Costs influences sequential mate choice in sticklebacks,
            Gasterosteus aculeatus

Plasticity, both within and across generations, can shape sexual traits involved in mate choice and reproductive success, and thus direct measures of fitness. Especially, transgenerational plasticity (TGP), where parental environment influences offspring plasticity in future environments, could compensate for otherwise negative effects of environmental change on offspring sexual traits. We conducted a mate choice experiment using stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) with different thermal histories (ambient 17°C or elevated 21°C) within and across generations under simulated ocean warming using outdoor mesocosms. Parentage analysis of egg clutches revealed that maternal developmental temperature and reproductive (mesocosm) environment affected egg size, with females that developed at 17°C laying smaller eggs in 21°C mesocosms, likely owing to metabolic costs at elevated temperature. Paternal developmental temperature interacted with the reproductive environment to influence mating success, particularly under simulated ocean warming, with males that developed at 21°C showing lower overall mating success compared with 17°C males, but higher mating success in 21°C mesocosms. Furthermore, mating success of males was influenced by the interaction between F1 developmental temperature and F0 parent acclimation temperature, demonstrating the potential role of both TGP and within-generation plasticity in shaping traits involved in sexual selection and mate choice, potentially facilitating rapid responses to environmental change. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of plasticity in phenotypic adaptation to rapid environmental change’.

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The ethological basis of mate choice in male threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/s0003-3472(89)80070-3 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 112-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

William J. Rowland

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽

Threespine Sticklebacks

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Carotenoids, oxidative stress and female mating preference for longer lived males

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2007.0317 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 274 (1618) ◽

pp. 1591-1596 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

Thomas W Pike ◽

Jonathan D Blount ◽

Bjørn Bjerkeng ◽

Jan Lindström ◽

Neil B Metcalfe

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Mating Preference ◽

Implicit Assumption ◽

Sexual Ornaments ◽

Sexual Ornament ◽

Breeding Attempt ◽

Rate Of Ageing

Some of the most spectacular exaggerated sexual ornaments are carotenoid dependent. It has been suggested that such ornaments have evolved because carotenoid pigments are limiting for both signal expression and in their role as antioxidants and immunostimulants. An implicit assumption of this hypothesis is that males which can afford to produce more elaborate carotenoid-dependent displays are signalling their enhanced ability to resist parasites, disease or oxidative stress and hence would be predicted to live longer. Therefore, in species with carotenoid-dependent ornaments where a parent's future longevity is crucial for determining offspring survival, there should be a mating preference for partners that present the lowest risk of mortality during the breeding attempt, as signalled by the ability to allocate carotenoids to sexual displays. In an experimental study using three-spined sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ), we show that when dietary carotenoid intake is limited, males attempt to maintain their sexual ornament at the expense of body carotenoids and hence suffer from reduced reproductive investment and a shorter lifespan. These males also suffer from an increased susceptibility to oxidative stress, suggesting that this may constitute the mechanism underlying the increased rate of ageing. Furthermore, in pairwise mate-choice trials, females preferred males that had a greater access to carotenoids and chance of surviving the breeding season, suggesting that females can make adaptive mate choice decisions based on a male's carotenoid status and potential future longevity.

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Male fiddler crabs prefer conspecific females during simultaneous, but not sequential, mate choice

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.01.009 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 81 (4) ◽

pp. 775-778 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Isobel Booksmythe ◽

Michael D. Jennions ◽

Patricia R.Y. Backwell

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Fiddler Crabs ◽

Sequential Mate Choice

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Density-dependent plasticity of sequential mate choice in a bushcricket (Orthoptera:Tettigoniidae)

Australian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1071/zo06105 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 123 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Gerlind U. C. Lehmann

Keyword(s):

Population Density ◽

Mate Choice ◽

High Density ◽

High Population Density ◽

Mating Period ◽

Search Behaviour ◽

Accessory Glands ◽

Sequential Mate Choice ◽

Mate Sampling ◽

Copulation Attempt

Mate choice is a common phenomenon in animals and several factors have been proposed as being involved in the acceptance or rejection of a partner. I investigated the effect of population density on the mate-sampling behaviour of female Xederra charactus (bushcrickets). In my study, female bushcrickets adjusted the tactic of sequential mate sampling in response to mate density, visiting a series of up to five different males per night. Under low-density conditions, females visited fewer males in a night and were less likely to reject a copulation attempt than females under high-density conditions. Rejection of a male occurred during 29% of copulations in areas of high population density, but during only 8% in areas of low population density. Moreover, at low densities, females were less likely to reject mates later in the night, which can be interpreted as a reaction to the time constraints of a finite nightly mating period. Females in high-density populations also more often chose males with a higher mass of the spermatophore-producing accessory glands. Due to such choice, females might receive a larger nuptial gift at mating. These results are consistent with tactical models of search behaviour in which females adjust their behaviour to the number of potential mates and the length of the mating period.

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