scholarly journals Silk-borne chemicals of spider nuptial gifts elicit female gift acceptance

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Beyer ◽  
Julia Mangliers ◽  
Cristina Tuni
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Spider Silk ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Active Components ◽  
Nuptial Gifts ◽  
Successful Mating ◽  
Pisaura Mirabilis ◽  
Female Responses

Chemical communication is important in a reproductive context for conveying information used for mate recognition and/or assessment during courtship and mating. Spider silk is a common vehicle for chemical communication between the sexes. However, despite being well described in females, male silk-borne chemicals remain largely unexplored. Males of the spider Pisaura mirabilis silk-wrap prey (i.e. nuptial gifts) that is offered to females during courtship and eaten by the female during mating. Interestingly, rejected males often add more silk to their gift which leads to successful mating, suggesting the presence of silk-borne chemicals that facilitate female gift acceptance. To test this hypothesis, we offered females standardized gifts covered with male silk that was either washed in solvents or unwashed, respectively, to remove or not any chemically active components. We scored female gift acceptance, and as expected in the case chemicals that mediate female mating behaviour are present in male silk, females were more likely to accept gifts covered with unwashed silk. Our findings suggest that silk-borne chemicals of nuptial gifts prime female responses, potentially signalling male quality or manipulating females into mating beyond their interests given the occurrence of male cheating behaviour via nutritionally worthless gifts in this system.

scholarly journals The shield effect: nuptial gifts protect males against pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 20151082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Toft ◽  
Maria J. Albo
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Female Aggression ◽  
Sexual Cannibalism ◽  
Nuptial Gift ◽  
Nuptial Gifts ◽  
Spider Species ◽  
Pisaura Mirabilis

Several not mutually exclusive functions have been ascribed to nuptial gifts across different taxa. Although the idea that a nuptial prey gift may protect the male from pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism is attractive, it has previously been considered of no importance based on indirect evidence and rejected by experimental tests. We reinvestigated whether nuptial gifts may function as a shield against female attacks during mating encounters in the spider Pisaura mirabilis and whether female hunger influences the likelihood of cannibalistic attacks. The results showed that pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism was enhanced when males courted without a gift and this was independent of female hunger. We propose that the nuptial gift trait has evolved partly as a counteradaptation to female aggression in this spider species.

Recognition of Mates in the Portuguese Millipede, Ommatoiulus-Moreletii

1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 837 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Carey ◽  
CM Bull
Keyword(s):  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
Mating Activity ◽  
Petri Dishes ◽  
Chemical Secretion

The mating behaviour of the Portuguese millipede, Ommatoiulus moreletii, was observed in the laboratory. Male attention towards females appeared to be initiated on contact. Mating activity was more frequent in the night phase of the photoperiod and was not inhibited by darkness. This suggested that a visual signal was not important in mate recognition. Females without antennae mated readily, but males without antennae did not, which suggests that males use their antennae to recognise females. Experiments in T-mazes and petri dishes showed that males were not attracted towards females, nor did they increase activity in the presence of females they could not touch, which implied that an airborne signal such as a volatile pheromone was not used. It was concluded that males use some characteristic of the female cuticle, possibly a chemical secretion, to recognise mates.

scholarly journals Atypical mating in a scorpionfly without a notal organ

2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Zhong ◽  
Zi-Yi Qi ◽  
Bao-Zhen Hua
Keyword(s):  
Structural Foundation ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Salivary Glands ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Salivary Secretion ◽  
Mating Pattern ◽  
Nuptial Gifts ◽  
Female Resistance ◽  
Male And Female

Firm coupling of genitalia is critical for copulation in most groups of insects. To counter female resistance that usually breaks off genital connection, male scorpionflies (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) usually provide nuptial gifts for the female and seize their mates with grasping devices. The notal organ, a modified clamp on tergum III of male scorpionflies, plays a significant role in seizing the female wings and helping maintain mating position during copulation. The mating behaviour remains unknown for the scorpionfly Furcatopanorpa longihypovalva (Hua and Cai, 2009) whose male lacks a notal organ. In this paper, we first attempt to study the mating behaviour of F. longihypovalva. The results show that the male provides liquid salivary secretion through a mouth-to-mouth mode for the female, and maintains copulation mainly by continuous provision of salivary secretion rather than by seizing the female with grasping devices. Thus the male copulates with the female in an atypical O-shaped position, with only their mouthparts and genitalia connected to each other. The salivary glands exhibit remarkable sexual dimorphism: short and bifurcated in the female, but well-developed and multi-furcated in the male. The extremely developed salivary glands of the male lay a structural foundation for the male to continuously provide liquid salivary secretion, and to help the male to mediate female resistance, being likely to serve as a compensation to his absence of the notal organ. We also investigated the functional morphology and copulatory mechanism of the male and female genitalia. The evolution of the atypical mating pattern of F. longihypovalva is putatively discussed as an adaptation in the context of sexual conflict.

scholarly journals Chemical communication in horse-chestnut leafminer Cameraria ohridella Deschka & Dimić.

