scholarly journals Fixed and dilutable benefits: female choice for good genes or fertility

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1727) ◽  
pp. 334-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel J. Tazzyman ◽  
Robert M. Seymour ◽  
Andrew Pomiankowski
Keyword(s):  
Simple Model ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Female Preference ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Direct Benefit

Benefits accruing to females who exercise mate choice have been defined to be either ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’. We suggest an alternative distinction: benefits can be considered ‘fixed’, meaning they are on average equal to all females mating with the same male (e.g. good genes' benefits) or ‘dilutable’, meaning they are shared between females mating with the same male, so that the more mates a male has, the lower the average benefit to each (e.g. fertility benefits or many forms of direct benefit). Using a simple model, we show that this distinction has a major effect on the form of female preference. We predict that mating skew will be far greater in species where the benefits are fixed when compared with those where the benefits are dilutable.

scholarly journals Conflict between direct and indirect benefits of female choice in desert Drosophila

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elen Oneal ◽  
Tim Connallon ◽  
L Lacey Knowles
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Desiccation Stress ◽  
Direct Benefit ◽  
Mating Preferences ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
Direct And Indirect Benefits ◽  
Opposing Effects ◽  
The Cost

Identifying the factors that contribute to the adaptive significance of mating preferences is one major goal of evolutionary research and is largely unresolved. Both direct and indirect benefits can contribute to mate choice evolution. Failure to consider the interaction between individual consequences of mate choice may obscure the opposing effects of individual costs and benefits. We investigate direct and indirect fitness effects of female choice in a desert fly ( Drosophila mojavensis ), a species where mating confers resistance to desiccation stress. Females prefer males that provide a direct benefit: greater resistance to desiccation stress. Mating preferences also appear to have indirect consequences: daughters of preferred males have lower reproductive success than daughters of unpreferred males, although additional experimentation will be needed to determine if the indirect consequences of female preferences actually arise from ‘sexually antagonistic’ variation. Nevertheless, the results are intriguing and are consistent with the hypothesis that an interaction between direct and indirect benefits maintains sexually antagonistic variation in these desert flies: increased desiccation resistance conferred by mating might offset the cost of producing low-fecundity daughters.

scholarly journals Does divergence in female mate choice affect male size distributions in two cave fish populations?

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 452-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Tobler ◽  
Ingo Schlupp ◽  
Martin Plath
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Female Preference ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Female Mate

Sexual selection by female choice can maintain male traits that are counter selected by natural selection. Alteration of the potential for sexual selection can thus lead to shifts in the expression of male traits. We investigated female mate choice for large male body size in a fish ( Poecilia mexicana ) that, besides surface streams, also inhabits two caves. All four populations investigated, exhibited an ancestral visual preference for large males. However, only one of the cave populations also expressed this female preference in darkness. Hence, the lack of expression of female preference in darkness in the other cave population leads to relaxation of sexual selection for large male body size. While P. mexicana populations with size-specific female mate choice are characterized by a pronounced male size variation, the absence of female choice in one cave coincides with the absence of large bodied males in that population. Our results suggest that population differences in the potential for sexual selection may affect male trait variation.

scholarly journals Mate choice confers direct benefits to females ofAnastrepha fraterculus(Diptera: Tephritidae)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo E. Bachmann ◽  
Francisco Devescovi ◽  
Ana L. Nussenbaum ◽  
Fabián H. Milla ◽  
Todd E. Shelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Female Preference ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Lek Mating ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Tephritid Fruit Flies

AbstractExposure to plant compounds and analogues of juvenile hormone (JH) increase male mating success in several species of tephritid fruit flies. Most of these species exhibit a lek mating system, characterized by active female choice. Although the pattern of enhanced male mating success is evident, few studies have investigated what benefits, if any, females gain via choice of exposed males in the lek mating system. In the South American fruit fly,Anastrepha fraterculus, females mate preferentially with males that were exposed to volatiles released by guava fruit or treated with methoprene (a JH analogue). Here, we tested the hypothesis that female choice confers direct fitness benefits in terms of fecundity and fertility. We first carried out mate choice experiments presenting females with males treated and non-treated with guava volatiles or, alternatively, treated and non-treated with methoprene. After we confirm female preference for treated males, we compared the fecundity and fertility between females mated with treated males and non-treated ones. We found thatA. fraterculusfemales that mated with males exposed to guava volatiles showed higher fecundity than females mated to non-exposed males. On the other hand, females that mated methoprene-treated males showed no evidence of direct benefits. Our findings represent the first evidence of a direct benefit associated to female preference for males that were exposed to host fruit odors in tephritid fruit flies. Differences between the two treatments are discussed in evolutionary and pest management terms.

