Dissecting the mechanisms underlying old male mating advantage in a butterfly

ABSTRACT Recent work has called into question the reality of the rare male mating advantage, pointing out that it could be a statistical artifact of marking flies for behavioral observation or of experimental bias in collecting males. We designed an experiment to test for rare male mating advantage that avoids these sources of bias. Large numbers of males of three Drosophila pseudoobscura karyotypes were allowed to mate with females of one karyotype in population cages. The females were then isolated before multiple mating occurred and their progeny used to diagnose the males that mated them. Populations were studied at five sets of male karyotypic frequencies. The mating success of the male homokaryotypes ST/ST and CH/CH, relative to that of the heterokaryotype ST/CH, was frequency dependent. Both ST/ST and CH/CH males displayed a statistically significant mating advantage at low frequency by comparision with their mating success in the midrange of karyotypic frequencies. Both male homokaryotypes also showed a significantly greater mating success at high homokaryotypic frequency than at intermediate frequencies, which is the same as saying that the heterokaryotype not only failed to show a rare male advantage but actually suffered a mating disadvantage at low frequency. We conclude that rare male mating advantage is not always an experimental or methodological artifact but does occur in laboratory populations of D. pseudoobscura. It may occur for some genotypes and not for others, however, and it may be only one of several forms of frequency-dependent mating behavior operating in a population.

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Density affects mating mode and large male mating advantage in a fiddler crab

Oecologia ◽

10.1007/s00442-010-1801-3 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 164 (4) ◽

pp. 931-941 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Pablo D. Ribeiro ◽

Pedro Daleo ◽

Oscar O. Iribarne

Keyword(s):

Fiddler Crab ◽

Large Male ◽

Male Mating ◽

Mating Advantage

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Small male mating advantage and reversed size dimorphism in poeciliid fishes

Journal of Fish Biology ◽

10.1111/j.1095-8649.1997.tb01367.x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 397-406 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

A. Bisazza ◽

A. Pilastro

Keyword(s):

Male Mating ◽

Small Male ◽

Size Dimorphism ◽

Mating Advantage ◽

Reversed Size Dimorphism

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Male-lure type, lure dosage, and fly age at feeding all influence male mating success in Jarvis’ fruit fly

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-72209-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Suk-Ling Wee ◽

Anthony R. Clarke

Keyword(s):

Mating Success ◽

Secondary Compounds ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Male Mating ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

Young Males ◽

Raspberry Ketone ◽

Physiological Importance ◽

Mating Advantage ◽

Mating Performance

Abstract Males of certain Dacini fruit flies are strongly attracted to, and feed upon, plant secondary compounds such as methyl eugenol, raspberry ketone and zingerone. The consumed lure is generally found to induce physiological and behavioural changes that enhance the mating performance of lure-fed males. Male Bactrocera jarvisi respond strongly to zingerone from a young age, but only weakly respond to raspberry ketone. We hypothesized that this selective lure-response would be reflected in the physiological importance of the lure to the fly. We found that zingerone feeding by young males resulted in significantly greater mating success in competitive mating trials with lure-deprived flies, but the mating advantage was lost in older males. Lure dosage had a significant effect on the duration of the mating advantage, for example when fed 20 µg of zingerone, the advantage lasted only 1 day post-feeding, but when fed of 50 µg zingerone the advantage lasted 7 days. Raspberry ketone feeding did not confer any mating advantage to males except at one dosage (50 µg) for 1 day after feeding. When given a choice, B. jarvisi females preferred to mate with zingerone-fed versus to raspberry ketone-fed males. This study revealed lure, dosage and age of fly at time of lure administration are all important factors for maximising lure-enhanced fruit fly mating performance. These findings contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the evolution of fruit fly-lure interactions and may help improve fruit fly pest management via the Sterile Insect Technique through semiochemical-mediated enhancement of sterile male mating performance.

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Persistent size variation in the anthophorine bee Centris pallida (Apidae) despite a large male mating advantage

Ecological Entomology ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2311.1995.tb00422.x ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 1-4 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

JOHN ALCOCK

Keyword(s):

Size Variation ◽

Large Male ◽

Male Mating ◽

Mating Advantage

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Virgin male mating advantage in a primitive acoustic insect (Orthoptera: Haglidae)

Journal of Insect Behavior ◽

10.1007/bf01053290 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 173-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Glenn K. Morris ◽

Darryl T. Gwynne ◽

Dita E. Klimas ◽

Scott K. Sakaluk

Keyword(s):

Male Mating ◽

Mating Advantage ◽

Virgin Male

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VIRGIN-MALE MATING ADVANTAGE IN SAGEBRUSH CRICKETS: DIFFERENTIAL MALE COMPETITIVENESS OR NON-INDEPENDENT FEMALE MATE CHOICE?

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/156853999500758 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 136 (10-11) ◽

pp. 1335-1346 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Tracie Ivy ◽

Scott Sakaluk

Keyword(s):

Mating Success ◽

Hind Wing ◽

Video Recording ◽

Time Lapse ◽

Female Mate Choice ◽

Male Mating ◽

Mating Advantage ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Virgin Male ◽

Cyphoderris Strepitans

AbstractFemale sagebrush crickets (Cyphoderris strepitans) feed on males' fleshy hind wings during copulation and ingest haemolymph oozing from the wounds they inflict. The wounds are not fatal and usually only a portion of the hind wings are eaten at any one mating, so that mated males are not precluded from mating again. However, based on their relative abundance in the population, virgin males have a higher mating success than non-virgin males. One explanation for this virgin-male mating advantage is that non-virgin males, having been depleted of their energy reserves through the wing-feeding behaviour of their mates, are unable to sustain the same level of acoustic signalling they produce prior to copulation. Previous assays of male signalling behaviour have provided some support to this hypothesis. However, an alternative explanation is that females actively seek out virgin males as mates because of the greater material resources they offer. If the acoustic structure of males' signals were systematically altered by the loss of hind-wing material underlying the sound-producing tegmina, females could potentially discriminate against mated males through reduced phonotaxis to their calls. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally removing one hind wing from virgin males, thereby simulating the non-virgin condition without the attendant costs of copulation. We compared the mating success of these 'asymmetrical' males with that of sham-operated virgin males when competing under natural conditions. In a companion laboratory study, we used time-lapse video recording to examine the possibility that female preferences are exerted only after pair formation has occurred. There was no significant difference in male mating success across treatments in either study. We conclude, therefore, that the virgin-male mating advantage does not stem from an acoustically mediated, non-independent female mating preference, but rather, from the differential competitiveness of males.

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