Saproxylic Cetoniidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea): A ‘Females’ World’ or a Question of Dependence on Deadwood?

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-295
Author(s):  
Sandra Martínez-Pérez ◽  
Gerardo Sanchez-Rojas ◽  
Eduardo Galante ◽  
Estefanía Micó
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Oak Forest ◽  
Mediterranean Forests ◽  
Tree Hollows ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Dispersal Abilities ◽  
Tree Hollow

Abstract We explored the dependence of some Cetoniidae species on saproxylic environments and microhabitats in a Mediterranean oak forest by analyzing species collected using different kinds of traps—log emergence, hollow emergence, and interception traps—and the sex ratio of the species in each trap. Comparing the sex ratio of the species collected via emergence versus interception was useful to unravel the degree of dependence on saproxylic microhabitats. Among the species studied, Cetonia aurataeformis Curti, 1913 (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) was the only obligate tree hollow inhabitant. Special attention should thus be paid to the maintenance of tree hollows for the species’ conservation in Mediterranean forests. A gradient of dependence on tree hollows was established from the more dependent Protaetia (Potosia) cuprea (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) and Protaetia (Potosia) opaca (Fabricius, 1787) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) to the less dependent Protaetia (Netocia) morio (Fabricius, 1781) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae). All the latter species can be considered facultatively dependent, to varying degrees, on tree hollows. By contrast, the saproxylic affinity of Protaetia (Netocia) oblonga (Gory and Percheron, 1833) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae), Tropinota squalida (Scopoli, 1783) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) and Oxythyrea funesta (Poda, 1761) (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) was doubtful. Generally, the sex ratio of the studied species was female-biased. A possible explanation may be local male competition for females, suggesting the Cetoniinae is a female world. However, the range of difference in the female-biased sex ratio among species suggests it is important to explore other possible causes, such as differences in dispersal abilities.

Reproductive Competition and Selection On Male Traits At Varying Sex Ratios in the Field Cricket, Gryllus Pennsylvanicus

Behaviour ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 126 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Cade ◽  
Konstantine Souroukis
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Field Cricket ◽  
Direct Selection ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Total Selection

AbstractIntensity of male-male competition and sexual selection were studied in the field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus, in an outdoor arena at four sex ratios, male-only (5:0), male-biased (5:2), unity (5:5) and female-biased (5:10). Fighting frequency was highest at male-biased and unity sex ratios. Fighting success was correlated with male body weight at all sex ratios. Calling duration and searching distance decreased with increased female numbers. Opportunity for selection was highest at the male-biased and lowest at the female-biased sex ratio. Selection gradients and differentials were calculated and demonstrated that direct and total selection was highly variable and often relaxed. Direct selection favored male weight at the male-biased sex ratio and total selection for weight occurred at unity. There was no selection on male weight at the female-biased sex ratio. Total and direct selection for increased calling duration occurred at the male-biased sex ratio. Only total selection for calling duration was found at unity, whereas direct selection acted against calling duration at the female-biased sex ratio. Selection did not act on searching at any sex ratio. Natural variations in sex ratios occur and fluctuations in selection on correlated male traits may maintain additive genetic variation for traits important in male-male competition.

No room for males in caves: Female‐biased sex ratio in subterranean amphipods of the genus Niphargus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ester Premate ◽  
Špela Borko ◽  
Simona Kralj‐Fišer ◽  
Michael Jennions ◽  
Žiga Fišer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio

Male-biased sex ratio in Argulus canadensis Wilson, 1916 (Crustacea: Branchiura) ectoparasitic on sticklebacks

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 2078-2080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Poulin ◽  
Gerard J. FitzGerald
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Egg Deposition ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Fish Hosts

Females of the ectoparasitic crustacean Argulus canadensis must leave their fish hosts at least temporarily to deposit their eggs on the substrate. To test the hypothesis that this difference in reproductive behaviour between the two sexes could result in male-biased sex ratios on their stickleback hosts, we sampled sticklebacks in tide pools of a Quebec salt marsh from early July to early September 1986. During this period, fish harboured significantly more male than female A. canadensis. Laboratory experiments were done to test two alternative hypotheses offered to explain this biased sex ratio. The first hypothesis was that male A. canadensis were more successful than females in attacking their stickleback hosts; however, we found no differences in attack success on their hosts between the two parasite sexes. The second hypothesis was that sticklebacks ate more female than male A. canadensis. Although males were less vulnerable to fish predation than females, the difference was not significant. We conclude that sexual differences in reproductive behaviour, i.e., egg deposition behaviour of females, can account for the male-biased sex ratio of A. canadensis on sticklebacks.

