scholarly journals Sex and the single (-eared) female: leg function, limb autotomy and mating history trade-offs in field crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus )

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip W Bateman ◽  
Patricia A Fleming

Both male and female field crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus ) autotomize front (tympanal) limbs more slowly than hind limbs. Arguably, this pattern could reflect possible differences in the mechanism of limb autotomy. However, we demonstrate that, for females, limb autotomy is also dependent on their mating status: virgin females autotomize front legs significantly more slowly than mated females. This response suggests a central control for leg autotomy in these animals, and less readiness to autotomize a front leg, possibly because the tympanum is crucial for mate location.

2019 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 183-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza K. Thompson ◽  
Naomi L. Cullinan ◽  
Therésa M. Jones ◽  
Gareth R. Hopkins

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1908) ◽  
pp. 20190906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine W. Miller ◽  
Paul N. Joseph ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner ◽  
Zachary Emberts

Sexually selected weapons are assumed to trade off with traits related to ejaculates, such as testes. However, remarkably little is known about what governs resource allocation and why trade-offs are found in some cases and not others. Often-used models depict competitive allocation occurring within the functional grouping of traits (e.g. reproduction); however, other factors including tissue expense and developmental timing may influence allocation. Experimental comparisons of investment across the sexes have the potential to illuminate allocation rules, because the sexes do not always use traits for the same functions. Here, we capitalize upon a species where females have weapons–testes homologues. We report that a documented trade-off in investment between hind-limb weapons and testes in leaf-footed cactus bugs, Narnia femorata , is even more pronounced in female hind limbs and ovaries. Female hind limbs in this species do not share the clear reproductive function of male hind limbs; therefore, this trade-off spans trait functional groups. Such patterns of investment suggest that future studies of reproductive trade-offs should consider factors such as tissue expense and developmental timing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1855) ◽  
pp. 20170132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam R. Dougherty ◽  
Emile van Lieshout ◽  
Kathryn B. McNamara ◽  
Joe A. Moschilla ◽  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
...  

Traumatic mating (or copulatory wounding) is an extreme form of sexual conflict whereby male genitalia physically harm females during mating. In such species females are expected to evolve counter-adaptations to reduce male-induced harm. Importantly, female counter-adaptations may include both genital and non-genital traits. In this study, we examine evolutionary associations between harmful male genital morphology and female reproductive tract morphology and immune function across 13 populations of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus . We detected positive correlated evolution between the injuriousness of male genitalia and putative female resistance adaptations across populations. Moreover, we found evidence for a negative relationship between female immunity and population productivity, which suggests that investment in female resistance may be costly due to the resource trade-offs that are predicted between immunity and reproduction. Finally, the degree of female tract scarring (harm to females) was greater in those populations with both longer aedeagal spines and a thinner female tract lining. Our results are thus consistent with a sexual arms race, which is only apparent when both male and female traits are taken into account. Importantly, our study provides rare evidence for sexually antagonistic coevolution of male and female traits at the within-species level.


The Auk ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1086-1096
Author(s):  
Shoji Hamao ◽  
Daichi S. Saito

Abstract We studied the relationship between the occurrence of extrapair fertilizations (EPFs) and mating status and nesting cycle of mates, respectively, in a population of Black-browed Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps). Overall, 6.4% (9 of 140) of the chicks were sired by extrapair males, and 13.5% (5 of 37) of the broods contained at least one extrapair chick. Socially polygynous males were cuckolded more frequently than socially monogamous males (40.0% and 3.7%, respectively). In three of four cases where cuckolded males were polygynous, the fertile periods of their mates overlapped. Except for two floating males that obtained EPFs, five out of seven cuckolder males were paired. Males succeeded in EPFs when the fertile period of the extrapair females largely overlapped the incubation period of their own mates. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there are trade-offs between extrapair copulation activity and both mate guarding and rearing of nestlings. Fertilisation Extraconjugale chez Acrocephalus bistrigiceps: Effets des Mâles Infidèles et Cocus sur le Statut de Couple et le Cycle de Nidification


1986 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Chris Bergh ◽  
William D. Seabrook

The mating status of recently-mated male spruce budworm moths, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), caught in traps baited with five different treatments was indexed. During two sampling periods at two test sites both virgin and mated C. fumiferana males were trapped. Significantly more unmated males were captured early in the flight season. There was no significant difference between the proportion of mated and unmated males caught near the end of the flight season. Within sampling periods and sites there were not significant differences among treatments in the proportion of mated males captured nor were these proportions significantly different within sampling periods and between sites. Within sites and between sampling periods the proportion of mated males captured was significantly different, with more mated males being trapped during the later sampling period. The four lepidopteran species for which methodologies have been developed for indexing male mating status are compared with respect to the nature and behaviour of the colored ejaculatory duct fluids that are used as markers of mating history. Current limitations of the method are discussed and possible solutions to these are suggested.


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