Habituation and development of response specificity to a sign stimulus: male preference for female courtship posture in stickleback

AbstractIn Odonates, female colour polymorphism is common and implies the presence of two or more female types with different colours and behaviours. To explain this phenomenon, several hypotheses have been proposed that consider morph frequency, population density, the presence of parasites, and mating behaviour. We studied the blue-tailed damselfly Ischnura elegans, a species with a blue androchrome morph and two gynochrome morphs (the common green infuscans, and the rare orange rufescens-obsoleta). The size of adult males and females, the presence of parasites, and pairing behaviour between males and the three female morphs was assessed in field conditions throughout the reproductive season in NW Italy. Moreover, growth and emergence success of larvae produced by the different morphs was analyzed in standardized conditions. In the field, males showed a preference for the gynochrome infuscans females, despite a similar frequency of androchrome females. In test conditions, male preference for the infuscans females was also observed. Paired males and paired androchrome females were larger than unpaired individuals, while there were no differences in size between paired and unpaired infuscans females. Males and androchrome females were more parasitized than infuscans females. The survival and emergence success of larvae produced by androchrome females was higher than those of offspring produced by the infuscans females. Our results suggest that a higher survival of progeny at the larval stage could counterbalance the higher parasitism and the lower pairing success of andromorph adult females and highlight the importance of considering the whole life-cycle in polymorphism studies.

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The measure and significance of Bateman's principles

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2013.2973 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 281 (1782) ◽

pp. 20132973 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Julie M. Collet ◽

Rebecca F. Dean ◽

Kirsty Worley ◽

David S. Richardson ◽

Tommaso Pizzari

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Mating Success ◽

Male Reproductive Success ◽

Female Fecundity ◽

Male Preference ◽

Bateman Gradient ◽

Red Junglefowl ◽

Experimental Approaches ◽

Empirical Tests ◽

Paternity Share

Bateman's principles explain sex roles and sexual dimorphism through sex-specific variance in mating success, reproductive success and their relationships within sexes (Bateman gradients). Empirical tests of these principles, however, have come under intense scrutiny. Here, we experimentally show that in replicate groups of red junglefowl, Gallus gallus , mating and reproductive successes were more variable in males than in females, resulting in a steeper male Bateman gradient, consistent with Bateman's principles. However, we use novel quantitative techniques to reveal that current methods typically overestimate Bateman's principles because they (i) infer mating success indirectly from offspring parentage, and thus miss matings that fail to result in fertilization, and (ii) measure Bateman gradients through the univariate regression of reproductive over mating success, without considering the substantial influence of other components of male reproductive success, namely female fecundity and paternity share. We also find a significant female Bateman gradient but show that this likely emerges as spurious consequences of male preference for fecund females, emphasizing the need for experimental approaches to establish the causal relationship between reproductive and mating success. While providing qualitative support for Bateman's principles, our study demonstrates how current approaches can generate a misleading view of sex differences and roles.

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Patriarchy in Industrial Era Europe: Skeletal Evidence of Male Preference During Growth

Bioarchaeology and Social Theory - The Bioarchaeology of Structural Violence ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-46440-0_5 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 81-108

Author(s):

Sarah Reedy

Keyword(s):

Male Preference

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An Electrophysiological Basis for Olfactory Discrimination in Homing Salmon: A Review

Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada ◽

10.1139/f70-059 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 565-586 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Toshiaki J. Hara

Keyword(s):

