Infants Prefer Female Body Phenotypes; Infant Girls Prefer They Have an Hourglass Shape.

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Alexander, Gerianne M; Hawkins, Laura B; Wilcox, Teresa; Hirshkowitz, Amy

2016-01-01

Adolescents and adults show preferences for male and female body shapes consistent with evolutionary theories of reproductive fitness and mate selection. However, when these preferences for females with narrow waists (i.e., 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio) and men with broad shoulders (i.e., mesomorphic body shape) emerge during the lifespan is largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, eye-movements were tracked in 146 infants (3-18 months of age) during computer presentation of three-dimensional human figures varying in body features thought relevant for reproductive success (e.g., secondary sex characteristics, waist-to-hip ratio). When presented with pairs of figures differing in apparent sex, male and female infants looked significantly longer at the female figure compared to the male figure, a new finding that extends previous research showing preferences for female faces in infancy. When presented with same-sex figures differing in characteristics associated with mate value, male and female infants looked longer at a low mate value male (i.e., an endomorphic body type) compared to a high mate value male (i.e., a mesomorphic body type), a finding that replicates the results of previous research. In addition, the novel use of high and low mate value female figures showed a sex difference in visual attention, such that female infants looked longer at the high mate value female figure compared to the low mate female figure whereas male infants showed the opposite pattern of results. In sum, these findings suggest that infants generally do not possess preferences for adult-defined attractive male body shapes. However, infant girls' greater attention to a female figure with an adult-preferred waist-to-hip ratio raises the possibility that evolved preferences for 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio influence girls' later preference for toys representing females with an hourglass shape, perhaps supporting elaboration of adult social behaviors that enhance reproductive success (e

Evidence for a receiver bias underlying female preference for a male mating pheromone in sea lamprey

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Buchinger, Tyler J.; Wang, Huiyong; Li, Weiming; Johnson, Nicholas S.

2013-01-01

Receiver bias models suggest that a male sexual signal became exaggerated to match a pre-existing sensory, perceptual or cognitive disposition of the female. Accordingly, these models predict that females of related taxa possessing the ancestral state of signalling evolved preference for the male trait in a non-sexual context. We postulated that female preference for the male-released bile alcohol mating pheromone, 3 keto petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS), of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) evolved as a result of a receiver bias. In particular, we propose that migratory silver lamprey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis), a basal member of the Petromyzontidae, evolved a preference for 3kPZS released by stream-resident larvae as a means of identifying productive habitat for offspring. Larval silver lamprey released 3kPZS at rates sufficient to be detected by migratory lampreys. Females responded to 3kPZS by exhibiting upstream movement behaviours relevant in a migratory context, but did not exhibit proximate behaviours important to mate search and spawning. Male silver lamprey did not release 3kPZS at rates sufficient to be detected by females in natural high-volume stream environments. We infer that female silver lamprey cue onto 3kPZS excreted by stream-resident larvae as a mechanism to locate habitat conducive to offspring survival and that males do not signal with 3kPZS. We suggest that this female preference for a male signal in a non-sexual context represents a bias leading to the sexual signalling observed in sea lamprey.

Mate choice in the eye and ear of the beholder? Female multimodal sensory configuration influences her preferences.

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Ronald, Kelly L; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Lucas, Jeffrey R

2018-05-16

A common assumption in sexual selection studies is that receivers decode signal information similarly. However, receivers may vary in how they rank signallers if signal perception varies with an individual's sensory configuration. Furthermore, receivers may vary in their weighting of different elements of multimodal signals based on their sensory configuration. This could lead to complex levels of selection on signalling traits. We tested whether multimodal sensory configuration could affect preferences for multimodal signals. We used brown-headed cowbird ( Molothrus ater ) females to examine how auditory sensitivity and auditory filters, which influence auditory spectral and temporal resolution, affect song preferences, and how visual spatial resolution and visual temporal resolution, which influence resolution of a moving visual signal, affect visual display preferences. Our results show that multimodal sensory configuration significantly affects preferences for male displays: females with better auditory temporal resolution preferred songs that were shorter, with lower Wiener entropy, and higher frequency; and females with better visual temporal resolution preferred males with less intense visual displays. Our findings provide new insights into mate-choice decisions and receiver signal processing. Furthermore, our results challenge a long-standing assumption in animal communication which can affect how we address honest signalling, assortative mating and sensory drive. © 2018 The Author(s).

Compatibility of Mating Preferences

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Bingol, Haluk O.; Basar, Omer

2016-01-01

Human mating is a complex phenomenon. Although men and women have different preferences in mate selection, there should be compatibility in these preferences since human mating requires agreement of both parties. We investigate how compatible the mating preferences of men and women are in a given property such as age, height, education and income. We use dataset of a large online dating site (N = 44, 255 users). (i) Our findings are based on the "actual behavior" of users trying to find a dat...

From preferred to actual mate characteristics: the case of human body shape.

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Alexandre Courtiol

Full Text Available The way individuals pair to produce reproductive units is a major factor determining evolution. This process is complex because it is determined not only by individual mating preferences, but also by numerous other factors such as competition between mates. Consequently, preferred and actual characteristics of mates obtained should differ, but this has rarely been addressed. We simultaneously measured mating preferences for stature, body mass, and body mass index, and recorded corresponding actual partner's characteristics for 116 human couples from France. Results show that preferred and actual partner's characteristics differ for male judges, but not for females. In addition, while the correlation between all preferred and actual partner's characteristics appeared to be weak for female judges, it was strong for males: while men prefer women slimmer than their actual partner, those who prefer the slimmest women also have partners who are slimmer than average. This study therefore suggests that the influences of preferences on pair formation can be sex-specific. It also illustrates that this process can lead to unexpected results on the real influences of mating preferences: traits considered as highly influencing attractiveness do not necessarily have a strong influence on the actual pairing, the reverse being also possible.