Female Choice in Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella Ochotensis)

The Auk ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Nagata
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Territory Quality ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Grasshopper Warbler

Abstract Morphological and territorial factors that influence female mate choice were examined in the monogamous Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella ochotensis) on an islet near Fukuoka, Japan. I assumed that pairing date corresponded with female mate choice. Pairing date was correlated with both territory size and food abundance but was not correlated with selected morphological characteristics of males. Territorial quality was assumed to be correlated with territory size because preferable food resources and nest sites were distributed randomly. I conclude that female mate choice was influenced by territory quality rather than by the morphological characteristics of males.

scholarly journals Gamete-mediated mate choice: towards a more inclusive view of sexual selection

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1883) ◽  
pp. 20180836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jukka Kekäläinen ◽  
Jonathan P. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Random Interactions ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
The Everyday

‘Sperm competition’—where ejaculates from two or more males compete for fertilization—and ‘cryptic female choice’—where females bias this contest to suit their reproductive interests—are now part of the everyday lexicon of sexual selection. Yet the physiological processes that underlie these post-ejaculatory episodes of sexual selection remain largely enigmatic. In this review, we focus on a range of post-ejaculatory cellular- and molecular-level processes, known to be fundamental for fertilization across most (if not all) sexually reproducing species, and point to their putative role in facilitating sexual selection at the level of the cells and gametes, called ‘gamete-mediated mate choice’ (GMMC). In this way, we collate accumulated evidence for GMMC across different mating systems, and emphasize the evolutionary significance of such non-random interactions among gametes. Our overall aim in this review is to build a more inclusive view of sexual selection by showing that mate choice often acts in more nuanced ways than has traditionally been assumed. We also aim to bridge the conceptual divide between proximal mechanisms of reproduction, and adaptive explanations for patterns of non-random sperm–egg interactions that are emerging across an increasingly diverse array of taxa.

scholarly journals GOOD GENES DRIVE FEMALE CHOICE FOR MATING PARTNERS IN THE LEK-BREEDING EUROPEAN TREEFROG

Evolution ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Jaquiéry ◽  
Thomas Broquet ◽  
Cécile Aguilar ◽  
Guillaume Evanno ◽  
Nicolas Perrin
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Good Genes

scholarly journals Dual functions of a melanin-based ornament in the common yellowthroat

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1568) ◽  
pp. 1121-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A Tarof ◽  
Peter O Dunn ◽  
Linda A Whittingham
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Common Yellowthroat ◽  
Mask Size ◽  
The Common ◽  
Dual Functions

Melanin-based ornaments often function as signals in male–male competition, whereas carotenoid-based ornaments appear to be important in female mate choice. This difference in function is thought to occur because carotenoid pigments are more costly to produce than melanins and are thus more reliable indicators of male quality. We examined the role of melanin- and carotenoid-based ornaments in male–male competition and female choice in the common yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas , a sexually dichromatic passerine. Males display a black facial mask produced by melanin pigmentation and a bright yellow bib (throat, breast and belly) produced by carotenoid pigmentation. In controlled aviary experiments, mask size was the best predictor of both male–male competition and female mate choice, and, therefore, mask size may be regarded as an ornament of dual function. These dual functions may help to maintain the reliability of mask size as an indicator of male quality, despite the potentially low cost of production. The size of the bib was unrelated to male–male competition or female choice, but there was a tendency for females to prefer males with more colourful bibs. We propose that the black mask is important in competition for territories with other males and for attracting females. Our results highlight the need for more studies of the mechanisms of sexual selection in species with ornaments composed of different pigment types.

Diet-dependent female choice for males with ‘good genes’ in a soil predatory mite

Nature ◽  
10.1038/44125 ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 401 (6753) ◽  
pp. 581-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabela Lesna ◽  
Maurice W. Sabelis
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Predatory Mite ◽  
Good Genes

scholarly journals Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1751) ◽  
pp. 20122495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus J. Rantala ◽  
Vinet Coetzee ◽  
Fhionna R. Moore ◽  
Ilona Skrinda ◽  
Sanita Kecko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Secondary Sexual Traits ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Secondary Sexual Trait ◽  
Sexual Traits ◽  
Handicap Hypothesis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Secondary Sexual

According to the ‘good genes’ hypothesis, females choose males based on traits that indicate the male's genetic quality in terms of disease resistance. The ‘immunocompetence handicap hypothesis’ proposed that secondary sexual traits serve as indicators of male genetic quality, because they indicate that males can contend with the immunosuppressive effects of testosterone. Masculinity is commonly assumed to serve as such a secondary sexual trait. Yet, women do not consistently prefer masculine looking men, nor is masculinity consistently related to health across studies. Here, we show that adiposity, but not masculinity, significantly mediates the relationship between a direct measure of immune response (hepatitis B antibody response) and attractiveness for both body and facial measurements. In addition, we show that circulating testosterone is more closely associated with adiposity than masculinity. These findings indicate that adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more important cue to immunocompetence in female mate choice.

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