scholarly journals Virgin Male Mating Advantage in Sagebrush Crickets: No Role for an Acoustically-Mediated Female Preference

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 60-63
Author(s):  
Scott Sakaluk ◽  
Pamela Brady ◽  
Tracie Ivy ◽  
Marion Sakaluk ◽  
Jennifer Schaus
Keyword(s):  
Field Studies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Bodily Fluids ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
Virgin Male ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans ◽  
Number Of Males

The sagebrush cricket, Cyphoderris strepitans, is one of only five extant species belonging to an obscure orthopteran lineage, the Haglidae, closely related to the true crickets (Gryllidae) and katydids (Tettigoniidae) (Morris & Gwynne 1978). C. strepitans occurs exclusively in mountainous areas of the western United States, where it is found primarily in high-altitude sagebrush meadow habitat. Adults become sexually active in late spring, shortly after snow melt, and remain active for the following 4-6 weeks. The acoustic signals produced by males function to attract females (Snedden & Irazuzta 1994), thereby enhancing male mating opportunities (Snedden & Sakaluk 1992). Copulation is initiated when a receptive female climbs onto the dorsum of a male, at which time he attempts to transfer a spermatophore. During copulation, the female feeds on the male's fleshy hind wings and bodily fluids leaking from the wounds she inflicts. Previous field studies involving the mark­recapture of a large number of males have shown that once a male has mated, his probability of obtaining an additional copulation is reduced relative to that of a virgin male securing his first mating (Morris et al. 1989). One explanation for the virgin-male mating advantage is that non-virgin males, having lost a substantial portion of their energy reserves through sexual cannibalism by females and the transfer of a large spermatophore, may be unable to sustain the costly acoustical signaling activity required to attract additional females. In support of the "male fatigue" hypothesis, electronic assays of male signaling behavior have shown that virgin male C. strepitans call for significantly longer durations than recently mated males (Sakaluk et al. 1987; Sakaluk & Snedden 1990).

VIRGIN-MALE MATING ADVANTAGE IN SAGEBRUSH CRICKETS: DIFFERENTIAL MALE COMPETITIVENESS OR NON-INDEPENDENT FEMALE MATE CHOICE?

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 1335-1346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracie Ivy ◽  
Scott Sakaluk
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Hind Wing ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Virgin Male ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans

AbstractFemale sagebrush crickets (Cyphoderris strepitans) feed on males' fleshy hind wings during copulation and ingest haemolymph oozing from the wounds they inflict. The wounds are not fatal and usually only a portion of the hind wings are eaten at any one mating, so that mated males are not precluded from mating again. However, based on their relative abundance in the population, virgin males have a higher mating success than non-virgin males. One explanation for this virgin-male mating advantage is that non-virgin males, having been depleted of their energy reserves through the wing-feeding behaviour of their mates, are unable to sustain the same level of acoustic signalling they produce prior to copulation. Previous assays of male signalling behaviour have provided some support to this hypothesis. However, an alternative explanation is that females actively seek out virgin males as mates because of the greater material resources they offer. If the acoustic structure of males' signals were systematically altered by the loss of hind-wing material underlying the sound-producing tegmina, females could potentially discriminate against mated males through reduced phonotaxis to their calls. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally removing one hind wing from virgin males, thereby simulating the non-virgin condition without the attendant costs of copulation. We compared the mating success of these 'asymmetrical' males with that of sham-operated virgin males when competing under natural conditions. In a companion laboratory study, we used time-lapse video recording to examine the possibility that female preferences are exerted only after pair formation has occurred. There was no significant difference in male mating success across treatments in either study. We conclude, therefore, that the virgin-male mating advantage does not stem from an acoustically mediated, non-independent female mating preference, but rather, from the differential competitiveness of males.

scholarly journals Sexual Selection of Male Song in Free-Living Sagebrush Crickets, Cyphoderris Strepitans