A preference for a sexual signal keeps females safe.

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Tae Won Kim

Full Text Available Predation is generally thought to constrain sexual selection by female choice and limit the evolution of conspicuous sexual signals. Under high predation risk, females usually become less choosy, because they reduce their exposure to their predators by reducing the extent of their mate searching. However, predation need not weaken sexual selection if, under high predation risk, females exhibit stronger preferences for males that use conspicuous signals that help females avoid their predators. We tested this prediction in the fiddler crab Uca terpsichores by increasing females' perceived predation risk from crab-eating birds and measuring the attractiveness of a courtship signal that females use to find mates. The sexual signal is an arching mound of sand that males build at the openings of their burrows to which they attract females for mating. We found that the greater the risk, the more attractive were males with those structures. The benefits of mate preferences for sexual signals are usually thought to be linked to males' reproductive contributions to females or their young. Our study provides the first evidence that a female preference for a sexual signal can yield direct survival benefits by keeping females safe as they search for mates.

The effects of female status on sex differentiated mate preferences

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Moore, Fhionna R.

2007-01-01

Mate preferences provide an opportunity to explore the validity of evolutionary and social role origin theories of sex differences in human behaviour. In evolutionary models, preferences are sex-specific adaptive responses to constraints to reproductive success. In social role models, sex differences arise from the allocation of men and women to different gender roles. I explored the effects of the status of women on preferences to assess the validity of the origin theories....

An experimental test of condition-dependent male and female mate choice in zebra finches.

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Marie-Jeanne Holveck

Full Text Available In mating systems with social monogamy and obligatory bi-parental care, such as found in many songbird species, male and female fitness depends on the combined parental investment. Hence, both sexes should gain from choosing mates in high rather than low condition. However, theory also predicts that an individual's phenotypic quality can constrain choice, if low condition individuals cannot afford prolonged search efforts and/or face higher risk of rejection. In systems with mutual mate choice, the interaction between male and female condition should thus be a better predictor of choice than either factor in isolation. To address this prediction experimentally, we manipulated male and female condition and subsequently tested male and female mating preferences in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, a songbird species with mutual mate choice and obligatory bi-parental care. We experimentally altered phenotypic quality by manipulating the brood size in which the birds were reared. Patterns of association for high- or low-condition individuals of the opposite sex differed for male and female focal birds when tested in an 8-way choice arena. Females showed repeatable condition-assortative preferences for males matching their own rearing background. Male preferences were also repeatable, but not predicted by their own or females' rearing background. In combination with a brief review of the literature on condition-dependent mate choice in the zebra finch we discuss whether the observed sex differences and between-studies differences arise because males and females differ in context sensitivity (e.g. male-male competition suppressing male mating preferences, sampling strategies or susceptibility to rearing conditions (e.g. sex-specific effect on physiology. While a picture emerges that juvenile and current state indeed affect preferences, the development and context-dependency of mutual state-dependent mate choice warrants further study.

Sharing mates and nest boxes is associated with female "friendship" in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris.

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Henry, Laurence; Bourguet, Cécile; Coulon, Marion; Aubry, Christine; Hausberger, Martine

2013-02-01

Breeding decisions in birds involve both mate and nest choice, and there is increasing evidence that social influences may modulate individual choices. Female preferences may be affected by other females' preferences and mutual choice cannot always be excluded, which makes the whole pattern more complex than assumed by most sexual selection models. Social transmission may be facilitated by particular social bonds, therefore prebreeding social networks may influence later mate choices. The other case where females share mate or resources is polygyny, generally viewed to only benefit males. If mutual benefits may arise then mechanisms should evolve to reduce the reproductive cost for females such as to reduce the cost of aggression by sharing their mate with a preferred same-sex social partner. We tested the hypothesis that females' mating decisions may be influenced by the prebreeding social network and that social partner relations established prior to breeding may share decisions (mate/sites) in a facultatively polygynous species, the European starling. Two experiments were designed to test the relative importance of male or nest by following the whole dynamics of the breeding cycle from the prebreeding period until mate and nest selection. In both cases socially isolated females tended to be excluded from breeding, while prebreeding social partners tended to share mates and to nest in close proximity, mate copying leading in some case to polygyny. The final pattern resulted both from female "likes and dislikes" and male preferences for some females. Aggressive interactions between females were rare. Vocal sharing between females may have been a clue for males as to the degree of social integration of these females. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

The role of ego-identity status in mating preferences.

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Dunkel, Curtis S; Papini, Dennis R

2005-01-01

This study was designed to examine the role ego-identity plays in the mating preferences of late adolescents. In addition to examining the variance in mating preferences explained by ego-identity status, it was hoped that the results could assist in testing the competing Sexual Strategies (Buss & Schmitt, 1993) and Social Role (Eagly & Wood, 1999) theories. Ego-identity and the sex of the participant accounted for a significant amount of variance in the number of sexual partners desired and the penchant for short-term mating. The sex of the participant was the lone predictor of the importance placed on the mate characteristics of physical attractiveness and earning capacity with females placing more emphasis on the former and males placing more emphasis on the latter characteristic.

Diet-induced mating preference in Drosophila

OpenAIRE

Rosenberg, Eugene; Zilber-Rosenberg, Ilana; Sharon, Gil; Segal, Daniel

2018-01-01

Diet-induced mating preference was initially observed by Dodd (1). Subsequently, we reported that diet-induced mating preference occurred in Drosophila melanogaster. Treatment of the flies with antibiotics abolished the mating preference, suggesting that fly-associated commensal bacteria were responsible for the phenomenon (2). The hypothesis was confirmed when it was shown that colonizing antibiotic-treated flies with Lactobacillus plantarum reestablished mating preference in multiple-choice...

