The relative costs and benefits of territorial defense and the two conditional male mating tactics in the Comanche Springs pupfish ( Cyprinodon elegans )

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Leiser ◽  
Murray Itzkowitz
Keyword(s):  
Male Mating ◽  
Territorial Defense ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Cyprinodon Elegans

scholarly journals Flexible mating tactics and associated reproductive effort during the rutting season in male reindeer (Rangifer tarandus, L. 1758)

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 802-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliana Pintus ◽  
Stefania Uccheddu ◽  
Knut H. Røed ◽  
Javier Pérez Gonzaléz ◽  
Juan Carranza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Mating Effort ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Mating Group

Abstract Polygynous males can change their mating tactics across their lifetime, but information is scarce on the flexibility of this trait within a given season and the relative costs and benefits of using different tactics. Here, we monitored individually marked male reindeer Rangifer tarandus and classified their mating tactics as harem-defense, sneaking, or mixed. The costs of the male reproductive effort were assessed using both direct (i.e. percentage of body mass lost) and indirect measures (i.e. activity patterns such as feeding, standing, and walking), while mating group size and reproductive success were recorded as mating effort benefits. Our results show that reindeer males may switch between the harem-defense and sneaking tactics throughout the same breeding season, providing further support to the notion that reproductive tactics are flexible in ungulates. The costs and benefits of male mating effort vary according to the mating tactic, reaching the highest values in harem-holders and the lowest values in sneaking males. Moreover, males who switched between the sneaking tactic and the harem-defence tactic tended to achieve higher mating success than males who consistently used the least costly tactic. Indeed, all harem-holders successfully sired offspring, whereas only two out of three mixed-tactic males sired one calf, and sneaking males did not sire any calves. In conclusion, our results show that reindeer males can modulate their mating efforts during the same breeding season by switching between the most costly harem-defense tactic and the least costly sneaking tactic, suggesting individual solutions to the balance between reproductive effort and mating opportunities.

scholarly journals Functional morphology of immature mating in a widow spider

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Sentenská ◽  
Aileen Neumann ◽  
Yael Lubin ◽  
Gabriele Uhl
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Storage Conditions ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Sperm Transfer ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Micro Computed Tomography ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Widow Spider

Abstract Background Mating generally occurs after individuals reach adulthood. In many arthropods including spiders, the adult stage is marked by a final moult after which the genitalia are fully developed and functional. In several widow spider species (genus Latrodectus), however, immature females may mate a few days before they moult to adulthood, i.e. in their late-subadult stage. While the “adult” mating typically results in cannibalism, males survive the “immature” mating. During both “immature” and “adult” matings, males leave parts of their paired copulatory organs within female genitalia, which may act as mating plugs. To study potential costs and benefits of the two mating tactics, we investigated female genital morphology of the brown widow spider, L. geometricus. Light microscopy, histology and micro-computed tomography of early-subadult, late-subadult and adult females were conducted to determine the overall pattern of genital maturation. We compared genitalia of mated late-subadult and adult females to reveal potential differences in the genitalic details that might indicate differential success in sperm transfer and different environments for sperm storage and sperm competition. Results We found that the paired sperm storage organs (spermathecae) and copulatory ducts are developed already in late-subadult females and host sperm after immature mating. However, the thickness of the spermathecal cuticle and the staining of the secretions inside differ significantly between the late-subadult and adult females. In late-subadult females mating plugs were found with higher probability in both spermathecae compared to adult females. Conclusions Sperm transfer in matings with late-subadult females follows the same route as in matings with adult females. The observed differences in the secretions inside the spermathecae of adult and late-subadult females likely reflect different storage conditions for the transferred sperm which may lead to a disadvantage under sperm competition if the subadult female later re-mates with another male. However, since males mating with late-subadult females typically transfer sperm to both spermathecae they might benefit from numerical sperm competition as well as from monopolizing access to the female sperm storage organs. The assessment of re-mating probability and relative paternity will clarify the costs and benefits of the two mating tactics in light of these findings.

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

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document