Female-Biased Sex Ratio at Hatching in the Green Woodhoopoe

The Auk ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Ligon ◽  
Sandra H. Ligon
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio

Variably male-biased sex ratio in a marine bird with females larger than males

Oecologia ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana Torres ◽  
Hugh Drummond
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Marine Bird ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio

Effects of phytoseiid predators on the sex ratio of the spider mite Panonychus ulmi

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 208-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan L. Johnson ◽  
Heather C. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Spider Mite ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Panonychus Ulmi ◽  
Encounter Rate ◽  
Male Mortality ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Male Activity

The effect of predator presence on the adult sex ratio of a spider mite (Panonychus ulmi) was examined in a field experiment. Phytoseiid predators (chiefly Typhlodromus occidentalis) were removed from 32 trees harboring P. ulmi populations, and allowed to remain at natural levels on 32 other trees. Both total population density and proportion of males in the prey population were significantly higher in predator-free trees. Mechanisms that could explain the increase in the proportion of males are examined. The most probable is that greater male activity results in a higher encounter rate between predator and prey, and that subsequent higher male mortality when predators are present exaggerates the female-biased sex ratio. The theoretical effects of sex-biased predation on diplo-diploid and haplo-diploid organisms are discussed.

scholarly journals Female biased sex-ratio in Schistosoma mansoni after exposure to an allopatric intermediate host strain of Biomphalaria glabrata

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 350-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M.J. Lepesant ◽  
Jérôme Boissier ◽  
Déborah Climent ◽  
Céline Cosseau ◽  
Christoph Grunau
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Schistosoma Mansoni ◽  
Intermediate Host ◽  
Biomphalaria Glabrata ◽  
Host Strain ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio

Infection by a vertically-transmitted microsporidian parasite is associated with a female-biased sex ratio and survival advantage in the amphipod Gammarus roeseli

Parasitology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 134 (10) ◽  
pp. 1363-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R. HAINE ◽  
S. MOTREUIL ◽  
T. RIGAUD
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Microsporidian Parasite ◽  
Host Fitness ◽  
Gammarus Roeseli ◽  
Ratio Distortion ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Specific Virulence

SUMMARYVertically transmitted parasites may have positive, neutral or negative effects on host fitness, and are also predicted to exhibit sex-specific virulence to increase the proportion or fitness of the transmitting sex. We investigated these predictions in a study on the survival and sex ratio of offspring of the amphipod Gammarus roeseli from females infected by the vertically transmitted microsporidia Nosema granulosis. We found, to our knowledge, the first evidence for a positive relationship between N. granulosis infection and host survival. Infection was associated with sex ratio distortion, not by male-killing, but probably by parasite-induced feminization of putative G. roeseli males. This microsporidia also feminizes another amphipod host, Gammarus duebeni, which is phylogenetically and biogeographically distant from G. roeseli. Our study suggests that the reproductive system of gammarids is easily exploited by these vertically-transmitted parasites, although the effects of infections on host fitness may depend on specific host-parasite species interactions.

The spatial pattern of a Juniperus communis var. depressa population on a continental dune in subarctic Québec, Canada

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Houle ◽  
Mario Duchesne
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Dispersion Pattern ◽  
Neighbor Distance ◽  
Juniperus Communis ◽  
Biased Sex Ratio ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Nearest Neighbor Distance ◽  
Population Dispersion ◽  
Crown Size

We performed a nearest-neighbor analysis to determine the population dispersion pattern and the association between males and females in a Juniperus communis L. var. depressa Pursh population occupying a continental dune in subarctic Quebec, Canada. The overall dispersion pattern was contagious, and males (or females) were proportionately as likely to have a male as they were to have a female nearest neighbor. Crown size was positively related to nearest-neighbor distance for the male-male comparison only, suggesting a somewhat stronger intrasex competition between males. Nearest-neighbor distance increased with crown size (significantly related to age) suggesting a change in the intensity of aggregation with age possibly related to self-thinning. Higher mortality as a result of stronger male-male competition could explain the female-biased sex ratio and the absence of spatial segregation between sexes. The overall contagious dispersion pattern in the population may be related to the fact that most seed cones fall directly underneath the mother plant. Birds can eat the cones of J. communis and thus disperse seeds. However, these seeds are deposited in clumps, a process that may also explain contagion within the population.

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