Male antler flies (Protopiophila litigata; Diptera: Piophilidae) are more selective than females in mate choice

We investigated mate choice in the antler fly (Protopiophila litigata Bonduriansky), which forms mating aggregations and oviposits exclusively on discarded cervid antlers, by pairing males with nongravid females and by collecting copulating pairs on antlers. Because females probably receive larger ejaculates (which they partly ingest after mating) and more effective protection (mate guarding) from large males than from small ones, we expected females to prefer large males as mates. Because males experience high mating costs and often encounter females lacking mature eggs, we expected males to reject some females. Moreover, because relative abdomen width (fatness) predicts the number of mature eggs (egg load) of a female better than her body size does, we expected males to evaluate female quality by assessing female fatness. Of the 54 male-female pairings, 7 (13%) resulted in copulation, the female rejected the male in 6 (11%), and the male rejected the female in 41 (76%). We found no significant differences between individuals that mated and those that did not. However, females disproportionately rejected males smaller than themselves. Males exhibited a preference (quantified as duration of abdominal tapping bouts) for fat females as mates. Small males appeared to be less choosy than large males. Because males rejected potential mates more frequently than females (apparently) did, males may have been choosier than females. Coupled pairs collected on antlers exhibited positive assortment by body size and positive correlation of male body size with female egg load. These mate-choice and mating-assortment patterns may occur in many dipteran species, where copulation is costly for both sexes, females often lack mature eggs, and mating is initiated in dense aggregations of aggressive males.

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Phylogeny explains better than ecology or body size the variation of the first lower molar in didelphid marsupials

Mammalia ◽

10.1515/mammalia-2015-0070 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 81 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Luíza Z. Magnus ◽

Nilton Cáceres

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Phylogenetic Relationship ◽

Phylogenetic Signal ◽

The Body ◽

Male Body ◽

Environmental Pressures ◽

Geometric Morphometric ◽

Morphometric Analyses ◽

Lower Molar ◽

Better Than

AbstractTribosphenic molars are considered great innovations in mammals and are related to several structures and variables that can explain adaptation. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of body size and habitat relation, using a phylogenetic approach, in the first lower molar shape in didelphid marsupials. Geometric morphometric analyses of the lower molar’s shape were performed on 261 specimens, 130 females and 131 males, covering 14 genera and 37 species of the Didelphidae family. The molar conformation showed a larger talonid in relation to the trigonid in more arboreal genera, and narrower and longer molars in genera with a larger body size. Phylogeny was the variable with the highest explanation for both females and males (16.17% and 9.02%, respectively). The body size was significant in males, presenting an important influence on molar shape, while the body size in females was not significant when phylogenetic relationship was controlled for. In both sexes, habitat presents a strong effect of phylogeny, with no direct effect on molar shape. Didelphid molar shape is another result of its phylogenetic history and does not respond very much to environmental pressures. Male body size influences molar shape in didelphids, even in the presence of a strong phylogenetic signal.

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The effects of body size, ownership and sex-ratio on the precopulatory mate guarding of Caprella penantis (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315409990671 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 90 (2) ◽

pp. 275-279 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Fumio Takeshita ◽

Yasuhisa Henmi

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Mate Guarding ◽

Operational Sex Ratio ◽

Receptive Female ◽

Type I ◽

Male Body ◽

Precopulatory Mate Guarding ◽

Secondary Factor

Precopulatory mate guarding behaviour of the skeleton shrimp Caprella penantis is described. Moreover, the effects of body size, ownership and sex-ratio on mate guarding were examined experimentally in the laboratory. In the field population, the operational sex-ratio was male-biased. Guarding pairs, which were collected from the field, continued guarding for an average of 350 minutes in the laboratory, indicating that the normal guarding duration is approximately 10 hours. In this species, two guarding types were found: Type O and Type I-like. In Type O guarding, the male would fold the female into a horseshoe shape, whilst the male held the female parallel to him in Type I-like guarding. In the laboratory experiments, male body size was the most important factor affecting competition for a receptive female; ownership was the secondary factor. Guarding duration was prolonged when the sex-ratio was male-biased. Thus, the precopulatory mate guarding behaviour of C. penantis is influenced by several factors, such as body size, ownership and sex-ratio.

