scholarly journals Pheromone production, male abundance, body size, and the evolution of elaborate antennae in moths

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R.E. Symonds ◽  
Tamara L. Johnson ◽  
Mark A. Elgar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Pheromone Production

Courtship pheromone production and body size as correlates of larval diet in males of the arctiid moth,Utetheisa ornatrix

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Conner ◽  
B. Roach ◽  
E. Benedict ◽  
J. Meinwald ◽  
T. Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Larval Diet ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Utetheisa Ornatrix ◽  
Courtship Pheromone ◽  
Arctiid Moth

scholarly journals Toward an understanding of the chemical ecology of alternative reproductive tactics in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N. Zeeman ◽  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Emily Burdfield Steel ◽  
Astrid T. Groot ◽  
Kathryn A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Ecology ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Bulb Mite

Abstract BackgroundUnder strong sexual selection, certain species evolve distinct intrasexual, alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). In many cases, ARTs can be viewed as environmentally-cued threshold traits, such that ARTs coexist if their relative fitness alternates over the environmental cue gradient. Surprisingly, the chemical ecology of ARTs has been underexplored in this context. To our knowledge, no prior study has directly quantified pheromone production for ARTs in a male-polymorphic species. Here, we used the bulb mite—in which males are either armed fighters that kill conspecifics, or unarmed scramblers—as a model system to gain insight into the role of pheromones in the evolutionary maintenance of ARTs. Given that scramblers forgo investment into weaponry, we tested whether scramblers produce higher pheromone quantities than fighters, which would improve the fitness of the scrambler phenotype, e.g. through female mimicry to avoid aggression from competitors. To this end, we sampled mites from a rich and a poor nutritional environment and quantified their production of the female sex pheromone α-acaridial through gas chromatography analysis. ResultsWe found a positive relationship between pheromone production and body size, but males exhibited a steeper slope in pheromone production with increasing size than females. Females exhibited a higher average pheromone production than males. We found no significant difference in slope of pheromone production over body size between fighters and scramblers. However, scramblers reached larger body sizes and higher pheromone production than fighters, providing some evidence for a potential female mimic strategy adopted by large scramblers. Pheromone production was significantly higher in mites from the rich nutritional environment than the poor environment. ConclusionFurther elucidation of pheromone functionality in bulb mites, and additional inter- and intrasexual comparisons of pheromone profiles are needed to determine if the observed intersexual and intrasexual differences in pheromone production are adaptive, if they are a by-product of allometric scaling, or diet-mediated pheromone production under weak selection. We argue chemical ecology offers a novel perspective for research on ARTs and other complex life-history traits.

scholarly journals Toward an understanding of the chemical ecology of alternative reproductive tactics in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)

2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N. Zeeman ◽  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Emily Burdfield Steel ◽  
Astrid T. Groot ◽  
Kathryn A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Ecology ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Bulb Mite

Abstract Background Under strong sexual selection, certain species evolve distinct intrasexual, alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). In many cases, ARTs can be viewed as environmentally-cued threshold traits, such that ARTs coexist if their relative fitness alternates over the environmental cue gradient. Surprisingly, the chemical ecology of ARTs has been underexplored in this context. To our knowledge, no prior study has directly quantified pheromone production for ARTs in a male-polymorphic species. Here, we used the bulb mite—in which males are either armed fighters that kill conspecifics, or unarmed scramblers (which have occasionally been observed to induce mating behavior in other males)—as a model system to gain insight into the role of pheromones in the evolutionary maintenance of ARTs. Given that scramblers forgo investment into weaponry, we tested whether scramblers produce higher quantities of the putative female sex-pheromone α-acaridial than fighters, which would improve the fitness of the scrambler phenotype through female mimicry by allowing avoidance of aggression from competitors. To this end, we sampled mites from a rich and a poor nutritional environment and quantified their production of α-acaridial through gas chromatography analysis. Results We found a positive relationship between pheromone production and body size, but males exhibited a steeper slope in pheromone production with increasing size than females. Females exhibited a higher average pheromone production than males. We found no significant difference in slope of pheromone production over body size between fighters and scramblers. However, scramblers reached larger body sizes and higher pheromone production than fighters, providing some evidence for a potential female mimic strategy adopted by large scramblers. Pheromone production was significantly higher in mites from the rich nutritional environment than the poor environment. Conclusion Further elucidation of pheromone functionality in bulb mites, and additional inter- and intrasexual comparisons of pheromone profiles are needed to determine if the observed intersexual and intrasexual differences in pheromone production are adaptive, if they are a by-product of allometric scaling, or diet-mediated pheromone production under weak selection. We argue chemical ecology offers a novel perspective for research on ARTs and other complex life-history traits.