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 125-130
Author(s):  
Geoff Ower ◽  
Sandra Steiger ◽  
Kyle Caron ◽  
Scott Sakaluk
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Train Duration ◽  
Virgin Male ◽  
Field Season ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans ◽  
Long Pulse

Measures of lifetime mating success in the sagebrush cricket, Cyphoderris strepitans, have revealed that most males succeed in obtaining only 1 mating, while many males fail to attract a female at all and a small minority mate 2 to 4 times. Relative to their abundance in the population, virgin males have a greater likelihood of obtaining a mating than non-virgin males have of securing additional matings, a phenomenon known as the virgin male mating advantage. Previous studies of sagebrush crickets have focused primarily on determining the proximate mechanisms responsible for the virgin male mating advantage, but little work has been done to identify the factors that influence male attractiveness in the first place. Because song plays a central role in mate attraction, it’s likely that variability in song parameters among males could account for the observed differences in mating success. Song is an energetically costly signal to produce and could serve as an honest indicator of male quality. Consequently, males that are able to invest greater amounts of energy into singing should be more attractive to females. In a previous field season, we recorded and analyzed the songs of virgin and non-virgin males and indeed found some evidence that females prefer males which invest greater energy into calling. In the present study, we synthesized artificial sagebrush cricket songs and directly measured female song preference with an arena playback experiment. Females were shown to consistently prefer song characteristics that would require greater energy expenditure by males. Males that sing with long pulse duration, long train duration, and at an intermediate dominant frequency were found to be highly attractive to females.

scholarly journals Opportunistic Courtship Feeding in Sagebrush Crickets

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 123-127
Author(s):  
Scott Sakaluk ◽  
Patricia Bangert ◽  
Lars Swanson ◽  
Anne-Katrin Eggert
Keyword(s):  
Pair Formation ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Snow Melt ◽  
Mountainous Areas ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Bodily Fluids ◽  
Acoustic Signaling ◽  
Courtship Feeding ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans

The sagebrush cricket, Cyphoderris strepitans is one of only five extant species belonging to an ancient insect lineage, the Haglidae, believed to be ancestral to modern-day crickets and katydids (Orthoptera: Ensifera) (Morris and Gwynne 1978, Vickery 1989). C. strepitans occurs exclusively in mountainous areas of Wyoming and Colorado, where it is found primarily in high-altitude sagebrush meadow habitat. Adults become sexually active in May, shortly after snow melt, and remain active for the next 4-6 weeks. Pair formation is mediated through acoustic signaling by males, which functions to attract sexually receptive females (Snedden and Sakaluk 1992). Copulation is initiated when a receptive female climbs onto the dorsum of a male, at which time he attempts to transfer a spermatophore. During copulation, the female feeds on the male's fleshy hindwings and bodily fluids leaking from the wounds she inflicts, behavior which constitutes a form of courtship feeding (Dodson et al. 1983, Sakaluk et al. 1987, Morris et al. 1989, Sakaluk and Snedden 1990). At the same time, the female is secured by the male's abdominal pinching organ, a device known as a "gin trap" (Morris 1979). The gin trap of a male C. strepitans consists of two pairs of recurved spines, one pair directed anteriorally and the other posteriorally, located on the 10th and 8th tergites, respectively. The spines are brought together, pinching the female's abdomen, as the male's tergites are telescoped inward during his attempts to secure genitalic contact (Morris 1979). Although the gin trap clearly serves a reproductive role, its precise functional significance remains unknown; comparable reproductive structures are not known from any other family of the Orthoptera.

scholarly journals Male Hemolymph Loss During Nuptial Feeding as a Proximate Mechanisim Underlying the Virgin-Male Mating Advantage in Sagebrush Crickets

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Scott Sakaluk ◽  
Mark Campbell ◽  
Peter Keorpes ◽  
Andrew Clark
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Energy Reserves ◽  
Substantial Portion ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Virgin Male ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans ◽  
Two Alternatives ◽  
Signaling Activity ◽  
Spermatophore Production