Are human mating preferences with respect to height reflected in actual pairings?

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Stulp, Gert; Buunk, Abraham P; Pollet, Thomas V; Nettle, Daniel; Verhulst, Simon

2013-01-01

Pair formation, acquiring a mate to form a reproductive unit, is a complex process. Mating preferences are a step in this process. However, due to constraining factors such as availability of mates, rival competition, and mutual mate choice, preferred characteristics may not be realised in the actual partner. People value height in their partner and we investigated to what extent preferences for height are realised in actual couples. We used data from the Millennium Cohort Study (UK) and compared the distribution of height difference in actual couples to simulations of random mating to test how established mate preferences map on to actual mating patterns. In line with mate preferences, we found evidence for: (i) assortative mating (r = .18), (ii) the male-taller norm, and, for the first time, (iii) for the male-not-too-tall norm. Couples where the male partner was shorter, or over 25 cm taller than the female partner, occurred at lower frequency in actual couples than expected by chance, but the magnitude of these effects was modest. We also investigated another preference rule, namely that short women (and tall men) prefer large height differences with their partner, whereas tall women (and short men) prefer small height differences. These patterns were also observed in our population, although the strengths of these associations were weaker than previously reported strength of preferences. We conclude that while preferences for partner height generally translate into actual pairing, they do so only modestly.

Are human mating preferences with respect to height reflected in actual pairings?

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Gert Stulp

Full Text Available Pair formation, acquiring a mate to form a reproductive unit, is a complex process. Mating preferences are a step in this process. However, due to constraining factors such as availability of mates, rival competition, and mutual mate choice, preferred characteristics may not be realised in the actual partner. People value height in their partner and we investigated to what extent preferences for height are realised in actual couples. We used data from the Millennium Cohort Study (UK and compared the distribution of height difference in actual couples to simulations of random mating to test how established mate preferences map on to actual mating patterns. In line with mate preferences, we found evidence for: (i assortative mating (r = .18, (ii the male-taller norm, and, for the first time, (iii for the male-not-too-tall norm. Couples where the male partner was shorter, or over 25 cm taller than the female partner, occurred at lower frequency in actual couples than expected by chance, but the magnitude of these effects was modest. We also investigated another preference rule, namely that short women (and tall men prefer large height differences with their partner, whereas tall women (and short men prefer small height differences. These patterns were also observed in our population, although the strengths of these associations were weaker than previously reported strength of preferences. We conclude that while preferences for partner height generally translate into actual pairing, they do so only modestly.

Are Women’s Mate Preferences for Altruism Also Influenced by Physical Attractiveness?

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Daniel Farrelly; Paul Clemson; Melissa Guthrie

2016-01-01

Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences, and particularly for long-term relationships. The current study analyzed how these preferences interacted with another important mate choice variable, physical attractiveness. Here, female participants were presented with photographs of men of varying levels of physical attractiveness, alongside descriptions of them behaving either altruistically or not in different scenarios. The results showed women preferred altruis...

Human Nonindependent Mate Choice: Is Model Female Attractiveness Everything?

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Antonios Vakirtzis

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Following two decades of research on non-human animals, there has recently been increased interest in human nonindependent mate choice, namely the ways in which choosing women incorporate information about a man's past or present romantic partners (‘model females’ into their own assessment of the male. Experimental studies using static facial images have generally found that men receive higher desirability ratings from female raters when presented with attractive (compared to unattractive model females. This phenomenon has a straightforward evolutionary explanation: the fact that female mate value is more dependent on physical attractiveness compared to male mate value. Furthermore, due to assortative mating for attractiveness, men who are paired with attractive women are more likely to be of high mate value themselves. Here, we also examine the possible relevance of model female cues other than attractiveness (personality and behavioral traits by presenting video recordings of model females to a set of female raters. The results confirm that the model female's attractiveness is the primary cue. Contrary to some earlier findings in the human and nonhuman literature, we found no evidence that female raters prefer partners of slightly older model females. We conclude by suggesting some promising variations on the present experimental design.

Personality differentially affects individual mate choice decisions in female and male Western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis).

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Chen, Bo-Jian; Liu, Kai; Zhou, Lin-Jun; Gomes-Silva, Guilherme; Sommer-Trembo, Carolin; Plath, Martin

2018-01-01

Consistent individual differences in behavioral tendencies (animal personality) can affect individual mate choice decisions. We asked whether personality traits affect male and female mate choice decisions similarly and whether potential personality effects are consistent across different mate choice situations. Using western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) as our study organism, we characterized focal individuals (males and females) twice for boldness, activity, and sociability/shoaling and found high and significant behavioral repeatability. Additionally, each focal individual was tested in two different dichotomous mate choice tests in which it could choose between computer-animated stimulus fish of the opposite sex that differed in body size and activity levels, respectively. Personality had different effects on female and male mate choice: females that were larger than average showed stronger preferences for large-bodied males with increasing levels of boldness/activity (i.e., towards more proactive personality types). Males that were larger than average and had higher shoaling tendencies showed stronger preferences for actively swimming females. Size-dependent effects of personality on the strength of preferences for distinct phenotypes of potential mating partners may reflect effects of age/experience (especially in females) and social dominance (especially in males). Previous studies found evidence for assortative mate choice based on personality types or hypothesized the existence of behavioral syndromes of individuals' choosiness across mate choice criteria, possibly including other personality traits. Our present study exemplifies that far more complex patterns of personality-dependent mate choice can emerge in natural systems.

