scholarly journals Does Size Matter? Mate Choice in Two Lekking Flies

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tulio Tejeda ◽  
José Arredondo ◽  
Francisco Díaz-Fleischer ◽  
Diana Pérez-Staples
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Anastrepha Ludens ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Similar Amount ◽  
Small Laboratory ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Size Matter

Abstract For insect pests controlled through the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which consists in the mass production, sterilization, and release of target insects into affected areas, sterile male mating success with wild females is the key that will reduce population levels in the next generation. Male size is assumed to be important for mating success, but often without any concrete evidence or confounded by other parameters. Here, we evaluated male size and its interaction with male origin (laboratory or wild) on female choice for two lekking species controlled through SIT, Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) and Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae). In field cages, we tested wild females mating with: large wild males competing against small wild males; large wild males against small laboratory-sterile males; and large laboratory-sterile males against small wild males. We found evidence of large male advantage for A. obliqua but no effect of male size on mating competitiveness for A. ludens. For A. obliqua large wild males had a greater mating success over small laboratory males, yet large laboratory males secured a similar amount of copulations than small wild males. For A. ludens, there was no effect of male size on mating success. We discuss why A. obliqua is sensitive to size and origin while no effect was seen in A. ludens. SIT programs should not assume that male mating success is dependent on a large size. Alternatively, when an advantage exists for large males, mass-rearing programs should stride to produce and release large males.

Does body size influence mating success? A morphometric study of two Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) fruit fly species

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mayren Sánchez-Rosario ◽  
Diana Pérez-Staples ◽  
Javier Valle-Mora ◽  
Daniel Sánchez-Guillén ◽  
Lorena Ruiz-Montoya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Anastrepha Ludens ◽  
Head Width ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Morphometric Traits ◽  
Wild Female

Abstract Male mating success depends on various traits and factors, and correctly identifying these traits can be key in the context of pest management. For tephritid pests, controlled through the sterile insect technique (SIT) traits, such as male size, can be manipulated through mass-rearing procedures. Thus, it is particularly important to understand whether male size can favor mating success. Here, we evaluated mating success of males of different sizes in Anastrepha ludens and Anastrepha obliqua, two species controlled through SIT. For both species, a morphometric analysis was performed of mated and unmated mass-reared and wild males in field cages. In both A. ludens and A. obliqua, wild females did not discriminate their mates based on male size and mated more frequently with wild males regardless of size. For mass-reared males, we found no evidence of an advantage of the large males compared to small males in mating success. However, we did find differences between the morphometric traits of mass-reared and wild males. In A. ludens, traits associated to mating success were Face Width (FW), Head Width (HW), Thorax Length (TL) and Wing Length (WL), and for A. obliqua were FW, HW, WL and WW (Wing Width). Overall, FW and TL were more consistent predictors of mating success. In conclusion, female choice seems to suggest multivariate selection, confirming that overall body size (expressed as pupal diameter, which is highly correlated with weight) is not a decisive factor in male mating success in these two species. However, morphological traits such as FW, HW, TL, WL and WW may be relevant in mating preference of wild female.

scholarly journals Alternative mating tactics and male mating success in two species of fiddler crab

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (12) ◽  
pp. 1403-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda L. Dyson ◽  
Patricia R.Y. Backwell
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Fiddler Crab ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Alternative Tactics ◽  
Mating Tactics ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Selection Gradients ◽  
Uca Annulipes

The use of alternative male mating tactics can determine the strength of sexual selection on male traits and have implications for sexual dimorphism. We examined size-based mating success in two species of fiddler crabs where males use each of two alternative tactics to obtain matings. InUca annulipes, larger males were more successful when using the primary mating tactic (burrow mating) but the full size range of males mated when using the secondary tactic (surface mating). InUca urvillei, both burrow and surface mating males were larger than the average sized male in the population. Standardised directional selection gradients indicated that selection on male size was stronger inU. urvilleithanU. annulipes, reflecting the differences between species in male mating success. Our results also showed that sexual size dimorphism was greater in the species with stronger sexual selection on male size than in the species with weaker sexual selection.

scholarly journals Does the winner–loser effect determine male mating success?

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 20180195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Harrison ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Megan L. Head
Keyword(s):  
Success Rate ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Gambusia Holbrooki ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Fighting Ability ◽  
History Of

Winning or losing a fight can have lasting effects on competitors. Controlling for inherent fighting ability and other factors, a history of winning often makes individuals more likely to win future contests, while the opposite is true for losers (the ‘winner–loser effect’). But does the winner–loser effect also influence a male's mating success? We experimentally staged contests between male mosquitofish ( Gambusia holbrooki ) such that focal males either won or lost three successive encounters with stimulus males. We then placed a size-matched (to control for inherent fighting ability) winner and loser with a female and monitored their behaviour ( n = 63 trios). Winners spent significantly more time associating with the female. Winners did not make more copulation attempts, nor have a greater number of successful attempts. There was, however, a significant effect of male size on the number of successful copulation attempts: success decreased with male size for losers, but size had no effect on the success rate of winners.

