Sexual behaviour, reward, and brain function; sexual selection of behaviour

2005 ◽  
pp. 358-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund T. Rolls
Behaviour ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 152-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Michelsen

AbstractA description is given of the sexual behaviour of 16 longicorn beetles of the subfamily Lepturinae. The following points have been investigated:- 1. Stimulation of the female performed by the male either as a "licking" or combined "licking and tapping" of the female elytra or the grasping of an antenna of the female. 2. Movements of the antennae of the male, which seem to be an expression of the "state of excitement" of the male. These movements are in principle thought to be one of the behaviour patterns originally present in the order Coleoptera. 3. A "round dance", one of the methods for the female to throw off the male after copula, is described. 4. A selection of partner according to size is described in the genus Rhagium. 5. A comparative analysis is attempted for some species and systematic conclusions of such comparisons are proposed.


Author(s):  
Leigh W. Simmons

‘Sex roles and stereotypes’ examines the notion, implicit in many of the original ideas about sexual selection, that males and females have natural ‘roles’ with characteristic behaviour associated with each sex. It also explores further the reasons behind deviations from the ‘typical’ sex roles in mate choice and in mating competition. Are there ‘standard’ male and female roles in both humans and other animal species? One version of sex roles holds that males are generally dominant and females submissive, stemming from the way that sexual selection favours different behaviours in each sex. This could mean that sexual selection dictates particular behaviours in males and females. But in fact, sexual behaviour is extraordinarily varied in nature.


1993 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald S. Wilkinson

SummarySelection for increased and decreased ratio of eye span to body length was exerted on male stalk-eyed flies (Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni) from Malaysia using replicate selected and unselected lines. Response to selection was symmetrical. After 10 generations high line male eye span increased to 1·3 body lengths while low line male eye span declined to 1·1 body lengths. Realized heritabilities for eye span to body length ratio, estimated using regressions of deviations from unselected controls on cumulative selection differentials, were greater than zero for all four selected lines with average h2 = 0·35 + 0·06. The static linear allometric relationship between eye span and body length diverged between selected lines and rotated among selected line males in the same direction as among males in other sexually dimorphic diopsid species. Crosses between lines after 13 generations of selection indicate that the genes which influence relative eye span combine additively and do not exhibit sex linkage or maternal effects. The genetic correlation between the sexes, 0·29 + 0·05 as estimated by the regression of female on male change in eye span, did not prevent sexual dimorphism in eye span from diverging between lines. These results suggest that the exaggerated eye span of male C. dalmanni is maintained by natural selection opposing sexual selection rather than by lack of or asymmetry in additive genetic variation. Furthermore, the variation in sexual dimorphism for eye span-body length allometry observed among extant diopsid species is consistent with sexual selection of variable intensity acting on relative eye span.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1532-1535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Kotiaho ◽  
Rauno V. Alatalo ◽  
Johanna Mappes ◽  
Silja Parri

In the wolf spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata, males court females by drumming dry leaves with their abdomen. Females prefer to mate with the most actively drumming males, and courtship drumming activity is also positively correlated with male viability. However, body mass of the males seems to have only a minor, if any, effect on female choice or male viability. There is also no correlation between male body mass and courtship drumming activity. We studied the effect of body mass and courtship drumming activity on the outcome of agonistic encounters between male H. rubrofasciata. For this purpose, males and females were randomly placed in a plastic arena, where male courtship drumming activity and agonistic encounters were recorded. Large differences in body mass and drumming activity between two rivals seemed to independently increase the probability of the larger or more active males winning. We conclude that while courtship drumming activity affects the fighting success of the males, and body mass more so, male–male interactions may not be of major importance in sexual selection of H. rubrofasciata.


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