Another Look at Sex Differences in Preferred Mate Characteristics: The Effects of Endorsing the Traditional Female Gender Role

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Johannesen-Schmidt, Mary C.; Eagly, Alice H.

2002-01-01

This research used an individual differences approach to test Eagly and Wood's (1999) claim that sex differences in the characteristics that people prefer in mates reflect the tendency for men and women to occupy different social roles in a society. The study related the extent to which participants endorsed the traditional female gender role to…

Self-referent phenotype matching and its role in female mate choice in arthropods

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Carie B. WEDDLE, John HUNT, Scott K. SAKALUK

2013-04-01

Full Text Available A growing body of empirical evidence shows that females of many animal species gain benefits by mating polyandrously, and often prefer to mate with novel males over previous mates. Although a female preference for novel males has been demonstrated for multiple animal taxa, the mechanisms used by females to discriminate between novel and previous mates remain largely unknown. However, recent studies suggest that in decorated crickets Gryllodes sigillatus, females actually imbue males with their own chemical cues, known as cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs during mating, and utilize chemosensory self-referencing to recognize recent mates. Here we review evidence that self-referent phenotype matching is a widespread mechanism of recognition in arthropods, and explore how CHCs are used to facilitate mate-choice decisions. There is substantial evidence that CHCs are used as recognition cues to discriminate between species, kin, sexes, mates, individuals, and self and non-self, and are used to facilitate mate-choice decisions in a wide range of arthropod taxa. There is also evidence that CHCs are often transferred between individuals during direct physical contact, including copulation. Chemosensory self-referencing via cuticular hydrocarbons could provide a simple, but reliable mechanism for identifying individuals from previous mating encounters. This mechanism does not require any specialized cognitive abilities because an individual’s phenotype is always available for reference. Given the ubiquitous use of CHCs among arthropods, chemosensory self-referencing may be a widespread mechanism used by female arthropods to facilitate female mate-choice decisions and to enhance opportunities for polyandry [Current Zoology 59 (2: 239-248, 2013].

Men's strategic preferences for femininity in female faces.

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Little, Anthony C; Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; Perrett, David I

2014-08-01

Several evolutionarily relevant sources of individual differences in face preference have been documented for women. Here, we examine three such sources of individual variation in men's preference for female facial femininity: term of relationship, partnership status and self-perceived attractiveness. We show that men prefer more feminine female faces when rating for a short-term relationship and when they have a partner (Study 1). These variables were found to interact in a follow-up study (Study 2). Men who thought themselves attractive also preferred more feminized female faces for short-term relationships than men who thought themselves less attractive (Study 1 and Study 2). In women, similar findings for masculine preferences in male faces have been interpreted as adaptive. In men, such preferences potentially reflect that attractive males are able to compete for high-quality female partners in short-term contexts. When a man has secured a mate, the potential cost of being discovered may increase his choosiness regarding short-term partners relative to unpartnered men, who can better increase their short-term mating success by relaxing their standards. Such potentially strategic preferences imply that men also face trade-offs when choosing relatively masculine or feminine faced partners. In line with a trade-off, women with feminine faces were seen as more likely to be unfaithful and more likely to pursue short-term relationships (Study 3), suggesting that risk of cuckoldry is one factor that may limit men's preferences for femininity in women and could additionally lead to preferences for femininity in short-term mates. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

A sex-specific trade-off between mating preferences for genetic compatibility and body size in a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice.

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Thünken, Timo; Meuthen, Denis; Bakker, Theo C M; Baldauf, Sebastian A

2012-08-07

Mating preferences for genetic compatibility strictly depend on the interplay of the genotypes of potential partners and are therein fundamentally different from directional preferences for ornamental secondary sexual traits. Thus, the most compatible partner is on average not the one with most pronounced ornaments and vice versa. Hence, mating preferences may often conflict. Here, we present a solution to this problem while investigating the interplay of mating preferences for relatedness (a compatibility criterion) and large body size (an ornamental or quality trait). In previous experiments, both sexes of Pelvicachromis taeniatus, a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice, showed preferences for kin and large partners when these criteria were tested separately. In the present study, test fish were given a conflicting choice between two potential mating partners differing in relatedness as well as in body size in such a way that preferences for both criteria could not simultaneously be satisfied. We show that a sex-specific trade-off occurs between mating preferences for body size and relatedness. For females, relatedness gained greater importance than body size, whereas the opposite was true for males. We discuss the potential role of the interplay between mating preferences for relatedness and body size for the evolution of inbreeding preference.

Female fitness optimum at intermediate mating rates under traumatic mating.

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Rolanda Lange

Full Text Available Traumatic mating behaviors often bear signatures of sexual conflict and are then typically considered a male strategy to circumvent female choice mechanisms. In an extravagant mating ritual, the hermaphroditic sea slug Siphopteron quadrispinosum pierces the integument of their mating partners with a syringe-like penile stylet that injects prostate fluids. Traumatic injection is followed by the insertion of a spiny penis into the partner's gonopore to transfer sperm. Despite traumatic mating, field mating rates exceed those required for female fertilization insurance, possibly because costs imposed on females are balanced by direct or indirect benefits of multiple sperm receipt. To test this idea, we exposed animals to a relevant range of mating opportunity regimes and assessed the effects on mating behavior and proxies of female fitness. We find penis intromission duration to decrease with mating rates, and a female fecundity maximum at intermediate mating rates. The latter finding indicates that benefits beyond fertilization insurance can make higher mating rates also beneficial from a female perspective in this traumatically mating species.

A test of the critical assumption of the sensory bias model for the evolution of female mating preference using neural networks.

