Alternative mating tactics in the Italian treefrog, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hyla intermedia</Emphasis> |
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Authors: | Sergio Castellano Valentina Marconi Valeria Zanollo Giulia Berto |
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Institution: | (1) Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell’Uomo, Via Accademia Albertina, 13, 10123 Turin, Italy |
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Abstract: | As in many lekking anurans, Italian treefrog males use two mating tactics: they can attract females by calling vigorously
or be satellites, that is, they can remain silent in proximity of a calling male and try to intercept females attracted by
their neighbour. We investigated the factors that affected the expression of this mating tactic. Consistent with the conditional
mating tactic hypothesis, satellites were smaller than average and smaller than their parasitised calling males. They spent
a larger-than-average number of nights at the breeding site, where most of them were also observed calling. Moreover, satellites
showed lower call rates and lower mating success than those of males they parasitise but not lower than those of males they
did not parasitise. Overall, these results, together with those derived from the analyses of the seasonal and spatial distribution
of males, provide evidence for a non-random association between satellites and calling males and are consistent with the hypothesis
that satellites have spectral and temporal acoustic preferences that parallel those of females. By adopting the less-successful
satellite mating tactic, competitively inferior males can nevertheless maximise their potential reproductive fitness by sexually
parasitising the most attractive chorusing males. |
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Keywords: | Conditional mating strategy Sexual parasitism Sexual selection Acoustic communication Mating success |
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