scholarly journals Sexual selection drives the evolution of wing interference patterns

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
MF Hawkes ◽  
E Duffy ◽  
R Joag ◽  
A Skeats ◽  
J Radwan ◽  
...  

AbstractThe seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display dramatic structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Additionally, existing research has been restricted by analysing WIPs without due consideration of how they are actually perceived by the viewers’ colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model ofDrosophilavision to compare WIPs of male and femaleDrosophila simulansfrom replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show for the first time that WIPs modelled inDrosophilavision evolve in response to sexual selection, and confirm that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well describedDrosophilacourtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1903) ◽  
pp. 20182850 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Hawkes ◽  
E. Duffy ◽  
R. Joag ◽  
A. Skeats ◽  
J. Radwan ◽  
...  

The seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display unexpected structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Furthermore, to date investigations of WIPs have not fully considered how they are actually perceived by the viewers' colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model of Drosophila vision to compare WIPs of male and female Drosophila simulans from replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show that WIPs modelled in Drosophila vision evolve in response to sexual selection and provide evidence that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well-described Drosophila courtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.


2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1729) ◽  
pp. 826-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Lees ◽  
Robert L. Nudds ◽  
Lars P. Folkow ◽  
Karl-Arne Stokkan ◽  
Jonathan R. Codd

Little is known regarding the physiological consequences of the behavioural and morphological differences that result from sexual selection in birds. Male and female Svalbard rock ptarmigans ( Lagopus muta hyperborea ) exhibit distinctive behavioural differences during the breeding season. In particular, males continuously compete for and defend territories in order to breed successfully, placing large demands on their locomotor system. Here, we demonstrate that male birds have improved locomotor performance compared with females, showing both a lower cost of locomotion (CoL) and a higher top speed. We propose that the observed sex differences in locomotor capability may be due to sexual selection for improved male performance. While the mechanisms underlying these energetic differences are unclear, future studies should be wary when pooling male and female data.


2021 ◽  
pp. 481-510
Author(s):  
Graham Mitchell

The product of natural selection over at least 15 million years is the elongated, slender shape of giraffes that fits the natural habitat giraffes now occupy. What selection pressures operated to produce their shape? Their shape is partly the product of gravity and could have been an accidental by-product of selection for a large body mass and the protection from predation that large size brings, but the prevailing explanation is that their shape confers a browsing advantage. Preferred browse is concentrated at a height easily reached by giraffes but not by other browsers and natural selection would have favored those giraffes that could reach it. An alternative hypothesis is that their shape confers thermoregulatory benefits in addition to improved vigilance. Another hypothesis is that a long neck evolved to counter long legs allowing giraffes to drink surface water. An attractive hypothesis is that their shape is a product of ‘runaway’ sexual selection by females for males with long heavy necks, but analysis of this hypothesis has shown that the morphology of male and female giraffe does not differ. Nevertheless, all these possibilities could have contributed. A consequence of selection for their shape is over-specialization: giraffes seem to be inextricably dependent on a narrow diet, a diet that is subject to the vagaries of climate and competition for resources. The greatest threat to their survival is, therefore, their shape.


2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1797) ◽  
pp. 20141636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik I. Svensson ◽  
Anna Runemark ◽  
Machteld N. Verzijden ◽  
Maren Wellenreuther

Sexual selection of high-quality mates can conflict with species recognition if traits that govern intraspecific mate preferences also influence interspecific recognition. This conflict might be resolved by developmental plasticity and learned mate preferences, which could drive preference divergence in populations that differ in local species composition. We integrate field and laboratory experiments on two calopterygid damselfly species with population genetic data to investigate how sex differences in developmental plasticity affect population divergence in the face of gene flow. Whereas male species recognition is fixed at emergence, females instead learn to recognize heterospecifics. Females are therefore more plastic in their mate preferences than males. We suggest that this results from sex differences in the balance between sexual selection for high-quality mates and selection for species recognition. As a result of these sex differences, females develop more pronounced population divergence in their mate preferences compared with males. Local ecological community context and presence of heterospecifics in combination with sex differences in plasticity and canalization therefore shape population divergence in mate preferences. As ongoing environmental change and habitat fragmentation bring formerly allopatric species into secondary contact, developmental plasticity of mate preferences in either or both sexes might facilitate coexistence and prevent local species extinction.


2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1662) ◽  
pp. 1643-1649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gal Ribak ◽  
Alison R Egge ◽  
John G Swallow

In stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae), the eyes are positioned at the end of rigid peduncles protruding laterally from the head. Sexual selection for eye span in male Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni results in eye span that exceeds body length and exceeds the eye span of females. We studied whether the twofold higher moment of inertia (MOI) of the male head results in a reduced head rotation velocity during turning. We analysed films of flies performing walking turns and compared the head kinematics between the sexes. The significance of head rotation to turning was evaluated from the turning kinematics of flies with immobilized (glued) heads. Male and female C. dalmanni rotated their heads relative to the surrounding environment 1.55-fold (male) and 1.65-fold (female) faster than the angular velocity of the body by performing rapid head saccades. During the larger turns, flies with immobilized heads were unable to reorient gaze as fast as the control flies. Despite the larger MOI of the head, male C. dalmanni match the head saccade of females suggesting that eye span elongation is coupled by an adaptation of the neck apparatus to rotate the wider head.


