Small Male Advantage in Mating in Parapediasia teterrella and Agriphila plumbifimbriella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

1988 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry D. Marshal
Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Emily R. Allen ◽  
Laura K. Weir

Abstract In many mating systems, large male body size is associated with dominance in direct contests with rivals and females may exhibit preference for larger males. As such, body size is often positively associated with mating success. However, mating experience can influence the potential advantage of large body size through alterations in behaviour and depletion of sperm reserves. In Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), males mate with many females each day, and larger males mate more frequently than smaller males. In an observational experiment, we tested the following alternate predictions: (1) recent mating experience may enhance mating success through a carry-over effect of prior mating, whereby small experienced males gain an advantage over large inexperienced rivals in mating contests; or (2) recent mating experience decreases mating success through a reduction in fertilization due to sperm limitation, effectively dampening the large-male advantage against a small inexperienced rival. We examined the interactive effect of size and recent experience on mating behaviour and success. While mating contests were monopolized by large males, recent experience enhanced mating success, especially in small male winners. Experienced males courted more readily than those without recent experience, suggesting that recent prior mating enhances this behaviour. Furthermore, males who had copulated recently did not exhibit sperm depletion when in the presence of a competitor, nor did female behaviour indicate a preference for inexperienced males. This suggests that males can use sexual experience to increase their reproductive success in future mating situations, which may influence the action of sexual selection and alternative tactics in shaping mating systems.


2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1774) ◽  
pp. 20132164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Gress ◽  
Ryan J. Waltzer ◽  
Stefan Lüpold ◽  
Elizabeth M. Droge-Young ◽  
Mollie K. Manier ◽  
...  

Recent work suggests that the yellow dung fly mating system may include alternative patroller–competitor mating tactics in which large males compete for gravid females on dung, whereas small, non-competitive males search for females at foraging sites. Small males obtain most matings off pasture, yet the behavioural mechanism(s) giving rise to this pattern are unknown. We investigated the male and female behaviours that determine mating success in this environment by conducting field mating experiments and found small males to benefit from several attributes specific to the off-pasture mating environment. First, small males from foraging sites exhibited higher mating propensity, indicating that large males away from dung may be depleted of energy and/or sperm. Second, small males were more discriminating, being significantly less likely to attempt with non-gravid females, which are absent on dung but common off pasture. Third, non-gravid females were generally more likely to actively struggle and reject mating attempts; however, such behaviours occurred disproportionately more often with large males. Female Scathophaga stercoraria thus appear to preferentially mate with small males when off pasture. These findings challenge assumptions about male–female interactions in systems with alternative mating tactics and reveal hidden processes that may influence selection patterns in the field.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Andressa Lima de Brida ◽  
Silvia Renata Siciliano Wilcken ◽  
Luis Garrigós Leite

Nematoides entomopatogênicos (NEPs) são alternativas eficientes para o controle de pragas. O emprego de novas técnicas da produção in vivo, permite o progresso da tecnologia de formulação de bioinseticidas. O objetivo do trabalho, foi avaliar a influência da luminosidade e do substrato na capacidade de infecção de juvenis infectantes (JIs) de Steinernema brazilense IBCBn 06, Steinernema carpocapsae IBCBn 02, Steinernema feltiae IBCBn 47 e Heterorhabditis amazonensis IBCBn 24 em lagartas de Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado com quatro tratamentos e oito repetições. As parcelas, constituídas por placa de Petri com, substrato-areia e substrato-papel filtro, com e sem luminosidade, inoculados com suspensão de 1,5 mL contendo 400JIs e quatro lagartas de G. mellonella. O número de JIs foi quantificado após a mortalidade das lagartas. A taxa de infecção de JIs de S. carpocapsae IBCBn 02 e S. feltiae IBCBn 47 variaram de 2,14 a 3,28 e de 11,04 a 13,09 JIs/lagarta. O substrato-areia com e sem luminosidade permitiu a maior taxa de infeção dos JIs de S. brazilense IBCBn 06 de 7,86 e 9,44 JIs/lagarta, e 13,49 JIs/lagarta com luminosidade para H. amazonensis IBCBn 24. O substrato-areia, permite a maior taxa de infecção por JIs de NEPs.


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