Levels of Female Choice in the White-Tailed Skimmer Plathemis Lydia (Odonata: Libellulidae)

Behaviour ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 119 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 193-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter D. Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Control Female ◽  
Female Mate

AbstractMale Plathemis lydia defend mating territories along the perimeter of ponds. Females come to ponds for brief periods of time every few days to oviposit. During these visits, females actively discriminate among males, rejecting up to 48.9 % of mating attempts. Males varied significantly in the proportion of attempts successfully leading to copulation. However, males that obtained more matings also experienced more rejections. Extensive analyses based on absolute male size, relative male size, and male size relative to female size yielded only marginally significant evidence of female mate preference based on body mass, wing length, wing loading index, or age; to the extent that any of these characters appeared to influence mating success, they similarly influenced refusal rates. The overall weakness of female mate choice is further suggested by the frequency of females ovipositing without prior matings and by the low frequency with which females remate with the same males. On a population basis, females strongly prefer to oviposit in the middle of the day and at particular parts of the study pond. Thus, females exhibit strong choice at several levels. However, despite the high incidence of active female rejection and high variance in male mating success, mate choice is apparently of minor importance in this population. Female discrimination of males, combined with variance in male mating success, are necessary but not sufficient for the action of sexual selection via mate choice. These findings support the prediction that male-male competition is of primary importance in resource control mating systems in which males are able to control female access to most or all favored oviposition sites. However, it is not clear why females generally fail to discriminate among males, given that they have the opportunity to do so. In general, females appear to have low motivation to mate with males, presumably because multiple mating does not significantly increase their fertility or fecundity. Selection for rapid mating may be significant, both because of predation on females during mating and oviposition and because of the risks for males of losing their territories during mating bouts. This time constraint may be the most important factor limiting female discrimination among males on the basis of consistent characteristics.

Longevity and Male Mating Success in Drosophila pseudoobscura

1981 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 1035-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Taylor ◽  
Cindra Condra ◽  
Michael Conconi ◽  
Mary Prout
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Drosophila Pseudoobscura ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success

scholarly journals ADAPTATION AT SPECIFIC LOCI. IV. DIFFERENTIAL MATING SUCCESS AMONG GLYCOLYTIC ALLOZYME GENOTYPES OF COLIAS BUTTERFLIES

Genetics ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-175
Author(s):  
Ward B Watt ◽  
Patrick A Carter ◽  
Sally M Blower
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Heterozygote Advantage ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Genotype Distribution ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Fitness Index ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Specific Variation

ABSTRACT Male mating success as a function of genotype is an important fitness component. It can be studied in wild populations, in species for which a given group of progeny has exactly one father, by determining genotypes of wild-caught mothers and of sufficient numbers of their progeny. Here, we study male mating success as a function of allozyme genotype at two glycolytic loci in Colias butterflies, in which sperm precedence is complete, so that the most recent male to mate fathers all of a female's subsequent progeny.—For the phosphoglucose isomerase, PGI, polymorphism, we predict mating advantage and disadvantage of male genotypes based on evaluation of their biochemical functional differences in the context of thermal-physiological-ecological constraints on the insects' flight activity. As predicted, we find major, significant advantage in mating success for kinetically favored genotypes, compared to the genotype distribution of males active with the sampled females in the wild. These effects are repeatable among samples and on different semispecies' genetic backgrounds.—Initial study of the phosphoglucomutase, PGM, polymorphism in the same samples reveals heterozygote advantage in male-mating success, compared to males active with the females sampled. This contrasts with a lack of correspondence between PGI and PGM genotypes in other fitness index or component differences.—Epistatic interactions in mating success between the two loci are absent.—There is no evidence for segregation distortion associated with the alleles of either primary locus studied, nor is there significant assortative mating.—These results extend our understanding of the specific variation studied and suggest that even loci closely related in function may have distinctive experience of evolutionary forces. Implications of the specificity of the effects seen are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Male competition and the evolution of mating and life-history traits in experimental populations of Aedes aegypti

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1904) ◽  
pp. 20190591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alima Qureshi ◽  
Andrew Aldersley ◽  
Brian Hollis ◽  
Alongkot Ponlawat ◽  
Lauren J. Cator
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Reproductive Control ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
Mating Conditions

Aedes aegypti is an important disease vector and a major target of reproductive control efforts. We manipulated the opportunity for sexual selection in populations of Ae . aegypti by controlling the number of males competing for a single female. Populations exposed to higher levels of male competition rapidly evolved higher male competitive mating success relative to populations evolved in the absence of competition, with an evolutionary response visible after only five generations. We also detected correlated evolution in other important mating and life-history traits, such as acoustic signalling, fecundity and body size. Our results indicate that there is ample segregating variation for determinants of male mating competitiveness in wild populations and that increased male mating success trades-off with other important life-history traits. The mating conditions imposed on laboratory-reared mosquitoes are likely a significant determinant of male mating success in populations destined for release.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document