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Fuller, Rebecca C

2009-07-01

The sensory bias model for the evolution of mating preferences states that mating preferences evolve as correlated responses to selection on nonmating behaviors sharing a common sensory system. The critical assumption is that pleiotropy creates genetic correlations that affect the response to selection. I simulated selection on populations of neural networks to test this. First, I selected for various combinations of foraging and mating preferences. Sensory bias predicts that populations with preferences for like-colored objects (red food and red mates) should evolve more readily than preferences for differently colored objects (red food and blue mates). Here, I found no evidence for sensory bias. The responses to selection on foraging and mating preferences were independent of one another. Second, I selected on foraging preferences alone and asked whether there were correlated responses for increased mating preferences for like-colored mates. Here, I found modest evidence for sensory bias. Selection for a particular foraging preference resulted in increased mating preference for similarly colored mates. However, the correlated responses were small and inconsistent. Selection on foraging preferences alone may affect initial levels of mating preferences, but these correlations did not constrain the joint evolution of foraging and mating preferences in these simulations.

Female brain size affects the assessment of male attractiveness during mate choice.

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Corral-López, Alberto; Bloch, Natasha I; Kotrschal, Alexander; van der Bijl, Wouter; Buechel, Severine D; Mank, Judith E; Kolm, Niclas

2017-03-01

Mate choice decisions are central in sexual selection theory aimed to understand how sexual traits evolve and their role in evolutionary diversification. We test the hypothesis that brain size and cognitive ability are important for accurate assessment of partner quality and that variation in brain size and cognitive ability underlies variation in mate choice. We compared sexual preference in guppy female lines selected for divergence in relative brain size, which we have previously shown to have substantial differences in cognitive ability. In a dichotomous choice test, large-brained and wild-type females showed strong preference for males with color traits that predict attractiveness in this species. In contrast, small-brained females showed no preference for males with these traits. In-depth analysis of optomotor response to color cues and gene expression of key opsins in the eye revealed that the observed differences were not due to differences in visual perception of color, indicating that differences in the ability to process indicators of attractiveness are responsible. We thus provide the first experimental support that individual variation in brain size affects mate choice decisions and conclude that differences in cognitive ability may be an important underlying mechanism behind variation in female mate choice.

Mate choice for a male carotenoid-based ornament is linked to female dietary carotenoid intake and accumulation

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Toomey Matthew B

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The coevolution of male traits and female mate preferences has led to the elaboration and diversification of sexually selected traits; however the mechanisms that mediate trait-preference coevolution are largely unknown. Carotenoid acquisition and accumulation are key determinants of the expression of male sexually selected carotenoid-based coloration and a primary mechanism maintaining the honest information content of these signals. Carotenoids also influence female health and reproduction in ways that may alter the costs and benefits of mate choice behaviours and thus provide a potential biochemical link between the expression of male traits and female preferences. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated the dietary carotenoid levels of captive female house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus and assessed their mate choice behavior in response to color-manipulated male finches. Results Females preferred to associate with red males, but carotenoid supplementation did not influence the direction or strength of this preference. Females receiving a low-carotenoid diet were less responsive to males in general, and discrimination among the colorful males was positively linked to female plasma carotenoid levels at the beginning of the study when the diet of all birds was carotenoid-limited. Conclusions Although female preference for red males was not influenced by carotenoid intake, changes in mating responsiveness and discrimination linked to female carotenoid status may alter how this preference is translated into choice. The reddest males, with the most carotenoid rich plumage, tend to pair early in the breeding season. If carotenoid-related variations in female choice behaviour shift the timing of pairing, then they have the potential to promote assortative mating by carotenoid status and drive the evolution of carotenoid-based male plumage coloration.

Females' sampling strategy to comparatively evaluate prospective mates in the peacock blenny Salaria pavo

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Locatello, Lisa; Rasotto, Maria B.

2017-08-01

Emerging evidence suggests the occurrence of comparative decision-making processes in mate choice, questioning the traditional idea of female choice based on rules of absolute preference. In such a scenario, females are expected to use a typical best-of- n sampling strategy, being able to recall previous sampled males based on memory of their quality and location. Accordingly, the quality of preferred mate is expected to be unrelated to both the number and the sequence of female visits. We found support for these predictions in the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, a fish where females have the opportunity to evaluate the attractiveness of many males in a short time period and in a restricted spatial range. Indeed, even considering the variability in preference among females, most of them returned to previous sampled males for further evaluations; thus, the preferred male did not represent the last one in the sequence of visited males. Moreover, there was no relationship between the attractiveness of the preferred male and the number of further visits assigned to the other males. Our results suggest the occurrence of a best-of- n mate sampling strategy in the peacock blenny.

Chinese undergraduates' preferences for altruistic traits in mate selection and personal advertisement: Evidence from Q-sort technique.

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Guo, Qingke; Feng, Linlin; Wang, Mingming

2017-04-01

Human's preferences for altruistic mates have been confirmed by many researchers. Under the deep influence of Confucianism that authorised more parental control over offspring's mate selection, Chinese people's mating strategies and mate preferences may be different from what the evolutionary psychologists have suggested. This study used the Q-sort technique to assess the roles of altruistic traits in mate selection and personal advertisement. A total of 200 university students participated in the Q-sort procedures and were asked to sort 50 traits (among which altruistic traits were mixed) according to their importance when choosing (or advertising to) a long-term (LT) or a short-term (ST) mate. Our findings were quite different from prior studies. When Chinese participants chose a mate or advertised themselves to a potential mate, kin altruism was considered to be the most important trait; altruistic traits were more preferred by males than by females and females tended to advertise themselves as more altruistic; preferences for altruistic traits showed no difference between LT and ST mate selections (or between personal advertisement to a LT and a ST mate). © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

How parasitoid females produce sexy sons: a causal link between oviposition preference, dietary lipids and mate choice in Nasonia.