2009 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 1357-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Pekkala ◽  
Mikael Puurtinen ◽  
Janne S. Kotiaho

Author(s):  
Callum McLean ◽  
Russell Garwood ◽  
Charlotte Brassey

Amblypygids are an arachnid order possessing a unique pair of spined pedipalps: appendages that perform in prey capture, courtship and contest. Pedipalp length, hypothesised to be under sexual selection, varies markedly across amblypygid species, and pedipalp spination, thought to reflect selection for function in prey capture, also differs interspecifically. Differences in pedipalp shape between species may indicate that the relative strength of selection for prey capture and sexual selection vary across the group. However, interspecific differences in pedipalp shape have not been quantified, due to difficulties in identifying homologous features. For the first time, we quantify trends in amblypygid pedipalp shape complexity. We use elliptical Fourier analysis to quantify 2D complexity in pedipalp outlines across eleven species and six genera. We find that complexity significantly decreases as pedipalp length increases. This appears to be driven by relative spine length, suggesting that a trade-off exists between pedipalp length and spination. Furthermore, significant female-biased sexual dimorphism in shape complexity is present in the tibial segment of the amblypygid pedipalp. Our results provide novel insights into the drivers of amblypygid pedipalp evolution, and suggest that a functional trade-off between performance in prey capture and other functions under sexual selection exist in this enigmatic structure.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
Estu Nugroho ◽  
Budi Setyono ◽  
Mochammad Su’eb ◽  
Tri Heru Prihadi

Program pemuliaan ikan mas varietas Punten dilakukan dengan seleksi individu terhadap karakter bobot ikan. Pembentukan populasi dasar untuk kegiatan seleksi dilakukan dengan memijahkan secara massal induk ikan mas yang terdiri atas 20 induk betina dan 21 induk jantan yang dikoleksi dari daerah Punten, Kepanjen (delapan betina dan enam jantan), Kediri (tujuh betina dan 12 jantan), Sragen (27 betina dan 10 jantan), dan Blitar (15 betina dan 11 jantan). Larva umur 10 hari dipelihara selama empat bulan. Selanjutnya dilakukan penjarangan sebesar 50% dan benih dipelihara selama 14 bulan untuk dilakukan seleksi dengan panduan hasil sampling 250 ekor individu setiap populasi. Seleksi terhadap calon induk dilakukan saat umur 18 bulan pada populasi jantan dan betina secara terpisah dengan memilih berdasarkan 10% bobot ikan yang terbaik. Calon induk yang terseleksi kemudian dipelihara hingga matang gonad, kemudian dipilih sebanyak 150 pasang dan dipijahkan secara massal. Didapatkan respons positif dari hasil seleksi berdasarkan bobot ikan, yaitu 49,89 g atau 3,66% (populasi ikan jantan) dan 168,47 g atau 11,43% (populasi ikan betina). Nilai heritabilitas untuk bobot ikan adalah 0,238 (jantan) dan 0,505 (betina).Punten carp breeding programs were carried out by individual selection for body weight trait. The base population for selection activities were conducted by mass breeding of parent consisted of 20 female and 21 male collected from area Punten, eight female and six male (Kepanjen), seven female and 12 male (Kediri), 27 female and 10 male (Sragen), 15 female and 11 male (Blitar). Larvae 10 days old reared for four moths. Then after spacing out 50% of total harvest, the offspring reared for 14 months for selection activity based on the sampling of 250 individual each population. Selection of broodstock candidates performed since 18 months age on male and female populations separately by selecting based on 10% of fish with best body weight. Candidates selected broodstocks were then maintained until mature. In oder to produce the next generation 150 pairs were sets and held for mass spawning. The results revealed that selection response were positive, 49.89 g (3.66%) for male and 168.47 (11.43%) for female. Heritability for body weight is 0.238 (male) and 0.505 (female).


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-179
Author(s):  
S.Yu. Sinev

Three species of the genus Wockia Heinemann, 1870, which are so far known in Russia are reviewed; their male and female genitalia are illustrated, and a key for identification is provided. Two species, W. koreana Sohn, 2008, and W. magna Sohn, 2014, which were recently described from East Asia, are for the first time reported from Russia. The investigation of the holotype of W. funebrella Heinemann, 1870, discovered in the collection of the Zoological Institute RAS (St Petersburg), confirmed that this species is a junior subjective synonym of W. asperipunctella (Bruand, 1851). The distribution of Palaearctic species of the genus is discussed shortly.


Author(s):  
Abraham P. Buunk ◽  
Gert Stulp ◽  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli

AbstractThis study among 725 male and 247 female police officers from The Netherlands examined the association between self-reported height and occupational rank from the perspective of sexual selection. Male and female police officers were taller than the average population. A larger percentage of women than of men was found in the lowest ranks, but in the leadership positions, there was a similar percentage of women as of men. Overall, but especially among women, height was linearly associated with occupational rank: the taller one was, the higher one’s rank. These effects were independent of educational level and age. The implications for evolutionary theorizing from the perspective of sexual selection on the effect of tallness on status and dominance among women are discussed.


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