Fluctuating asymmetry, interspecific aggression and male mating tactics in two species of Japanese scorpionflies

1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy Thornhill
Keyword(s):  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Interspecific Aggression

Fertilization dynamics of sperm from different male mating tactics in bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (12) ◽  
pp. 1638-1642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albrecht I Schulte-Hostedde ◽  
Gary Burness
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Motile Sperm ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Sperm Activation ◽  
Competition Theory ◽  
Sperm Density ◽  
Over Time

Sperm competition results in the evolution of ejaculate characteristics such as high sperm density, high motility, and fast sperm swimming speed. A fundamental assumption of sperm competition theory is that ejaculates with high motility and fast-swimming sperm have an advantage with respect to fertilization success. We tested this assumption by studying the fertilization dynamics of alternative mating tactics (cuckolders and parentals) of male bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, 1819). Sneakers (cuckolders) have faster swimming sperm and a higher proportion of motile sperm immediately following sperm activation than do parentals; however, these variables decline more quickly over time in sneaker sperm than in the sperm of parental males. We used a controlled fertilization experiment to test the prediction that parental males will have higher fertilization success than sneakers late in the sperm activation cycle because of the reduced rate of decline in ejaculate quality over time. We found that as the time from sperm activation increases parental sperm fertilizes more eggs than the sperm of sneakers. Our results support the idea that fertilization success is higher when ejaculates contain a higher proportion of either motile sperm or faster swimming sperm, all else being equal. In addition, after controlling for time from sperm activation, we found a significant bias in fertilization success toward parental males, suggesting that cryptic female choice might play a role in fertilization dynamics.

The dynamics of alternative male mating tactics in a population of Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix in the Italian Alps

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (4) ◽  
pp. 999-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Chamberlain ◽  
M. Bocca ◽  
L. Migliore ◽  
E. Caprio ◽  
A. Rolando
Keyword(s):  
Male Mating ◽  
Black Grouse ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Tetrao Tetrix

Female Choice Leads to a Switch in Oval Squid Male Mating Tactics

2017 ◽  
Vol 233 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Yen Lin ◽  
Chuan-Chin Chiao
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Mating Tactics

The importance of reporting the distributional criteria of FA

2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-624
Author(s):  
Sally Walters
Keyword(s):  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Target Article

Not all of the studies cited in the target article as evidence that fluctuating asymmetry (FA) predicts male mating success demonstrate that the observed asymmetry is, in fact, FA. FA is a population-level pattern of differences between sides. Unless the population-level distributional criteria of bilateral traits are reported, the meaning of asymmetry in individuals is unknown.

Satellites and Transients: Ecological Constraints On Alternative Mating Tactics in Male Grasshoppers

Behaviour ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 200-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Greenfield ◽  
Todd E. Shelly
Keyword(s):  
Host Plants ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Alternative Tactics ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Transient Behaviour ◽  
Resource Dispersion ◽  
Individual Host ◽  
Resource Patches

AbstractAlternative tactics of male mating behaviour, broadly classifiable as "dominant/ territorial" versus "subordinate/non-territorial", have now been described for numerous species. Furthermore, across diverse taxa the mating tactics of subordinate/non-territorial males often appear as one of two distinct types, satellite or transient behaviour. Despite general recognition of this dichotomy, though, little effort has been made to identify the circumstances under which one of these behaviours is adopted over the other. We compared the mating systems of two congeneric species of desert grasshoppers (genus Ligurotettix) to investigate specifically the role of resource dispersion in shaping the behaviour of subordinate males. The utility of the comparative approach derives from two basic similarities between the species: both Ligurotettix coquilletti and Ligurotettix planum feed almost exclusively on a single host plant species, and the majority of males in both species defend individual host plants to gain access to females. However, the two species are associated with host plants that are dispersed very differently; i.e., L. coquilletti encounter a small number of large plants and L. planum a large number of small ones. In L. coquilletti, subordinate males, individuals noted by their lack of success in aggression and in obtaining matings, were characterized as satellites that remained silent on host plants defended by territorial males. Subordinate males in L. planum, however, were transients that sang regularly but moved frequently among different host plants. We propose that this behavioural discrepancy results from (1) the large difference between the number of potential female encounter sites (i.e., individual host plants) available to the males of the two species and (2) the large difference between the sizes of resource patches defended by the two species, which influences the ability of dominant males to eject subordinates.

scholarly journals Size-dependent alternative male mating tactics in the yellow dung fly,Scathophaga stercoraria

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1671) ◽  
pp. 3229-3237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Pitnick ◽  
Kali R. H. Henn ◽  
Stephen D. Maheux ◽  
Dawn M. Higginson ◽  
Jorge L. Hurtado-Gonzales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Male Mating ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Scathophaga Stercoraria
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