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Blaul, Birgit; Ruther, Joachim

2011-11-07

Sexual selection theory predicts that phenotypic traits used to choose a mate should reflect honestly the quality of the sender and thus, are often costly. Physiological costs arise if a signal depends on limited nutritional resources. Hence, the nutritional condition of an organism should determine both its quality as a potential mate and its ability to advertise this quality to the choosing sex. In insects, the quality of the offspring's nutrition is often determined by the ovipositing female. A causal connection, however, between the oviposition decisions of the mother and the mating chances of her offspring has never been shown. Here, we demonstrate that females of the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis prefer those hosts for oviposition that have been experimentally enriched in linoleic acid (LA). We show by (13)C-labelling that LA from the host diet is a precursor of the male sex pheromone. Consequently, males from LA-rich hosts produce and release higher amounts of the pheromone and attract more virgin females than males from LA-poor hosts. Finally, males from LA-rich hosts possess three times as many spermatozoa as those from LA-poor hosts. Hence, females making the right oviposition decisions may increase both the fertility and the sexual attractiveness of their sons.

Big two personality and big three mate preferences: similarity attracts, but country-level mate preferences crucially matter.

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Gebauer, Jochen E; Leary, Mark R; Neberich, Wiebke

2012-12-01

People differ regarding their "Big Three" mate preferences of attractiveness, status, and interpersonal warmth. We explain these differences by linking them to the "Big Two" personality dimensions of agency/competence and communion/warmth. The similarity-attracts hypothesis predicts that people high in agency prefer attractiveness and status in mates, whereas those high in communion prefer warmth. However, these effects may be moderated by agentics' tendency to contrast from ambient culture, and communals' tendency to assimilate to ambient culture. Attending to such agentic-cultural-contrast and communal-cultural-assimilation crucially qualifies the similarity-attracts hypothesis. Data from 187,957 online-daters across 11 countries supported this model for each of the Big Three. For example, agentics-more so than communals-preferred attractiveness, but this similarity-attracts effect virtually vanished in attractiveness-valuing countries. This research may reconcile inconsistencies in the literature while utilizing nonhypothetical and consequential mate preference reports that, for the first time, were directly linked to mate choice.

Social variables affecting mate preferences, copulation and reproductive outcome in a pack of free-ranging dogs.

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Simona Cafazzo

Full Text Available Mating and reproductive outcome is often determined by the simultaneous operation of different mechanisms like intra-sexual competition, mating preferences and sexual coercion. The present study investigated how social variables affected mating outcome in a pack of free-ranging dogs, a species supposed to have lost most features of the social system of wolves during domestication. We found that, although the pack comprised multiple breeding individuals, both male copulation success and female reproductive success were positively influenced by a linear combination of dominance rank, age and leadership. Our results also suggest that mate preferences affect mating outcome by reinforcing the success of most dominant individuals. In particular, during their oestrous period bitches clearly searched for the proximity of high-ranking males who displayed affiliative behaviour towards them, while they were more likely to reject the males who intimidated them. At the same time, male courting effort and male-male competition for receptive females appeared to be stronger in the presence of higher-ranking females, suggesting a male preference for dominant females. To our knowledge, these results provide the first clear evidence of social regulation of reproductive activities in domestic dogs, and suggest that some common organizing mechanisms may contribute to shape the social organization of both dogs and wolves.

Preference for Male Traits Differ in Two Female Morphs of the Tree Lizard, Urosaurus ornatus

Science.gov (United States)

Lattanzio, Matthew S.; Metro, Kevin J.; Miles, Donald B.

2014-01-01

Non-random female mating preferences may contribute to the maintenance of phenotypic variation in color polymorphic species. However, the effect of female preference depends on the types of male traits used as signals by receptive females. If preference signals derive from discrete male traits (i.e., morph-specific), female preferences may rapidly fix to a morph. However, female preference signals may also include condition-dependent male traits. In this scenario, female preference may differ depending on the social context (i.e., male morph availability). Male tree lizards (Urosaurus ornatus) exhibit a dewlap color polymorphism that covaries with mating behavior. Blue morph males are aggressive and defend territories, yellow males are less aggressive and defend smaller territories, and orange males are typically nomadic. Female U. ornatus are also polymorphic in dewlap color, but the covariation between dewlap color and female behavior is unknown. We performed an experiment to determine how female mate choice depends on the visual and chemical signals produced by males. We also tested whether female morphs differ in their preferences for these signals. Female preferences involved both male dewlap color and size of the ventral color patch. However, the female morphs responded to these signals differently and depended on the choice between the types of male morphs. Our experiment revealed that females may be capable of distinguishing among the male morphs using chemical signals alone. Yellow females exhibit preferences based on both chemical and visual signals, which may be a strategy to avoid ultra-dominant males. In contrast, orange females may prefer dominant males. We conclude that female U. ornatus morphs differ in mating behavior. Our findings also provide evidence for a chemical polymorphism among male lizards in femoral pore secretions. PMID:25033282

Variability of female responses to conspecific vs. heterospecific male mating calls in polygynous deer: an open door to hybridization?

