Male mate guarding increases females' predation risk? A case study on tandem oviposition in the damselfly Coenagrion puella (Insecta: Odonata)

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 1013-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Zeiss ◽  
Andreas Martens ◽  
Jens Rolff
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Oviposition Behaviour ◽  
Oviposition Site ◽  
Male Mate

To estimate whether male mate guarding alters the predation risk for females, we conducted experiments in field cages with the damselfly Coenagrion puella. We experimentally compared the risk for females ovipositing solitarily versus in tandem with the male. The backswimmer Notonecta glauca was used as a predator. Owing to the oviposition behaviour of the damselflies, N. glauca only preys on females, therefore it was possible to determine whether the presence of males decreases or increases females' predation risk. Females in tandem were more frequently touched and grasped by N. glauca than solitary females. In most tandem pairs, the female showed the first reaction to the attack and the male responded subsequently. After an attack, most solitary females left the oviposition site but most tandem females stayed. Once grasped by the predator, more solitary females were killed.

Design of experimental food patches to measure foraging intensity for octopus: a case study with the giant Pacific octopus Enteroctopus dofleini

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Chancellor ◽  
David Scheel ◽  
Joel S Brown
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
High Tide ◽  
Intertidal Habitat ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Subtidal Habitat ◽  
Enteroctopus Dofleini ◽  
Nontarget Species

ABSTRACT In a study of the foraging behaviour of the giant Pacific octopus Enteroctopus dofleini, we designed two types of experimental food patches to measure habitat preferences and perceptions of predation risk. The first patch successfully measured giving-up densities (GUDs), confirmed by octopus prey presence and higher foraging at sites with historically greater octopus presence. However, nontarget foragers also foraged on these experimental food patches. Our second floating patch design successfully excluded nontarget species from subtidal patches, and from intertidal patches at high tide, but allowed for foraging by E. dofleini. The second design successfully measured GUDs and suggested that octopus preferred foraging in a subtidal habitat compared to an intertidal habitat. We ascribe the higher GUD in the intertidal habitat to its higher predation risk relative to the subtidal habitat. The second patch design seems well suited for E. dofleini and, in conjunction with a camera system, could be used to provide behavioural indicators of the octopus's abundance, perceptions of habitat quality and predation risk.

scholarly journals Genetic monogamy despite frequent extrapair copulations in “strictly monogamous” wild jackdaws

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-260
Author(s):  
Lisa F Gill ◽  
Jaap van Schaik ◽  
Auguste M P von Bayern ◽  
Manfred L Gahr
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Parentage Analysis ◽  
Spatiotemporal Pattern ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Genetic Monogamy ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
The Social ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
Copulation Behavior

Abstract “Monogamy” refers to different components of pair exclusiveness: the social pair, sexual partners, and the genetic outcome of sexual encounters. Avian monogamy is usually defined socially or genetically, whereas quantifications of sexual behavior remain scarce. Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) are considered a rare example of strict monogamy in songbirds, with lifelong pair bonds and little genetic evidence for extrapair (EP) offspring. Yet jackdaw copulations, although accompanied by loud copulation calls, are rarely observed because they occur visually concealed inside nest cavities. Using full-day nest-box video surveillance and on-bird acoustic bio-logging, we directly observed jackdaw sexual behavior and compared it to the corresponding genetic outcome obtained via molecular parentage analysis. In the video-observed nests, we found genetic monogamy but frequently detected forced EP sexual behavior, accompanied by characteristic male copulation calls. We, thus, challenge the long-held notion of strict jackdaw monogamy at the sexual level. Our data suggest that male mate guarding and frequent intrapair copulations during the female fertile phase, as well as the forced nature of the copulations, could explain the absence of EP offspring. Because EP copulation behavior appeared to be costly for both sexes, we suggest that immediate fitness benefits are an unlikely explanation for its prevalence. Instead, sexual conflict and dominance effects could interact to shape the spatiotemporal pattern of EP sexual behavior in this species. Our results call for larger-scale investigations of jackdaw sexual behavior and parentage and highlight the importance of combining social, sexual, and genetic data sets for a more complete understanding of mating systems.

scholarly journals Oviposition Site Selection inAedes albopictus(Diptera: Culicidae): Are the Effects of Predation Risk and Food Level Independent?

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1159-1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Wasserberg ◽  
L. White ◽  
A. Bullard ◽  
J. King ◽  
R. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Site Selection ◽  
Oviposition Site ◽  
Food Level ◽  
Oviposition Site Selection

Male mate guarding in a socially monogamous mammal, the round-eared sengi: on costs and trade-offs

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Schubert ◽  
Carsten Schradin ◽  
Heiko G. Rödel ◽  
Neville Pillay ◽  
David O. Ribble
Keyword(s):  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Male Mate

Sex Difference on the Importance of Veiling: A Cross-Cultural Investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid Pazhoohi ◽  
Alan Kingstone
Keyword(s):  
Paternal Care ◽  
Child Survival ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Paternal Investment ◽  
Retention Strategies ◽  
Mate Retention ◽  
Male Mate

Veiling is an ancient cultural practice endorsed by religion, social institutions, and laws. Recently, there have been adaptive arguments to explain its function and existence. Specifically, it is argued that veiling women is a form of male mate guarding strategy, which aims to increase sexual fidelity by decreasing overt displays of his mate’s physical attractiveness, thereby helping to secure his reproductive success. Furthermore, it is suggested that such mate retention strategies (veiling) should be more important when child survival is more precarious, as cues to sexual fidelity support higher paternal investment. Using publicly available data from the PEW Research Center encompassing 26,282 individuals from 25 countries, we tested the hypotheses that men should be more supportive of women’s veiling and this support should be more important in harsher environments, particularly those with poor health and high mortality rates, where paternal care is presumably more important. Our results show that men were more supportive of veiling than women, and this support increased as the environments became harsher. Overall, these findings support the male mate retention argument as well as the idea that the practice of veiling is sensitive to environmental differences.

Population density affects male mate choosiness and morphology in the mate-guarding amphipodGammarus roeselii(Crustacea: Amphipoda)

2019 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 899-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Lipkowski ◽  
Martin Plath ◽  
Sebastian Klaus ◽  
Carolin Sommer-Trembo
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Male Mate
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