The relative effects of mating status and age on the mating behaviour of female field crickets

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A. Judge ◽  
Kim-Chi Tran ◽  
Darryl T. Gwynne
Keyword(s):  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Mating Status ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Intrinsic Factors ◽  
Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Female Behaviour ◽  
Female Choosiness

Intrinsic factors such as female age and mating status have been found to affect female choosiness. However, as these factors are often confounded in the wild because mated females are usually older individuals, the relative influence of these two factors on female behaviour is unclear. Using a fully factorial design, we tested the relative effects of age and mating status of female field crickets ( Gryllus pennsylvanicus Burmeister, 1838) on both (i) the probability that she would mate and (ii) her latency to mate. We found that virgin females were both more likely to mate and copulated more quickly than mated females, but female age had no significant effect on either the probability of mating or the latency to copulate. These results clearly show that mating status is more important in determining female mating behaviour than age. We suggest that previous work which showed an age effect on female choosiness in virgins alone might be of reduced relevance if most females do not remain unmated for long.

Senescence in field crickets (Orthoptera; Gryllidae): examining the effects of sex and a sex-biased parasitoid

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A Gray ◽  
William H Cade
Keyword(s):  
Field Cricket ◽  
Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Extrinsic Mortality ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Theory Of Aging ◽  
Male Calling ◽  
Intrinsic Mortality ◽  
Gryllus Integer

The evolutionary theory of aging proposes that senescence is related to decreased selection against deleterious mutations acting late in life. Senescence, i.e., an increase in intrinsic mortality with age, should reflect levels of extrinsic mortality early in life. We tested these predictions using two species of field cricket, Gryllus integer and Gryllus pennsylvanicus. Gryllus integer males are host to a sex-biased parasitoid fly, which orients to the male calling song. As a result, males have reduced life expectancy compared with females in the field. In contrast, G. pennsylvanicus males and females appear to have similar life expectancies in the wild. Thus, we predicted that there would be a significant species × sex interaction, with G. integer males having the shortest life-span. In two replicates, we found that males of both species died at a significantly younger age than females. However, no evidence of a species × sex interaction was found: in the first replicate, G. integer males died earliest, in the second replicate, G. pennsylvanicus males died earliest.

Mating experience influences mate choice and reproductive output in an aphidophagous ladybird, Menochilus sexmaculatus

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankita Dubey ◽  
Swati Saxena ◽  
Geetanjali Mishra ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Mating Status ◽  
Mating Experience ◽  
Males And Females

AbstractInformation about mating status can be used to decide about whether to invest resources in mating with a particular partner. In the present study, we evaluated mate choice in relation to the mating experience of males and females ofMenochilus sexmaculatus. We subjected both unmated and multiply mated males and females to different mate choice trials. The mating experience of the adults includes unmated, once-mated, twice-mated and multiply mated. The mate choice trials revealed that unmated adults were preferred over mated adults by both unmated and multiply mated partners. This preference for unmated partners also had consequences for mating behaviour and reproductive output. Unmated and multiply mated females commenced mating with unmated males earlier. In addition, unmated and multiply mated males invested more time in copula with unmated females. Moreover, females mated with unmated males were more fecund than those mated with previously mated males. This suggests that mating experience of mates may influence mating and reproductive behaviour in this species.

Mate Guarding in Male Sand Lizards (Lacerta Agilis)

Behaviour ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 367-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annica Gullberg ◽  
Mats Olsson ◽  
Hakan Tegelström
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Operational Sex Ratio ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Museum Collection ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Female Age ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Mate Acquisition ◽  
Lacerta Agilis

AbstractWe investigated factors that may determine mate guarding tactics in male sand lizards. In a sample of lizards from a museum collection, larger males had larger testis, but in laboratory experiments and in a natural population larger males did not sire more offspring. Males with long inter-copulatory intervals were more successful in sperm competition than males with short inter-copulatory intervals. In the wild, the operational sex ratio (OSR, No of receptive females/No of sexually active males) declined throughout the mating season. Mean duration of mate guardings was unaffected by OSR, time to ovulation, female age and mass, and clutch size. Larger males guarded females longer and were more likely to mate guard a female of similar age. Larger males had more partners but there was no correlation between male size or guarding time and the proportion of young that males sired in clutches from females mated with several partners. Males with more partners were more successful at siring offspring in clutches from females that mated with more than one partner. We suggest that fitter males are better at both mate acquisition and have more competitive sperm.

scholarly journals Sex and the single (-eared) female: leg function, limb autotomy and mating history trade-offs in field crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus )

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip W Bateman ◽  
Patricia A Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Mate Location ◽  
Central Control ◽  
Gryllus Bimaculatus ◽  
Mating Status ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
Mating History ◽  
Hind Limbs ◽  
Trade Offs

Both male and female field crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus ) autotomize front (tympanal) limbs more slowly than hind limbs. Arguably, this pattern could reflect possible differences in the mechanism of limb autotomy. However, we demonstrate that, for females, limb autotomy is also dependent on their mating status: virgin females autotomize front legs significantly more slowly than mated females. This response suggests a central control for leg autotomy in these animals, and less readiness to autotomize a front leg, possibly because the tympanum is crucial for mate location.

