scholarly journals Manipulation of natal host modifies adult reproductive behaviour in the butterfly Heliconius charithonia

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1910) ◽  
pp. 20191225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell J. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Host Preferences ◽  
Ecological Segregation ◽  
Local Alternative ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Passiflora Incarnata ◽  
Host Cues

Advances in understanding non-genetic inheritance have prompted broader interest in environmental effects. One way in which such effects may influence adaptation is via the transmission of acquired habitat biases. Here I explore how natal experience influences adult host orientation in the oligophagous passion vine butterfly Heliconius charithonia . As an exemplar of the ‘pupal mating' system, this species poses novelty among diurnal Lepidoptera for the extent to which male as well as female reproductive behaviours are guided by olfactory host cues. I sampled wild adult females breeding exclusively upon Passiflora incarnata , assigned their offspring to develop either upon this species or its local alternative Passiflora suberosa , and then assessed the behaviour of F 1 adults in a large rainforest enclosure. Despite the fact that juvenile performance was superior upon P. incarnata , females oviposited preferentially upon their assigned natal species. Mate-seeking males also indicated a bias for the proximity of their natal host, and there was evidence for assortative mating based upon host treatment, although these data are less robust. This study is, to my knowledge, the first to support Hopkins' hostplant principle in butterflies, and points to inducible host preferences capable of reinforcing ecological segregation and ultimately accelerating evolutionary divergence in sympatry.

scholarly journals Fertility as a constraint on group size in African great Apes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R I M Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
African Great Apes ◽  
Cognitive Cost ◽  
Size And Structure ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

Abstract Gorillas and chimpanzees live in social groups of very different size and structure. Here I test the hypothesis that this difference might reflect the way fertility maps onto group demography as it does in other Catarrhines. For both genera, birth rates and the number of surviving offspring per female are quadratic (or ∩-shaped) functions of the number of adult females in the group, and this is independent of environmental effects. The rate at which fertility declines ultimately imposes a constraint on the size of social groups that can be maintained in both taxa. The differences in group size between the two genera seem to reflect a contrast in the way females buffer themselves against this cost. Gorillas do this by using males as bodyguards, whereas chimpanzees exploit fission–fusion sociality to do so. The latter allows chimpanzees to live in much larger groups without paying a fertility cost (albeit at a cognitive cost).

scholarly journals Testes size, testosterone production and reproductive behaviour in a natural mammalian mating system

2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 296-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian T. Preston ◽  
Ian R. Stevenson ◽  
Gerald A. Lincoln ◽  
Steven L. Monfort ◽  
Jill G. Pilkington ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Testosterone Production ◽  
Testes Size

Social Organisation in the Rufous Bettong, Aepyprymnus Rufescens

1996 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Frederick ◽  
CN Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Social Organisation ◽  
Overt Aggression ◽  
Association Patterns ◽  
Intimate Knowledge ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Almost All

This study examined association patterns and reproductive behaviour in a sexually monomorphic potoroid marsupial, the rufous bettong, Aepyprymnus rufescens. A total of 29 individuals was marked, and 22 of these were observed regularly over a six-month period; these 22 individuals accounted for almost all the animals using the study area. Rufous bettongs at this site were predominantly solitary (71% of sightings were of single animals) and groups, when they formed, were generally small (maximum of six individuals). Most groups of two were male-female pairs, and unisex groups occurred significantly less often than expected. These male-female groups formed as a result of sexual investigations of females by males, and were shore-lived. Analysis of the frequency with which particular males and females were seen together (excluding occasions when females were in oestrus) showed that most males did not persistently associate with any particular female. Instead, they appeared to maintain transitory contact with as many females as possible. However, three pairs were regularly seen together, suggesting that some males may maintain especially close contact with particular females. Females as they approached oestrus were followed continually by several males, with one male following very closely and preventing others from approaching. In two well-studied cases, the male who defended priority of access to the female was the same individual who had most often associated with that female when not in oestrus. These males demonstrated intimate knowledge of the nesting locations of the females and were able to join them very early each evening, and defended them against other males with little overt aggression. The mating system in this population appears to be promiscuous, but with a hint of monogamy arising from the tendency of some males to persistently investigate and ultimately to guard sexual access to certain individual females.

Sexual dimorphism in a freshwater atyid shrimp (Decapoda: Caridea) with direct development: a geometric morphometrics approach

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4196 (1) ◽  
pp. 120 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIELA ELIANA SGANGA ◽  
LUCAS RAUL FERNANDEZ PIANA ◽  
LAURA SUSANA LÓPEZ GRECO
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Abdominal Segment ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Centroid Size ◽  
Caridean Shrimp ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Ornamental Species

Neocaridina davidi is a caridean shrimp that has gained popularity in recent years as an ornamental species. Using geometric morphometrics, we investigated sexual dimorphism in carapace and second abdominal segment shape of N. davidi. Adult females displayed a more elongated carapace and a longer rostrum than males. However, male carapace shape was similar to that of juvenile females. The second abdominal pleura was more elongated and wider in adult females than in males. Significant differences were found in centroid size for the carapace and the second abdominal segment between sexes, which is consistent with sexual size dimorphism. These results support the hypothesis of a “pure search” mating system in N. davidi, where small males search actively for receptive females, and after insemination they continue searching. 

