-
Frontiers in Zoology Jul 2023Understanding how many mates an animal has in its lifetime is a critical factor in sexual selection. At the same time, differences in an organism's ecology, such as the...
Understanding how many mates an animal has in its lifetime is a critical factor in sexual selection. At the same time, differences in an organism's ecology, such as the quantity and quality of food, could be reflected in different mating rates. Mating rate had a significant effect on female net fitness (i.e., lifetime offspring production), however, laboratory measurements cannot well mirror the situation in wild. The common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) is a well-established model for studying traumatic insemination and sexual conflict. The species comprises two host lineages that feed on bats (BL) or humans (HL). HL can constantly feed on human hosts throughout the year, while BLs feed only during summer months when their bat hosts occupy the roosts. Because mating in female bedbugs is closely linked to foraging, this system provides a valuable model to study mating variation in the field. We established a new method for estimating age-dependent mating rates of females in the wild by relating the fluorescent pigment accumulation in the eyes of females to the number of mating scars that manifest as melanized spots caused by the injection of sperm through the wall of the female abdomen by the male into the spermalege. In addition, using laboratory bedbugs we found that three and a half observed matings on average lead to one observed melanized mating scar. Although young BL and HL females (with low pteridine concentrations) did not differ in the number of matings, the mating rate increased with age only in HL but not in BL females. We sampled on average older BL than HL females. The lack of access to food (bat blood) during winter could explain the lack of increase in the number of scars with age in BL. In species where mating leaves visible marks, using fluorescent pigments to determine female age (applicable to most arthropods) could be an important tool to study sexual selection and mating rate in the wild. The method can help formulate sustainable and biologically lucid approaches for their control.
PubMed: 37507793
DOI: 10.1186/s12983-023-00505-z -
Frontiers in Physiology 2021Diseases transmitted by female mosquitoes are public health issues in countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. As in other insects, females undergo behavioral and...
Diseases transmitted by female mosquitoes are public health issues in countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. As in other insects, females undergo behavioral and physiological changes upon mating that principally act to facilitate the production of progeny. The primary effectors of female post-mating responses are male-derived seminal proteins that are transferred to females during mating. Increased male age reduces ejaculate function in numerous taxa and alters seminal protein composition in , but the impacts of male age on female post-mating responses are unknown. Here, we used "old" (21-22 days old) and "young" (4-5 days old) males to assess the influence of male age on oviposition, fertility, and re-mating incidence in their mates. We also examined how age influenced paternity share in females initially mated to young or old males that subsequently re-mated with a transgenic male that transferred RFP-labeled sperm and whose progeny inherited a larval-expressed GFP marker. We found that increased male age had no effect on female fecundity or fertility but significantly impacted their ability to prevent re-mating in their mates-more than half (54.5%) of the females mated to an old male re-mated, compared to 24% of females initially mated to a young male. Polyandrous females displayed first male precedence regardless of the age of their initial mate. However, young males were better able to compete with rival male sperm, siring significantly more progeny (77%) compared to old males (64%). Young males had significantly more sperm in their seminal vesicles than old males at the time of mating, although males of both age groups transferred similar numbers of sperm to their mates. Our results suggest that male senescence differentially impacts the induction of some post-mating changes in females. As the effect of age may be further exacerbated in the field, age-related declines in male ability to induce sexual refractoriness have implications for population control programs that release adults into the environment.
PubMed: 34354600
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.691221 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2021Many species of thrips (Thysanoptera) in the family Thripidae form mating aggregations, but the adaptive significance of these aggregations and the extent of male and...
Many species of thrips (Thysanoptera) in the family Thripidae form mating aggregations, but the adaptive significance of these aggregations and the extent of male and female mate choice is poorly understood. We studied the mating behaviour of the bean flower thrips Megalurothrips sjostedti (Trybom) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), which forms male aggregations and occurs across sub-Saharan Africa. We tested whether males choose mates by female age or mating status. No-choice mating bioassays with one male and one female were used to simulate the way males usually encounter only one female at a time in aggregations in the field. Virgin females violently resisted mating attempts by males, but we found no compelling evidence to establish whether this was indiscriminate or was screening suitable males. Younger males (1-2 days old) did not discriminate females by age (1-2 or 7-10 days old), but older males (7-10 days old) avoided mating with older females. Any male choice by female mating status (virgin or mated) was weak or absent. The mating behaviour of M. sjostedti shows broad similarities with that of other thrips species that form aggregations, but also shows some distinct and novel differences, which can help our understanding of the adaptive significance of aggregations.
Topics: Age Factors; Animals; Female; Kenya; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Thysanoptera
PubMed: 34267250
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93891-5 -
Journal of Economic Entomology May 2019For insects, female density is closely related to reproductive output. However, little is known about the effects of female density on male mating and female postmating...