Pacific Salmon ◽

Electrical Response ◽

High Amplitude ◽

Polluted Water ◽

Sensitive Period ◽

Young Fish ◽

Spawning Site ◽

Short Period ◽

Sign Stimulus ◽

Spawning Sites

Past and current researches relating to olfactory acuity and discrimination in fishes, with special reference to homing salmon, are reviewed.When the nasal sac of spawning Pacific salmon is stimulated with water from the spawning site a high amplitude electroencephalographic response of characteristic pattern is recorded from the olfactory bulb. This electrical response is specific in the sense that it cannot be evoked by water from spawning sites of other groups of breeding salmon. Further, the salmon respond clearly to water taken from places along their migratory routes below the spawning sites. These findings suggest that olfaction is an important factor in guidance during the final phases of homeward migration of salmon. It is also possible that salmon retrace sequentially a trail of stimuli that is the reverse of that imprinted in the young fish on their seaward migration.Although the available data do not delineate the sensitive period, or the duration of the imprinting process, there is accumulating evidence that only a short period is necessary for imprinting, which may occur when the smolts are in their freshwater life.Recent study on the effect of antimetabolites (puromycin, actinomycin D, or cycloheximide) on olfactory bulbar discrimination in homing salmon suggests that long-term olfactory memory in these fish depends upon continued metabolism of RNA and continued protein synthesis. The possibility that the imprinting process in young fish may be affected by polluted water, which has recently become a serious problem in fisheries, is discussed. The need for electrophysiological as well as biochemical studies at a macromolecular level of the imprinting process is emphasized.Finally, the hypothesis is discussed that a home stream odour may act most effectively as a simple "sign stimulus," which, through the release of a positive rheotropic response, induces the fish to move upstream toward home. This is largely based on the recent experimental observations of the orientation mechanism in several species of teleost fishes.

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Nocturnal mating behaviour and dynamic male investment of copulation time in the southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/1568539x-00003321 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 152 (14) ◽

pp. 1883-1910 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Peter Morse ◽

Kyall R. Zenger ◽

Mark I. McCormick ◽

Mark G. Meekan ◽

Christine L. Huffard

Keyword(s):

Mating Systems ◽

Mating Behaviour ◽

Female Size ◽

Male Size ◽

Male Preference ◽

Video Footage ◽

Mating History ◽

Males And Females ◽

Strategic Allocation ◽

Do So

The southern blue-ringed octopus,Hapalochlaena maculosaHoyle (1883), is a nocturnal species that exhibits a mating system in which females hold sperm from multiple males over a one to two month breeding window before laying a single egg clutch. Contrary to most studied animal mating systems where anisogamy exists, gamete package production is limited for both males and females of this species (approx. 50 spermatophores/eggs). This presents an animal model for studying aspects of sperm competition and dynamic mate choice behaviours. The present study reports on the mating behaviour ofH. maculosaobserved under laboratory conditions using infrared closed-circuit television video footage. Rates of male copulation attempts increased with male size, while female receptivity to mating attempts increased with female size, resulting in larger animals of both sexes gaining more copulations and spending more time per day in copulation. There was some evidence of female preference of larger males, but no male preference of females based on measured morphological traits. Both sexes terminated copulations in equal frequencies but male-terminated copulations were significantly shorter in duration. Males were more likely to terminate copulation early with females they had previously mated with, however were less likely to do so if the female had recently mated with a different male. Among male-terminated copulations, males mated for longer with females that had previously mated with other males in the trial. Male–male mounts were as common as male–female mounts, suggesting that maleH. maculosaare not able to discriminate the sex of conspecifics. These findings suggest male strategic allocation of spermatophores based female mating history is an important factor influencing mating behaviours of this species.

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Sexually selected females in the monogamous Western Australian seahorse

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2006.3753 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 274 (1609) ◽

pp. 521-525 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Charlotta Kvarnemo ◽

Glenn I Moore ◽

Adam G Jones

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Mating System ◽

Genetic Study ◽

Mating Success ◽

Male Preference ◽

Monogamous Species ◽

Adult Sex Ratio ◽

Western Australian ◽

Selection Differentials

Studies of sexual selection in monogamous species have hitherto focused on sexual selection among males. Here, we provide empirical documentation that sexual selection can also act strongly on females in a natural population with a monogamous mating system. In our field-based genetic study of the monogamous Western Australian seahorse, Hippocampus subelongatus , sexual selection differentials and gradients show that females are under stronger sexual selection than males: mated females are larger than unmated ones, whereas mated and unmated males do not differ in size. In addition, the opportunity for sexual selection (variance in mating success divided by its mean squared) for females is almost three times that for males. These results, which seem to be generated by a combination of a male preference for larger females and a female-biased adult sex ratio, indicate that substantial sexual selection on females is a potentially important but under-appreciated evolutionary phenomenon in monogamous species.

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