Female control of reproductive behaviour in the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), with notes on female competition for mating

Behaviour ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Thomas ◽  
Marissa L. Parrott ◽  
Kathrine A. Handasyde ◽  
Peter Temple-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Female Competition ◽  
Time Investment ◽  
Ornithorhynchus Anatinus ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Infrared Cameras ◽  
And Control

Abstract Opportunities for studying platypus courtship and mating behaviours in the wild are limited due to the nocturnal and cryptic nature of this species. We report on platypus courtship and mating behaviour from a successful breeding program at Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, in which platypuses were held as either breeding pairs or trios over seven years. Behaviour was recorded daily on infrared cameras resulting in over 80,000 h of footage that was analysed for activity periods, and courtship and mating behaviours including non-contact and contact courtship, mating and avoidance. Our aims were to describe and quantify courtship and mating interactions between males and females, and to determine if either sex controlled the initiation and continuation of the behaviours. From our observations, we describe a new courtship behaviour, non-contact courtship, which constituted the majority of all mating season interactions between males and females. The time between first and last appearance of a courtship and mating behaviour was 41.0 ± 6.6 days, with the females showing behavioural receptivity for 29.6 ± 5.1 days. Female platypuses used three evasive strategies in relation to approaches by males: avoidance, flight and resistance. Females controlled the duration of 79% of encounters using resistance. For the first time, two females were seen competing with each other over access to the male platypus in their enclosure and for nesting material. Time investment in courtship and mating behaviours was a poor indicator of receptivity and breeding success, and we suggest that breeding failure is more likely to be associated with failure of fertilisation, nest building, embryonic development or incubation. We describe how female platypuses demonstrate evasiveness and control of courtship and mating behaviours, and the importance of providing these opportunities in captivity to promote successful breeding.

scholarly journals Obligately silent males sire more offspring than singers in a rapidly evolving cricket population

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 20190198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justa L. Heinen-Kay ◽  
Ellen M. Urquhart ◽  
Marlene Zuk
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Calling Song ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Sexual Traits ◽  
Acoustic Experience ◽  
Older Males

How sexual traits are gained and lost in the wild remains an important question in evolutionary biology. Pacific field crickets ( Teleogryllus oceanicus ) in Hawaii provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the factors facilitating evolutionary loss of a sexual signal in real time. Natural selection from an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly drove rapid evolution of a novel, silent male morph. While silent (flatwing) males enjoy protection from the fly, they face difficulty attracting mates. We tested how offspring production varies in association with three male attributes affected by the spread of flatwing: wing morph (flatwing or normal-wing), age (flatwings should survive longer than singers) and exposure to calling song during rearing (wild populations with many flatwings lack ambient calling song). Per mating event, flatwings sired more offspring than singers and older males were mounted more quickly by females when presented with standard courtship song. Despite prior work showing that male age and acoustic experience influence sperm characteristics associated with fertilization, age and song exposure had no influence on male offspring production per mating. This represents the first evidence that the silent male morph possesses a reproductive advantage that may help compensate for precopulatory barriers to mate attraction.

CRICKETS AS PREDATORS OF THE APPLE MAGGOT, RHAGOLETIS POMONELLA (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE)

1971 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. G. Monteith
Keyword(s):  
High Mortality ◽  
High Density ◽  
Rhagoletis Pomonella ◽  
Mortality Factors ◽  
Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
Time Of Year

AbstractThe high density of the field crickets Gryllus pennsylvanicus (Burmeister) and Nemobius fasciatus (DeGeer) under test trees in an unsprayed orchard, and the high mortality of apple-maggot pupae, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), in test lots at the same time of year, suggested that crickets may have preyed heavily on the pupae and thus have constituted important mortality factors. Laboratory observations showed that crickets can detect, disinter, and consume apple-maggot pupae in simulated natural surroundings.

Age determination of adult field crickets: methodology and field applications

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1564-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Zuk
Keyword(s):  
Age Determination ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Field Crickets ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Aging Adult ◽  
Gryllus Veletis

Details of a method originated by A.C. Neville for aging adult insects by counting daily growth rings in tibial or other body sections are given. A test of the method's accuracy using laboratory-reared field crickets (Gryllus pennsylvanicus and Gryllus veletis) showed that the number of growth rings counted is equivalent to the number of days past adult molt until the insect is approximately 25–30 days old, when cuticle growth is completed and rings are no longer added. Field populations of the two cricket species sampled in 2 years seldom contained individuals with more than 18 rings. Several applications for the technique to ecological and behavioral studies are given, using examples from data on G. veletis and G. pennsylvanicus.

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