For insects, female density is closely related to reproductive output. However, little is known about the effects of female density on male mating and female postmating performances. Here, we explored the effects of female density in cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), an invasive, rapidly spreading pest in Asia damaging multiple crops and horticultural plants. Using USB digital microscopes, we investigated the frequency, duration, and intervals of mating for males that were individually supplied with 1, 5, 10, and 15 females. We also evaluated the reproduction of mated females and the sex ratio of their offspring. As the female density increased, males mated with more females while substantially shortening mating intervals. Mating occurred actively at the densities of 10 and 15 females, where males mated four times on average, and some mated 6-9 times. However, mating duration and the observed reproductive parameters of females (preoviposition period, overall period from formation of ovisacs to female death, fecundity, and offspring sex ratio) did not differ significantly with female density. A weak trade-off existed between males' mating frequency and longevity, but there was no relationship between females' fecundity and longevity. In conclusion, despite their short lifespan, P. solenopsis males have a high mating capacity, and their mating frequency and intervals can be significantly affected by female density. In contrast, female density has little influence on females' postmating performance. Our findings indicate the significance of the reproductive biology and life history strategies for rapid establishment and population development of mealybugs in newly invaded regions.
Topics: Animals; Ants; Asia; Female; Fertility; Hemiptera; Male; Reproduction
PubMed: 30796440
DOI: 10.1093/jee/toz030 -
Evolution; International Journal of... Jan 2022A number of key processes in evolution are driven by individuals preferring mates with particular phenotypes. However, despite long-standing interest, it is difficult to...
A number of key processes in evolution are driven by individuals preferring mates with particular phenotypes. However, despite long-standing interest, it is difficult to quantify the strength of mate preference from phenotypic observations in nature in a way that connects directly to key parameters in theoretical models. To bridge the gap between mathematical models and empirical data, we develop a novel maximum likelihood-based method to estimate the strength and form of mate preference, where preference depends on traits expressed in both males and females. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that our method accurately infers model parameters, including the strength of mate preference and the optimal offset match between trait values in mated pairs when model assumptions are satisfied. Applying our method to two previous studies of assortative mating in marine gastropods and the European common frog, we support previous findings, but also give additional insight into the role of mate preference in each system. Our method can be generalized to a variety of plant and animal taxa that exhibit mating preferences to facilitate the testing of evolutionary hypotheses and link empirical data to theoretical models of assortative mating, sexual selection, and speciation.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Likelihood Functions; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Phenotype; Reproduction
PubMed: 34792183
DOI: 10.1111/evo.14397 -
ELife Jul 2017Passive mechanisms of mate guarding are used by males to promote sperm precedence with little cost, but these tactics can be disadvantageous for their mates and other...
Passive mechanisms of mate guarding are used by males to promote sperm precedence with little cost, but these tactics can be disadvantageous for their mates and other males. Mated females of the plant bug are rendered temporarily unattractive by seminal fluids containing myristyl acetate and geranylgeranyl acetate. These antiaphrodisiac pheromones are gradually released from the female's gonopore, declining until they no longer suppress male courtship. Because starting quantities of these compounds can vary widely, the repellant signal becomes less reliable over time. Evidence was found of a complimentary mechanism that more accurately conveys female mating status. Once inside the female, geranylgeranyl acetate is progressively converted to geranylgeraniol then externalized. Geranylgeraniol counteracts the antiaphrodisiac effect despite having no inherent attractant properties of its own. This is the first evidence for such an anti-antiaphrodisiac pheromone, adding a new element to the communication mechanisms regulating reproductive behaviors.
Topics: Animals; Aphrodisiacs; Diterpenes; Female; Heteroptera; Male; Pheromones; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 28695826
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.24063 -
Insects Sep 2021The female adult is an important arrhenotocous parthenogenesis parasitoid of , and its reproductive mode is beneficial for the population continuation of by way of...
The female adult is an important arrhenotocous parthenogenesis parasitoid of , and its reproductive mode is beneficial for the population continuation of by way of multiple mating and backcross. To explore the effect of mating on the population fitness and control efficiency of , its mating frequency and backcross were observed under laboratory conditions. The results showed that most matings in involved four distinct stages: courtship, pre-copulatory, copulation, and post-copulatory behaviours. Only the duration of courtship increased significantly with an increase in copulation frequency for females, and the courtship duration of females mated with different males were significantly shorter than those mated with the same male at the same mating times, which suggested that females might prefer to mate with different males to enrich the genotype of their offspring. The total number of mummified aphids and the female and male longevity decreased significantly with an increase in mating frequency. On the contrary, female progenies increased significantly with an increase of mating frequency, suggesting that sperm limitation might occur in females when they only mated once. These results imply that females might prefer to receive more sperm by mating multiple times in their life span. In addition, we found that the intrinsic rate of increase () of of the control group (0.2858 d) was significantly greater than that in the backcross treatment (0.2687 d). The finite killing rate () of of the control group was similar to that in the backcross treatment, which showed that this treatment had a negligible negative effect on the control efficiency of . In conclusion, the results showed that multiple mating increased the number and proportion of female progenies but shortened the longevity of female and male adults, while the negative effect of backcross on the control efficiency of was negligible.