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Megan T Wyman

Full Text Available Males of all polygynous deer species (Cervinae give conspicuous calls during the reproductive season. The extreme interspecific diversity that characterizes these vocalizations suggests that they play a strong role in species discrimination. However, interbreeding between several species of Cervinae indicates permeable interspecific reproductive barriers. This study examines the contribution of vocal behavior to female species discrimination and mating preferences in two closely related polygynous deer species known to hybridize in the wild after introductions. Specifically, we investigate the reaction of estrous female red deer (Cervus elaphus to playbacks of red deer vs. sika deer (Cervus nippon male mating calls, with the prediction that females will prefer conspecific calls. While on average female red deer preferred male red deer roars, two out of twenty females spent more time in close proximity to the speaker broadcasting male sika deer moans. We suggest that this absence of strict vocal preference for species-specific mating calls may contribute to the permeability of pre-zygotic reproductive barriers observed between these species. Our results also highlight the importance of examining inter-individual variation when studying the role of female preferences in species discrimination and intraspecific mate selection.

Worthless and Nutritive Nuptial Gifts: Mating Duration, Sperm Stored and Potential Female Decisions in Spiders.

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Maria J Albo

Full Text Available In nuptial gift-giving species females sometimes select their potential mates based on the presence and size of the gift. But in some species, such as the Neotropical polyandrous spider Paratrechalea ornate male gifts vary in quality, from nutritive to worthless, and this male strategy can be in conflict with female nutritional benefits. In this species, males without gifts experience a reduction in mating success and duration, while males that offer worthless or genuine nutritive gifts mate with similar frequencies and durations. The female apparently controls the duration of copulation. Thus, there is scope for females to favour males offering gifts and further if these are nutritious, via post-copulatory processes. We first tested whether females differentially store sperm from males that offer the highest nutritional benefits by experimentally presenting females with males that offer either nutritive or worthless gifts (uninterrupted matings. Second, we carried out another set of experiments to examine whether females can select sperm based only on gift presence. This time we interrupted matings after the first pedipalp insertion, thus matching number of insertions and mating duration for males that: offered and did not offer gift. Our results showed that the amount of sperm stored is positive related to mating duration in all groups, except in matings with worthless gifts. Gift presence itself did not affect the sperm stored by females, while they store similar number of sperm in matings with males offering either nutritive or worthless gifts. We discuss whether females prefer males with gifts regardless, if content, because it represents an attractive and/or reliable signal. Or alternatively, they prefer nutritive nuptial gifts, as they are an important source of food supply and/or signal of male donor ability.

No preference for novel mating partners in the polyandrous nuptial-feeding spider Pisaura mirabilis (Araneae: Pisauridae)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tuni, Cristina; Bilde, T.

2010-01-01

for novel partners is also expected to maximize male lifetime reproductive success by allowing males to increase the number of mates. We investigated male and female preference for novel or former mating partners in the spider Pisaura mirabilis by offering females novel males (polyandry) or the same male...

Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Signaling Regulates Sexual Preference for Females in Male Mice.

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Beny-Shefer, Yamit; Zilkha, Noga; Lavi-Avnon, Yael; Bezalel, Nadav; Rogachev, Ilana; Brandis, Alexander; Dayan, Molly; Kimchi, Tali

2017-12-12

Sexual preference for the opposite sex is a fundamental behavior underlying reproductive success, but the neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we examined the role of dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) in governing chemosensory-mediated preference for females in TrpC2 -/- and wild-type male mice. TrpC2 -/- males, deficient in VNO-mediated signaling, do not display mating or olfactory preference toward females. We found that, during social interaction with females, TrpC2 -/- males do not show increased NAcc dopamine levels, observed in wild-type males. Optogenetic stimulation of VTA-NAcc dopaminergic neurons in TrpC2 -/- males during exposure to a female promoted preference response to female pheromones and elevated copulatory behavior toward females. Additionally, we found that signaling through the D1 receptor in the NAcc is necessary for the olfactory preference for female-soiled bedding. Our study establishes a critical role for the mesolimbic dopaminergic system in governing pheromone-mediated responses and mate choice in male mice. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Signaling Regulates Sexual Preference for Females in Male Mice

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Yamit Beny-Shefer

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Sexual preference for the opposite sex is a fundamental behavior underlying reproductive success, but the neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we examined the role of dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcc in governing chemosensory-mediated preference for females in TrpC2−/− and wild-type male mice. TrpC2−/− males, deficient in VNO-mediated signaling, do not display mating or olfactory preference toward females. We found that, during social interaction with females, TrpC2−/− males do not show increased NAcc dopamine levels, observed in wild-type males. Optogenetic stimulation of VTA-NAcc dopaminergic neurons in TrpC2−/− males during exposure to a female promoted preference response to female pheromones and elevated copulatory behavior toward females. Additionally, we found that signaling through the D1 receptor in the NAcc is necessary for the olfactory preference for female-soiled bedding. Our study establishes a critical role for the mesolimbic dopaminergic system in governing pheromone-mediated responses and mate choice in male mice.

Mate preferences do predict attraction and choices in the early stages of mate selection.

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Li, Norman P; Yong, Jose C; Tov, William; Sng, Oliver; Fletcher, Garth J O; Valentine, Katherine A; Jiang, Yun F; Balliet, Daniel

2013-11-01

Although mate preference research has firmly established that men value physical attractiveness more than women do and women value social status more than men do, recent speed-dating studies have indicated mixed evidence (at best) for whether people's sex-differentiated mate preferences predict actual mate choices. According to an evolutionary, mate preference priority model (Li, Bailey, Kenrick, & Linsenmeier, 2002; Li & Kenrick, 2006; Li, Valentine, & Patel, 2011), the sexes are largely similar in what they ideally like, but for long-term mates, they should differ on what they most want to avoid in early selection contexts. Following this model, we conducted experiments using online messaging and modified speed-dating platforms. Results indicate that when a mating pool includes people at the low end of social status and physical attractiveness, mate choice criteria are sex-differentiated: Men, more than women, chose mates based on physical attractiveness, whereas women, more than men, chose mates based on social status. In addition, individuals who more greatly valued social status or physical attractiveness on paper valued these traits more in their actual choices. In particular, mate choices were sex-differentiated when considering long-term relationships but not short-term ones, where both sexes shunned partners with low physical attractiveness. The findings validate a large body of mate preferences research and an evolutionary perspective on mating, and they have implications for research using speed-dating and other interactive contexts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Elevated stress hormone diminishes the strength of female preferences for acoustic signals in the green treefrog.