scholarly journals Toward an understanding of the chemical ecology of alternative reproductive tactics in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N Zeeman ◽  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Emily Burdfield-Steel ◽  
Astrid T. Groot ◽  
Kathryn A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Ecology ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Bulb Mite

Background Under strong sexual selection, certain species evolve distinct intrasexual, alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). In many cases, ARTs can be viewed as environmentally cued threshold traits, such that ARTs coexist if their relative fitness alternates over the environmental cue gradient. Surprisingly, the chemical ecology of ARTs has been underexplored in this context. To our knowledge, no prior study has directly quantified pheromone production for ARTs in a male polymorphic species. Here, we used the bulb mite — in which males are either armed fighters that kill conspecifics, or unarmed scramblers — as a model system to gain insight into the role of pheromones in the evolutionary maintenance of ARTs. Given that scramblers forgo investment into weaponry, we tested whether scramblers produce higher pheromone quantities than fighters, which would improve the fitness of the scrambler phenotype, e.g. through female mimicry to avoid aggression from competitors. To this end, we sampled mites from a rich and a poor nutritional environment and quantified their production of the female sex pheromone α acaridial through gas chromatography analysis. Results We found a positive relationship between pheromone production and body size, but males exhibited a steeper slope in pheromone production with increasing size than females. Females exhibited a higher average pheromone production than males. We found no significant difference in slope of pheromone production over body size between fighters and scramblers. However, scramblers reached larger body sizes and higher pheromone production than fighters, providing some evidence for a potential female mimic strategy adopted by large scramblers. Pheromone production was significantly higher in mites from the rich nutritional environment than the poor environment. Conclusion Further elucidation of pheromone functionality in bulb mites, and additional inter and intrasexual comparisons of pheromone profiles are needed to determine if the observed intersexual and intrasexual differences in pheromone production are adaptive, if they are a byproduct of allometric scaling, or diet mediated pheromone production under weak selection. We argue chemical ecology offers a novel perspective for research on ARTs and other complex life-history traits.

Adolescent Gender Differences in Weight, Activity, and Body-Size Perception

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith R. Mccalla ◽  
Katie E. Chipungu ◽  
Patrice G. Saab ◽  
Amanda J. Countryman ◽  
Erin N. Etzel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Size Perception ◽  
Body Size Perception

Maternal body size and condition determine calf growth rates in southern right whales

2018 ◽  
Vol 592 ◽  
pp. 267-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Christiansen ◽  
F Vivier ◽  
C Charlton ◽  
R Ward ◽  
A Amerson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Maternal Body ◽  
Calf Growth ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
Southern Right Whales

Trophic position scales positively with body size within but not among four species of rocky reef predators

2020 ◽  
Vol 640 ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
AM Olson ◽  
A Frid ◽  
JBQ dos Santos ◽  
F Juanes
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Rocky Reef ◽  
Morphometric Traits ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Predatory Fishes ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Interspecific Comparisons ◽  
Large Predators

Intra- and interspecifically, larger-bodied predators generally occupy higher trophic positions (TPs). With widespread declines in large predators, there is a need to understand their size-based trophic roles to predict ecosystem-level responses. In British Columbia, Canada, we examined size-based trophic interactions between predatory fishes—3 rockfish species (genus Sebastes) and lingcod Ophiodon elongatus—and their prey, converting predator δ15N signatures to TP and analyzing stomach contents. Intraspecifically, TP scaled positively with predator length and gape width, but the rates of change varied by species. Interspecifically, TP did not scale positively with the observed mean sizes or known maximum sizes of species. Lingcod TP was lower than that of yelloweye and quillback rockfishes, which were 51 and 37%, respectively, smaller than lingcod. Yellowtail rockfish had the smallest average size, yet their mean TP did not differ significantly from that of lingcod. Neither species differences in some morphometric traits known to influence body size-TP relationships nor phylogenetic history explained these results. Most prey consumed were <20% of the predator’s size, which might partially explain the lack of a size-based trophic hierarchy among species. Currently, large size classes of rockfishes are being lost due to fisheries and perhaps climate-driven changes. Our findings on intraspecific size-TP relationships indicate that fishery removals of large individuals may diminish trophic structures. Interspecific comparisons of TP suggest that, along with size, species remain an important factor in understanding trophic dynamics. In addition, smaller-bodied predator species may have significant ecological roles to be considered in ecosystem-based fisheries management.

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