PubMed: 34564263
DOI: 10.3390/insects12090823 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Mar 2013Multiple mating by females is widely thought to encourage post-mating sexual selection and enhance female fitness. We show that whether polyandrous mating has these... (Review)
Review
Multiple mating by females is widely thought to encourage post-mating sexual selection and enhance female fitness. We show that whether polyandrous mating has these effects depends on two conditions. Condition 1 is the pattern of sperm utilization by females; specifically, whether, among females, male mating number, m (i.e. the number of times a male mates with one or more females) covaries with male offspring number, o. Polyandrous mating enhances sexual selection only when males who are successful at multiple mating also sire most or all of each of their mates' offspring, i.e. only when Cov(♂)(m,o), is positive. Condition 2 is the pattern of female reproductive life-history; specifically, whether female mating number, m, covaries with female offspring number, o. Only semelparity does not erode sexual selection, whereas iteroparity (i.e. when Cov(♀)(m,o), is positive) always increases the variance in offspring numbers among females, which always decreases the intensity of sexual selection on males. To document the covariance between mating number and offspring number for each sex, it is necessary to assign progeny to all parents, as well as identify mating and non-mating individuals. To document significant fitness gains by females through iteroparity, it is necessary to determine the relative magnitudes of male as well as female contributions to the total variance in relative fitness. We show how such data can be collected, how often they are collected, and we explain the circumstances in which selection favouring multiple mating by females can be strong or weak.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Data Collection; Female; Fertility; Genetic Fitness; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Models, Biological; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 23339237
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0046 -
PloS One 2020Aggression between individuals of the same sex is almost ubiquitous across the animal kingdom. Winners of intrasexual contests often garner considerable fitness...
Aggression between individuals of the same sex is almost ubiquitous across the animal kingdom. Winners of intrasexual contests often garner considerable fitness benefits, through greater access to mates, food, or social dominance. In females, aggression is often tightly linked to reproduction, with females displaying increases in aggressive behavior when mated, gestating or lactating, or when protecting dependent offspring. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, females spend twice as long fighting over food after mating as when they are virgins. However, it is unknown when this increase in aggression begins or whether it is consistent across genotypes. Here we show that aggression in females increases between 2 to 4 hours after mating and remains elevated for at least a week after a single mating. In addition, this increase in aggression 24 hours after mating is consistent across three diverse genotypes, suggesting this may be a universal response to mating in the species. We also report here the first use of automated tracking and classification software to study female aggression in Drosophila and assess its accuracy for this behavior. Dissecting the genetic diversity and temporal patterns of female aggression assists us in better understanding its generality and adaptive function, and will facilitate the identification of its underlying mechanisms.
Topics: Aggression; Animals; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Genetic Variation; Male; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Social Dominance
PubMed: 32348317
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229633 -
The Journal of Heredity 2015Just as mating patterns can promote speciation or hybridization, the presence of hybridization can shape mating patterns within a population. In this study, we...
Just as mating patterns can promote speciation or hybridization, the presence of hybridization can shape mating patterns within a population. In this study, we characterized patterns of multiple mating and reproductive skew in a naturally hybridizing swordtail fish species, Xiphophorus birchmanni. We quantified multiple mating using microsatellite markers to genotype embryos from 43 females collected from 2 wild populations. We also used a suite of single-nucleotide polymorphism markers to categorize females and their inferred mates as either parental X. birchmanni or as introgressed individuals, which carried alleles from a sister species, X. malinche. We found that parental and introgressed X. birchmanni females mated multiply with both parental and introgressed males. We found no difference in mating patterns or reproductive skew between parental and introgressed X. birchmanni females. However, nonintrogressed X. birchmanni males mated more often with large, fecund females. These females also had the greatest levels of skew in fertilization success of males. Thus, our results show that X. birchmanni has a polygynandrous mating system and that introgression of X. malinche alleles has only subtle effects on mating patterns in this species.
Topics: Animals; Computer Simulation; Cyprinodontiformes; Female; Genetics, Population; Genotype; Hybridization, Genetic; Male; Mexico; Microsatellite Repeats; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Species Specificity
PubMed: 25433083
DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esu066