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Interplay of male traits, male mating strategies and female mate choice in the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/1568539x-00003271 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 152 (7-8) ◽

pp. 1113-1144 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Karpagam Chelliah ◽

Raman Sukumar

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Mate Guarding ◽

Female Mate Choice ◽

Mating Strategies ◽

Asian Elephant ◽

Dominant Male ◽

Male Mating ◽

Male Body ◽

Female Mate ◽

Male Mating Strategies

Elaborate male traits with no apparent adaptive value may have evolved through female mate discrimination. Tusks are an elaborate male-only trait in the Asian elephant that could potentially influence female mate choice. We examined the effect of male body size, tusk possession and musth status on female mate choice in an Asian elephant population. Large/musth males received positive responses from oestrous females towards courtship significantly more often than did small/non-musth males. Young, tusked non-musth males attempted courtship significantly more often than their tuskless peers, and received more positive responses (though statistically insignificant) than did tuskless males. A positive response did not necessarily translate into mating because of mate-guarding by a dominant male. Female elephants appear to choose mates based primarily on traits such as musth that signal direct fertility benefits through increased sperm received than for traits such as tusks that may signal only indirect fitness benefits.

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Mate Choice and Copulation Frequency in the Burying BeetleNicrophorus quadripunctatus(Coleoptera: Silphidae): Effect of Male Body Size and Presence of a Rival

Psyche A Journal of Entomology ◽

10.1155/2009/904604 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2009 ◽

pp. 1-4 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Seizi Suzuki

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Significant Interaction ◽

Copulation Duration ◽

Male Body ◽

Male Size ◽

High Quality ◽

Male Body Size ◽

Rival Male

It is widely assumed that there exists a competition between males for mating and that females prefer males with elaborate male traits. Further, such traits are considered to be synonymous with high quality in terms of benefits to females. The number and duration of copulations and the frequency of mate refusal between large and smallNicrophorus quadripunctatusmales were examined both for single males and for two males competing. The number of copulations was not affected by the size of the male or by the presence of a rival, but there was a significant interaction such that large males increased their number of copulations when a small rival was present. Copulation duration was not affected by male size but was shortened by a rival male. Females rejected copulation attempts of small males more often than of large males, whether the males were alone or paired with a rival. These results suggest that large males have two advantages: they win contests between males and are preferred by females.

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Mating system, mate choice and parental care in a bark beetle

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485317000311 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 107 (5) ◽

pp. 611-619 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

O. Baruch ◽

Z. Mendel ◽

I. Scharf ◽

A. R Harari

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Reproductive Success ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Parental Care ◽

Mating System ◽

Assortative Mating ◽

Bark Beetle ◽

Biparental Care ◽

Male Body ◽

Male Body Size

AbstractThe cypress bark beetle,Phloeosinus armatus, is a common element of the dying cypress tree system in East-Mediterranean countries. Adult beetles congregate for breeding on this ephemeral resource. We studied three traits that characterize this beetle's sexual behavior and linked them to its reproductive success: mating system, mate choice, and parental care. We found that the females are the ‘pioneering sex’, excavating the mating chamber. The average female is slightly larger than the male, and female and male body size is correlated, demonstrating size-assortative mating. The time it takes for a male to enter the mating chamber is positively correlated with female size and negatively correlated with its own size, which is perhaps responsible for this assortative mating. Males remain in the gallery during the period of oviposition, gradually leaving soon after the eggs hatch. The number of eggs laid and tunnel length are positively correlated with male body size. Finally, in the presence of both parents, more eggs are laid than when the female alone is present, demonstrating the important contribution of biparental care for reproductive success. We suggest that the interaction between a monogamous mating system, assortative mating, and biparental care contributes to reproductive success.