The predatory and reproductive behaviour of Vestula lineaticeps (Sign.) (Hem., Reduviidae)

1971 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behaviour ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Predatory Behaviour ◽  
Insect Prey ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Sexual Responses ◽  
Olfactory Stimuli ◽  
Made In

Observations on the sexual behaviour, oviposition and responses to insect prey of the predatory Reduviid Vestula lineaticeps (Sign.) were made in the laboratory. Experiments with cardboard models indicated the importance of moving visual stimuli in eliciting predatory responses, but provided no evidence that olfactory stimuli play any such role. The responses of adult females towards other adults were apparently purely predatory. Males did not visibly discriminate between living females and other specimens (dead females, living or dead males) until they had seized them, when they displayed sexual responses with the living females and usually purely predatory behaviour with the remainder.

Dispersion of adult male Peromyscus leucopus in relation to female reproductive status

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 1047-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuhua Xia ◽  
John S. Millar
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Early Pregnancy ◽  
Peromyscus Leucopus ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Female Reproductive Status

We studied dispersion of adult male Peromyscus leucopus in relation to the stage of pregnancy of adult females in natural populations monitored with Longworth live traps. Because postpartum mating is common in P. leucopus and days to parturition measures how far a female is from her next mating, we predicted that a female in early pregnancy (many days to parturition) would have fewer adult males in her neighbourhood than a female in late pregnancy (few days to parturition). Number of adult males caught within 30 m of each adult female was recorded and number of days to parturition for each female was obtained by bringing females back to the laboratory and allowing them to give birth. A negative relationship was found between number of adult males in a female's neighbourhood and days to parturition of the female (r = −0.419, p < 0.01), with the latter accounting for 8.8% of the variance in the former. These results support the hypothesis of a promiscuous mating system in P. leucopus.

On the mating system of polar bears

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 2142-2151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm A. Ramsay ◽  
Ian Stirling
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Adult Females

Polar bears are intimately associated with arctic sea ice and their distribution is approximated by its winter extent. They are the only terrestrial mammals, other than humans, to have adapted so completely to sea ice, a quite different habitat, spatially and temporally, from that occupied by other terrestrial mammals. We propose that the dynamics of sea ice and the associated variability in access to food have played a major role in the evolution of the social structure and mating system of polar bears. Adult females and males move to areas of the sea ice where the greatest success in hunting is realized. Such regions are unpredictable in location, however, both seasonally and annually. Because female distributions are unpredictable, adult males are unable to defend stable territories that will encompass the home ranges of one or more females and may instead distribute themselves among different sea-ice habitats at the same relative densities as solitary adult females. Females keep nursing cubs with them for more than 1 year; hence the mean interbirth interval is 2 or more years. This results in a functionally skewed sex ratio, with fewer females available to breed in any one year than males, and in intrasexual competition among males for access to breeding females. Consequently, established dominance hierarchies among males are unstable, and wounding, scarring, and breakage of canine teeth are common; these are evidence of direct physical confrontations during the breeding season. Large body size is advantageous in these fights and this has resulted in one of the highest degrees of sexual dimorphism among terrestrial mammals. Because of the funtionally skewed sex ratio and the shifting distribution of both females and males, however, even the largest male probably cannot be certain of locating a larger than average number of receptive females in any one breeding season.

Environmental effects on social interaction networks and male reproductive behaviour in guppies, Poecilia reticulata

2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Edenbrow ◽  
S.K. Darden ◽  
I.W. Ramnarine ◽  
J.P. Evans ◽  
R. James ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Interaction Networks

scholarly journals The extraordinary mating system of Zeus bugs (Heteroptera:Veliidae:Phoreticovelia sp.)

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
Therésa M. Jones ◽  
Mark A. Elgar
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Sex Role ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
Mating System Evolution ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution

Wingless female Zeus bugs (genus: Phoreticovelia) produce a secretion from dorsal glands that males feed upon when riding on females. This unique form of sex-role-reversed nuptial feeding may have set the stage for an unusual mating system. Here, we provide natural history details of the mating behaviour for two Zeus bug species. While these species have many mating behaviours in common, the wing morphs within species exhibit entirely different mating strategies. Adult wingless females are ridden permanently by adult wingless males. In the wild, adult sex-ratios among the wingless morph are male-biased; few unmounted adult females exist and many males instead ride immature females who also produce glandular secretions. In contrast, sex-ratios among the winged morph is not male-biased, sexual size dimorphism is less pronounced, females have no dorsal glands and are, consequently, not ridden by males. Field and laboratory observations show that mating is strongly assortative by wing morph. This assortment may allow evolutionary divergence between the two morphs. We discuss the implications of this mating system and suggest that it adds to those studies showing that sexually antagonistic coevolution can be a driver of mating system evolution.

Mating system, male territoriality and agility as predictors of the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae)

Behaviour ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 154 (13-15) ◽  
pp. 1297-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Nuñez-Rosas ◽  
M.C. Arizmendi ◽  
R. Cueva del Castillo ◽  
M.A. Serrano-Meneses
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Model System ◽  
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Male Territoriality ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Avian Family

Abstract Male and female animals often exhibit differences in body size; this difference is known as sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Hummingbirds are an excellent model system to test functional hypotheses of SSD because they exhibit a wide range of body sizes and reproductive behaviour between the sexes. Here, using phylogenetic comparative methods, we tested whether mating system, male territoriality and agility predicted the evolution of SSD in this avian family. Our results first suggest that evolutionary increases in male-biased SSD are related to increases in lekking behaviour. Second, we found that male agility is positively related to increases in male biased-SSD albeit this is only likely to occur in males of territorial species. Finally, we found an allometric pattern for SSD consistent with Rensch’s rule that was not explained by our estimates of male competition and agility.

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