egg hatchability. The possible benefits for solitary females are discussed.