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Sexual selection in cane toads Rhinella marina: A male’s body size affects his success and his tactics

Current Zoology ◽

10.1093/czoolo/59.6.747 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 59 (6) ◽

pp. 747-753 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Haley Bowcock ◽

Gregory P. Brown ◽

Richard Shine

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Mating Systems ◽

Male Body ◽

Size Discrimination ◽

Physical Strength ◽

Dry Tropics ◽

Body Sizes ◽

And Behavior ◽

Size Preference

Abstract Male body size can play an important role in the mating systems of anuran amphibians. We conducted laboratory-based trials with cane toads Rhinella (Bufo) marina from an invasive population in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia, to clarify the effects of a male’s body size on his reproductive success and behavior (mate choice). Males were stimulated with a synthetic hormone to induce reproductive readiness. Larger body size enhanced a male toad’s ability to displace a smaller rival from amplexus, apparently because of physical strength: more force was required to dislodge a larger than a smaller amplectant male. A male’s body size also affected his mate-choice criteria. Males of all body sizes were as likely to attempt amplexus with another male as with a female of the same size, and preferred larger rather than smaller sexual targets. However, this size preference was stronger in larger males and hence, amplexus was size-assortative. This pattern broke down when males were given access to already-amplectant male-female pairs: males of all body sizes readily attempted amplexus with the pair, with no size discrimination. An amplectant pair provides a larger visual stimulus, and prolonged amplexus provides a strong cue for sex identification (one of the individuals involved is almost certainly a female). Thus, a male cane toad’s body size affects both his ability to defeat rivals in physical struggles over females, and the criteria he uses when selecting potential mates, but the impacts of that selectivity depend upon the context in which mating occurs.

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Mate-guarding duration is mainly influenced by the risk of sperm competition and not by female quality in a golden orb-weaver spider

10.32942/osf.io/2u8tc ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lygia A. Del Matto ◽

Renato Chaves de Macedo Rego ◽

Eduardo S. A. Santos

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Sperm Competition ◽

Body Condition ◽

Female Body ◽

Mate Guarding ◽

Male Mating ◽

Male Mate Choice ◽

High Quality ◽

Female Quality ◽

Male Mate

Males are expected to mate with as many females as possible, but can maximize their reproductive success through strategic mating decisions. For instance, males can increase their own fitness by mating with high quality females that produce more offspring. Additionally, males can adjust mating effort based on the relative distribution of females and male competitors. To test factors that influence male mate choice, we assessed male mating decisions in the golden-web spider, Trichonephila clavipes (Nephilidae), a species in which females are polyandrous and males guard females before and after copulation occurs. We tested the hypothesis that males spend more time guarding high quality females that are spatially isolated, and when the risk of sperm competition is higher. We assessed solitary and aggregated female webs in the field and quantified female quality (i.e. female body condition), the risk of sperm competition (i.e. number of males in each female web), and mate-guarding duration (i.e. number of days each male spent in each web). We found that mate-guarding behaviour is influenced by the presence of male competitors. In addition, the type of web seems to moderately influence male mating decisions, with males spending more time guarding a female when on solitary webs. Finally, female body condition seems to play a small role in mate-guarding behaviour. As mate-guarding duration considerably increased per each additional male competitor in the web, and guarding behaviour prevents males from seeking additional mates, it seems that males do benefit from guarding females. We conclude that failing to guard a sexual partner promotes high costs derived from sperm competition, and a male cannot recover his relative loss in fertilization success by seeking and fertilizing more females. In addition, the search for more sexual partners can be constrained by possible high costs imposed by predators and fights against other males, which may explain why the type of web only moderately influenced male mate choice. Following the same rationale, if high-quality females are not easy to find and/or mating with a high-quality female demands much effort, males may search females and guard them regardless of female quality. In conclusion, the factor that most influences male mate-guarding behaviour among T. clavipes in the field is the risk of sperm competition.

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