The better, the choosier: a meta-analysis on inter-individual variation of male mate choice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Pollo ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Michael M. Kasumovic
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Medium Quality ◽  
Male Mate

Male mate choice occurs in several animal species, but we know little about the factors that influence the expression of this behaviour. Males vary in their capacity to acquire mates (i.e. male quality), which could be crucial to male mate choice expression but it is often overlooked. Using a meta-analytical approach, we explore inter-individual variation in the expression of male mate choice by comparing the mating investment of males of different qualities and phenotypes to high- and low-quality females. We used two datasets that together contained information from 60 empirical studies, comprising 52 species. We found that males of all qualities and phenotypes prefer high-quality females, but differ in the strength of such preference. High- and medium-quality males are choosier than low-quality males. Similarly, males that are larger or in greater body condition are choosier than their counterparts. In contrast, male body mass and age are not associated with changes in male mate choice. We also show that experimental design may influence our understanding of male mating investment patterns, which may limit the generalization of our findings. Nonetheless, we argue that male quality may be an important feature in the expression of male mate choice.

scholarly journals No male mate choice for female boldness in a bi-parental West African cichlid, the rainbow krib (Pelvicachromis pulcher)

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Scherer ◽  
Wiebke Schuett
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Parental Species ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
West African ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
African Cichlid ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Male Mate

Background In many species, males have a lower reproductive investment than females and are therefore assumed to increase their fitness with a high number of matings rather than by being choosy. However, in bi-parental species, also males heavily invest into reproduction. Here, reproductive success largely depends on costly parental care; with style and amount of parental effort in several cases being associated with personality differences (i.e., consistent between-individual differences in behaviour). Nonetheless, very little is known about the effect of personality differences on (male) mate choice in bi-parental species. Methods In the present study, we tested male mate choice for the level and consistency of female boldness in the rainbow krib, Pelviachromis pulcher, a bi-parental and territorial West African cichlid. Individual boldness was assumed to indicate parental quality because it affects parental defence behaviour. For all males and females, boldness was assessed twice as the activity under simulated predation risk. Mate choice trials were conducted in two steps. First, we let a male observe two females expressing their boldness. Then, the male could choose between these two females in a standard mate choice test. Results We tested for a male preference for behavioural (dis-)similarity vs. a directional preference for boldness but our data support the absence of effects of male and/or female boldness (level and consistency) on male mating preference. Discussion Our results suggest female personality differences in boldness may not be selected for via male mate choice.

scholarly journals Male mate choice, male quality, and the potential for sexual selection on female traits under polygyny

Evolution ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney L. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Maria R. Servedio
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Male Mate

MATING BEHAVIOUR AND MALE MATE CHOICE IN TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM (COLEOPTERA, TENEBRIONIDAE)

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Haubruge ◽  
Ludovic Arnaud
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Tribolium Castaneum ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Female Status ◽  
Male Mate

Mate choice by males has received less attention than female choice, despite the recognition that males can incur non-trivial reproductive costs through mating. In this study we investigate male mate choice in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. We determine whether male beetles have evolved sensitivity that enables them to discriminate between females and we then examine how males discriminate between females that present different reproductive potentials. Recently-emerged adult females are immature, and we investigate when egg-laying maturity develops, and whether male mating attempts with immature females provide reproductive pay-offs. We show that males are the sex most likely to initiate mating attempts (more than 85% of male-female contacts are male-initiated). Therefore, we test male mating initiations when presented with choices between: (i) immature and mature virgin females; (ii) mature virgin females and previously mated mature females; and (iii) mature females previously mated either with different male or with the test males. Last male sperm precedence exists in T. castaneum and females are polyandrous. Matings with immature females are therefore likely to generate lower fertilization successes than matings with mature females. Furthermore, males are likely to achieve higher total fertilization success when they mate if they precede a rival male's sperm than if they precede their own sperm. Accordingly, we find that: (i) males copulate more frequently with mature, than with immature females; (ii) males do differentiate between virgin and mated females; and (iii) males prefer females that have been inseminated by a different male to those previously inseminated by the test males themselves. The results demonstrate that male T. castaneum recognise female status, display mate choice, and prefer to inseminate females which provide greater reproductive potential.

Changes in male mate choice in a sexually cannibalistic orb-web spider (Araneae: Araneidae)

Behaviour ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (10) ◽  
pp. 1197-1210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Elgar ◽  
Anne Gaskett ◽  
Barbara Downes ◽  
Marie Herberstein
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Reproductive Status ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Mating History ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
Argiope Keyserlingi ◽  
Orb Web ◽  
Male Mate

AbstractIn theory, male mate choice should occur when the costs of copulation, in terms of future mating opportunities, are high. The criteria males use to choose mates may change depending upon male mating history and the potential for future matings. We examine male mate choice in the St. Andrew's Cross Spider (Argiope keyserlingi Araneae: Araneidae). Laboratory experiments revealed that death and injury caused by female sexual cannibalism limits males to a maximum of two copulations. We assessed the mate choices of virgin and mated males for females of different reproductive status. We used field and laboratory choice bioassays involving airborne and web-based pheromones. In field experiments, wild males were strongly attracted to webs built by laboratory-raised virgin females. Webs from mated females did not attract males. Male mate choice was affected by male reproductive status: while virgin males strongly preferred penultimate and virgin females to mated females, mated males were apparently indifferent to females of different mating status. Such post-copulatory changes in male mate choice have not been previously documented, and may reflect a decreased potential for future mating.

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

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.

Does Individual Variation in Male Mate Choice Copying Reflect Differences in Social Responsiveness?

2017 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Gomes Silva ◽  
Kai Liu ◽  
Bojian Chen ◽  
Martin Plath ◽  
Carolin Sommer Trembo
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Choice Copying ◽  
Male Mate

What Males Choose: Differences in Female Quality

2021 ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Ingo Schlupp
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Female Fecundity ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Male Mate

In female choice, differences in male quality are very important. Males display to females to provide information often via costly ornaments. Females also differ in quality, but what they display to males is less clear. Also, how males evaluate differences in female quality is not well understood. From the literature on male mate choice one might conclude that female fecundity is the most important feature a female can display to a choosy male, but I argue that there must be many more features of females that are important in male mate choice, maybe even indirect benefits.

scholarly journals The role of female dominance hierarchies in the mating behaviour of mosquitofish

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Chen ◽  
Madeleine Beekman ◽  
Ashley J. W. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Dominance Hierarchies ◽  
Male Mate

While studies of sexual selection focus primarily on female choice and male–male competition, males should also exert mate choice in order to maximize their reproductive success. We examined male mate choice in mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki , with respect to female size and female dominance. We found that the number of mating attempts made by a male was predicted by the dominance rank of females in a group, with dominant females attracting more mating attempts than subordinates. The number of mating attempts made by males was independent of the female size. The observed bias in the number of mating attempts towards dominant females may be driven either by straightforward male mate choice, since dominance and female fecundity are often closely related, or via the dominant females mediating male mating behaviour by restricting their access to subordinate females.

Male mate choice in the annual killifish Millerichthys robustus and its relationship with female polymorphism, size and fecundity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Domínguez-Castanedo ◽  
Tessy M. Muñoz-Campos ◽  
Stefano Valdesalici ◽  
Sharon Valdez-Carbajal ◽  
Carlos Passos
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Annual Killifish ◽  
Female Polymorphism ◽  
Male Mate
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