Male sagebrush crickets, Cyphoderris strepitans, offer an unusual nuptial food gift to females during mating: females chew on the ends of the males' fleshy hind wings and ingest hemolymph seeping from the wounds they inflict. Previous studies have shown that once a male had mated, his probability of obtaining an additional copulation is reduced relative to that of a virgin male seeking to secure his first mating, a pattern known as the virgin­male mating advantage. One hypothesis to account for the virgin-male mating advantage is that non­virgin males, having lost a substantial portion of their energy reserves at mating, may be unable to sustain the costly acoustical signaling activity required for the passive attraction of additional females. If the future mating prospects of non-virgin males are diminished because of sexual fatigue, this could stem either from the resources required to manufacture a new spermatophore or through the energy needed to replenish haemolymph lost through female wing­feeding. To distinguish between these two alternatives, we experimentally depleted virgin males of varying amounts haemolymph (0, 5 and 10 ul) in a way that mimicked hemolymph loss of non-virgin males, without the attendant costs of spermatophore production. After they had been treated, males were released in the field and recaptured over the course of the breeding season to monitor their mating success. Control males mated significantly sooner than did males depleted of 5 or 10 ul of hemolymph. We conclude, therefore, that the depletion of hemolymph that occurs through female wing feeding is sufficient by itself to diminish a non-virgin male's ability to secure another mating, acting as a brake on the operation of sexual selection in this species.

Virgin male mating advantage in a primitive acoustic insect (Orthoptera: Haglidae)

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn K. Morris ◽  
Darryl T. Gwynne ◽  
Dita E. Klimas ◽  
Scott K. Sakaluk
Keyword(s):  
Male Mating ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Virgin Male

scholarly journals Virgins are Louder: The Effect of Mating on Acoustic Signaling in Sagebrush Crickets

1995 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 78-83
Author(s):  
W. Snedden ◽  
Michael Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
Hind Wing ◽  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Signal Amplitude ◽  
Surgical Excision ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Acoustic Signaling ◽  
Signal Characteristics ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Virgin Male ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans

Female sagebrush crickets, Cyphoderris strepitans, feed on the male's hind wings during copulation. Because removal of hind wing material during mating may alter male acoustic signal characteristics and account for a virgin male mating advantage (Morris et al. 1989; Snedden, in press) we recorded virgin and mated males in the field, and virgins before and after surgical excision of a portion of the hind wings. We found no significant differences in signal spectral characteristics or pulse rate between virgin and mated males following hind­wing excision. However, the signal amplitude of laboratory recorded virgins was greater than that of mated males, and song amplitude was reduced in manipulated males. In contrast, signal amplitude was lower in field recorded virgins than mated males.

scholarly journals Time-Laspe Video Study of Mating Behavior in Sagebrush Crickets (Cyphoderris strepitans)

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 131-139
Author(s):  
Scott Sakaluk ◽  
W. Snedden
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Video Study ◽  
Available Energy ◽  
Virgin Male ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans

Sagebrush crickets (Cyphoderris strepitans) are primitive acoustic insects which occur only in mountainous areas of Wyoming and Colorado (Morris and Gwynne 1978). In Grand Teton National Park, adults become sexually active in early May and matings subsequently occur over a 3 - 6 week period. Each night of the breeding season, males emerge from the soil litter shortly after sunset, climb into the sagebrush and begin to sing, presumably to attract sexually receptive females. Copulation is initiated when a receptive female climbs onto the dorsum of a male, at which time he attempts to transfer a spermatophore (Dodson et al. 1983, Sakaluk et al. 1987, Morris et al. 1989). During the time that the female is mounted on the male, she feeds on the male's metathoracic wings and ingests any hemolymph oozing from the wounds she inflicts. To deter the female from dismounting before the spermatophore has been transferred, males are equipped with an abdominal pinching organ which functions to secure the female during copulation (Morris 1979, Dodson et al. 1983). Once the spermatophore has disengagement. The bulk of the spermatophore remains attached outside the female's body, who invariably consumes it several hours after mating (present study). A previous field study involving the mark-recapture of a large number of males showed that once a male had mated, his probability of obtaining additional copulations was significantly reduced (Morris et al. 1986). One explanation for this result is that non-virgin males, having lost a substantial portion of available energy reserves at mating, may be unable to sustain calling at pre-mating levels. In support of this hypothesis, electronic assays of male signaling behavior (see Kidder and Sakaluk, in press) have shown that virgin male C. strepitans call for significantly longer durations than recently mated males (Sakaluk et al.1987, Sakaluk and Snedden 1990). Although virgin males call more and have significantly higher mating success than non-virgins, this does not necessarily prove that calling duration and mating success are causally related. In the past, we have experienced two difficulties in establishing a causal basis to this correlation: 1) matings are rarely observed in the field, and we have of necessity relied on wing wounding as an indicator of male mating success (Morris et al. 1989) and 2) we have been unable to demonstrate phonotaxis of females to conspecific song as broadcast either through speakers placed in the field (Sakaluk and Snedden, unpubl. data) or in the laboratory (Morris et al. 1989). To at least partially circumvent these difficulties, we employed time-lapse video photography of mating interactions staged at the UW-NPS Research Station during the 1989 breeding season. The objective of these studies was to determine how mating status, calling time and body size contribute to male mating success, either through their effect on male competitive ability and/or their effect on male attractiveness to females.

scholarly journals Acoustic Signaling in Sagebrush Crickets: A Test of the Territorial Hypothesis

1991 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 158-161
Author(s):  
Kristin Petersen ◽  
Anne-Katrin Eggert ◽  
Michael Will ◽  
Scott Sakaluk
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Mountainous Areas ◽  
Mating Status ◽  
Permanent Record ◽  
Acoustic Signaling ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Cyphoderris Strepitans

The sagebrush cricket, Cyphoderris strepitans, is one of only five extant species belonging to an ancient insect lineage, the Haglidae, believed to be ancestral to modern-day crickets and katydids (Orthoptera: Ensifera) (Morris and Gwynne 1978). C. strepitans occurs exclusively in mountainous areas of Wyoming and Colorado, where it is found primarily in high-altitude sagebrush meadow habitat. Adults become sexually active in May, shortly after snowmelt, and remain active for the next 4-6 weeks. Each night of the breeding season, males emerge from the soil litter shortly after sunset, climb into the sagebrush and begin to sing, presumably to attract sexually receptive females. Copulation is initiated when a receptive female climbs onto the dorsum of a male, at which time he attempts to transfer a spermatophore. During copulation, the female feeds on the male's fleshy metathoracic wings and ingests any haemolymph leaking from the wounds she inflicts (Sakaluk et al. 1987, Morris et al. 1989, Sakaluk and Snedden 1990). The wounds that result from wing feeding provide a convenient, permanent record of a male's mating status; through visual inspection of the metathoracic wings, it is possible to determine whether field-collected males are virgin or have mated at least once prior to their capture (Dodson et al. 1983, Morris et al. 1989).

Female choosiness and mating opportunities in the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (15) ◽  
pp. 1863-1878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorena Pompilio ◽  
Martín González Franco ◽  
Lucía B. Chisari ◽  
Gabriel Manrique
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Rhodnius Prolixus ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Adaptive Function ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Female Choosiness

We investigated the relationship between female choosiness and mating opportunities in the blood sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus. Rhodnius prolixus females exhibit active discrimination behaviour to male mating attempts which delays or prevents copulation. Female rejection behaviours can be beneficial if mating opportunities are readily available and the pool of males varies in their quality. Thus, the benefits of finding a better quality male may override the cost of rejecting a mating opportunity. Since the availability of mating opportunities is affected by the ratio of sexually active males to females, we randomly assigned focal pairs to arenas with a sex ratio biased toward males, females or without other individuals. More females exhibited rejection behaviour when conspecifics were present, however, no differences were found when the sex ratio was biased toward either males or females. We discuss possible explanations for these results and hypothesize about the adaptive function of female rejection behaviour.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document