Mating advantage of rare males in models of sexual selection

Nature ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 267 (5607) ◽  
pp. 151-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER O'DONALD
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Rare Males

scholarly journals Experimental evidence that extra-pair mating drives asymmetrical introgression of a sexual trait

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1771) ◽  
pp. 20132175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Baldassarre ◽  
Michael S. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Similar Amount ◽  
Plumage Colour ◽  
Sensory Bias ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Malurus Melanocephalus ◽  
Pair Mating ◽  
Correlational Data ◽  
Extra Pair Mating ◽  
Manipulation Experiment

Theory suggests that traits under positive selection may introgress asymmetrically across a hybrid zone, potentially driven by sexual selection. Two subspecies of the red-backed fairy-wren ( Malurus melanocephalus ) differ primarily in a sexual signal used in mate choice—red versus orange male back plumage colour—but phylogeographic analyses suggest asymmetrical introgression of red plumage into the genetic background of the orange subspecies. We hypothesized that this asymmetrical introgression may be facilitated by sexual selection if red males have a mating advantage over orange males. We tested this hypothesis with correlational data and a plumage manipulation experiment where we reddened the back plumage of a subset of orange males to mimic males of the red subspecies. There was no correlational evidence of a mating advantage to naturally redder males in this population. Experimentally reddened males sired a similar amount of within-pair young and lost paternity at the same rate as orange males, but they sired significantly more extra-pair young, leading to substantially higher total reproductive success. Thus, we conclude that sexual selection via extra-pair mating is a likely mechanism responsible for the asymmetrical introgression of plumage colour in this system, and is potentially driven by a sensory bias for the red plumage signal.

Mating advantage for rare males in wild guppy populations

Nature ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 503 (7474) ◽  
pp. 108-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Hughes ◽  
Anne E. Houde ◽  
Anna C. Price ◽  
F. Helen Rodd
Keyword(s):  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Rare Males

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.

scholarly journals A RARE-MALE ADVANTAGE IN THE HOUSEFLY INDUCED BY WING CLIPPING AND SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR DROSOPHILA

Genetics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 975-993
Author(s):  
Edwin H Bryant ◽  
Aykut Kence ◽  
Kay T Kimball
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Statistical Bias ◽  
Minority Males ◽  
Male Advantage ◽  
Experimental Bias ◽  
Mating Advantage ◽  
Rare Males ◽  
Existing Data

ABSTRACT Multiple-choice crosses among five geographic strains of the housefly, Musca domestica L., were carried out in equal (10:10) and low-frequency (4:16) ratios. Initially, a low-frequency-male mating advantage was apparent, but further analyses related this minority advantage to a reduction of male mating success during marking by wing clipping. When there are fluctuating differences in the level of sexual vigor between competing male types over replicate trials of a cross, a mating advantage will accrue to the minority type. Even if males from the two competing strains are equally vigorous, such fluctuating differences will occur during sampling of flies. Harming the flies during marking will serve to enhance this effect and make significant departures toward greater mating success of rare males highly likely. This statistical bias in favor of minority males was substantiated in simulations of the Kence-Bryant model of mating success and compared with our results of a minority advantage in the housefly and with published results of a minority advantage in Drosophila. Our evidence, though circumstantial, that an advantage to minority males could have been induced by such an experimental bias suggests that a re-examination of existing data, as well as new experimentation, is necessary to discern whether or not a real rare-male advantage exists.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document