1999 ◽  
Vol 35 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 10-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Svatoš ◽  
B. Kalinová ◽  
M. Hoskovec ◽  
J. Kindl ◽  
i. Hrdý
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Horse Chestnut ◽  
Active Components ◽  
Behavioural Bioassay ◽  
Hexane Extracts

Females of the horse-chestnut leafminer Cameraria ohridella Deschka & Dimić (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) produce a highly attractive sex pheromone in the early photophase. The pheromone, luring conspecific males into Delta traps baited with females, is produced in the female abdominal tip (ca 10–50 pg per calling female) and the active components can be extracted with hexane. Both dissected tips and their hexane extracts show high attractiveness for C. ohridella males in a wind tunnel behavioural bioassay. According to electrophysiologic recordings the male antennae are notably sensitive to both dissected female abdomens and extracts from them. The strong attractiveness of the pheromone may be useful in control of this pest. 

Mating Behaviour and Its Relationship To Territoriality in Platycypha Caligata (Selys) (Odonata: Chlorocyphidae)

Behaviour ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh M. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Oviposition Site ◽  
Mountain Streams ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Territorial Defence ◽  
Central Sequence ◽  
Successful Mating ◽  
Calopteryx Maculata ◽  
Oviposition Sites

AbstractThe damselfly Platycypha caligata has males with abdomens coloured blue dorsally, and laterally expanded tibiae coloured white anteriorly and red posteriorly. The females are cryptically brown coloured. The males are strongly territorial and centre their territories around potential oviposition sites (driftwood or treeroots in the water). Territorial interactions involve a complex, hierarchical series of flights which include flash displays of the white and red surfaces of the tibiae. Most successful mating interactions followed a central sequence: (1) a male intercepts a female passing through his territory, (2) by displaying his blue abdomen behind him he attracts her to his oviposition site, (3) she lands and makes probing oviposition movements on it, apparently testing its suitability for oviposition (possibly on the basis of softness), while he courts her by displaying his white tibiae while hovering around her, (4) if she accepts the site she flies up slowly, perches, and they copulate, whereafter he returns her in tandem to the site to oviposit. Females apparently rejecting the site decamped rapidly. Sometimes males courting already ovipositing females were successful. All other interactions, especially those away from oviposition sites were unsuccessful (only 104 of 564 observed interactions led to copulation). This mating behaviour is compared with that of other Odonata, and especially Calopteryx maculata. It is speculated that the evolution of this female choice of oviposition site prior to mating and the elaborate male courtship resulted from male territorial defence of the only available suitable oviposition sites. The adaptation of Platycypha caligata to oviposition on driftwood and treeroots (the discreet, scarce, defendable sites invoked as the first step in this theory) may have been associated with their occupation of mountain streams which have no emergent vegetation.

scholarly journals Successful mating and hybridisation in two closely related flatworm species despite significant differences in reproductive morphology and behaviour

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pragya Singh ◽  
Daniel Ballmer ◽  
Max Laubscher ◽  
Lukas Schärer
Keyword(s):  
Parental Species ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
F1 Hybrids ◽  
Reproductive Barriers ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Mating Rate ◽  
Successful Mating ◽  
Gradual Process ◽  
Morphological Differences

AbstractSpeciation is usually a gradual process, in which reproductive barriers between two species accumulate over time. Reproductive traits, like genital morphology and mating behaviour, are some of the fastest diverging characters and can serve as reproductive barriers. The free-living flatworm Macrostomum lignano, an established model for studying sex in hermaphrodites, and its congener M. janickei are closely related, but differ substantially in their male intromittent organ (stylet) morphology. Here, we examine whether these morphological differences are accompanied by differences in behavioural traits, and whether these could represent barriers to successful mating and hybridization between the two species. Our data shows that the two species differ in many aspects of their mating behaviour, with M. janickei having a five-fold longer copulation duration, copulating less frequently, and having a longer and more delayed suck behaviour (a postcopulatory behaviour likely involved in sexual conflict). Interestingly, and despite these significant morphological and behavioural differences, the two species mate readily with each other in heterospecific pairings, often showing behaviours of intermediate duration. Although both species have similar fecundity in conspecific pairings, the heterospecific pairings revealed clear postmating barriers, as only few heterospecific pairings produced F1 hybrids. These hybrids had a stylet morphology that was intermediate between that of the parental species, and they could successfully backcross to both parental species. Finally, in a mate choice experiment we tested if the worms preferentially mated with conspecifics over heterospecifics, since such a preference could represent a premating barrier. Interestingly, the experiment showed that the nearly two-fold higher mating rate of M. lignano caused it to mate more with conspecifics, leading to assortative mating, while M. janickei ended up mating more with heterospecifics. Thus, while the two species can hybridize, the mating rate differences could possibly lead to higher fitness costs for M. janickei compared to M. lignano.

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