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Davis, A Gabriell; Leary, Christopher J

2015-03-01

Mate selection can be stressful; time spent searching for mates can increase predation risk and/or decrease food consumption, resulting in elevated stress hormone levels. Both high predation risk and low food availability are often associated with increased variation in mate choice by females, but it is not clear whether stress hormone levels contribute to such variation in female behavior. We examined how the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) affects female preferences for acoustic signals in the green treefrog, Hyla cinerea. Specifically, we assessed whether CORT administration affects female preferences for call rate - an acoustic feature that is typically under directional selection via mate choice by females in most anurans and other species that communicate using acoustic signals. Using a dual speaker playback paradigm, we show that females that were administered higher doses of CORT were less likely to choose male advertisement calls broadcast at high rates. Neither CORT dose nor level was related to the latency of female phonotactic responses, suggesting that elevated CORT does not influence the motivation to mate. Results were also not related to circulating sex steroids (i.e., progesterone, androgens or estradiol) that have traditionally been the focus of studies examining the hormonal basis for variation in female mate choice. Our results thus indicate that elevated CORT levels decrease the strength of female preferences for acoustic signals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MATE CHOICE IN AIDABLENNIUS-SPHYNX (TELEOSTEI, BLENNIIDAE) - FEMALES PREFER NESTS CONTAINING MORE EGGS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

KRAAK, SBM; VIDELER, JJ

1991-01-01

Criteria for female mate choice were investigated in a natural population of a Mediterranean blenny, Aidablennius sphynx. Removable test tubes in concrete blocks were offered as nests. Each tube was guarded by a male and females laid eggs in the tubes. Nests with larger broods received significantly

Are Women’s Mate Preferences for Altruism Also Influenced by Physical Attractiveness?

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Daniel Farrelly

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences and in long-term (LT relationships. The current study analyzed how these preferences interacted with another important mate choice variable, physical attractiveness. Here, female participants were presented with photographs of men of varying levels of physical attractiveness, alongside descriptions of them behaving either altruistically or not in different scenarios. The results showed women preferred altruistic men, particularly in LT relationships and that this interacted with physical attractiveness such that being both attractive and altruistic made a man more desirable than just the sum of the two desirable parts. Also, being altruistic made low attractive men more desirable but only for LT relationships. Finally, men who were just altruistic were rated more desirable than men who were just attractive, especially for LT relationships. Overall, these findings are discussed in terms of the role of altruism in mate choice, particularly in LT relationships and directions of future research.

Female mate choice and the potential for ornament evolution in túngara frogs Physalaemus pustulosus

OpenAIRE

Michael J. RYAN, Ximena E. BERNA, A. Stanley RAND

2010-01-01

The potential for ornament evolution in response to sexual selection rests on the interaction between the permissiveness or selectivity of female preferences and the constraints on male development of signaling related traits. We investigate the former by determining how latent female preferences either exaggerate the magnitude of current traits (i.e. elaborations) or favor novel traits (i.e. innovations). In túngara frogs, females prefer complex mating calls (whine-chucks) to simple calls (...

Synergistic selection between ecological niche and mate preference primes diversification.

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Boughman, Janette W; Svanbäck, Richard

2017-01-01

The ecological niche and mate preferences have independently been shown to be important for the process of speciation. Here, we articulate a novel mechanism by which ecological niche use and mate preference can be linked to promote speciation. The degree to which individual niches are narrow and clustered affects the strength of divergent natural selection and population splitting. Similarly, the degree to which individual mate preferences are narrow and clustered affects the strength of divergent sexual selection and assortative mating between diverging forms. This novel perspective is inspired by the literature on ecological niches; it also explores mate preferences and how they may contribute to speciation. Unlike much comparative work, we do not search for evolutionary patterns using proxies for adaptation and sexual selection, but rather we elucidate how ideas from niche theory relate to mate preference, and how this relationship can foster speciation. Recognizing that individual and population niches are conceptually and ecologically linked to individual and population mate preference functions will significantly increase our understanding of rapid evolutionary diversification in nature. It has potential to help solve the difficult challenge of testing the role of sexual selection in the speciation process. We also identify ecological factors that are likely to affect individual niche and individual mate preference in synergistic ways and as a consequence to promote speciation. The ecological niche an individual occupies can directly affect its mate preference. Clusters of individuals with narrow, differentiated niches are likely to have narrow, differentiated mate preference functions. Our approach integrates ecological and sexual selection research to further our understanding of diversification processes. Such integration may be necessary for progress because these processes seem inextricably linked in the natural world. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution �

Personality and mate preferences: five factors in mate selection and marital satisfaction.

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Botwin, M D; Buss, D M; Shackelford, T K

1997-03-01

Although personality characteristics figure prominently in what people want in a mate, little is known about precisely which personality characteristics are most important, whether men and women differ in their personality preferences, whether individual women or men differ in what they want, and whether individuals actually get what they want. To explore these issues, two parallel studies were conducted, one using a sample of dating couples (N = 118) and one using a sample of married couples (N = 216). The five-factor model, operationalized in adjectival form, was used to assess personality characteristics via three data sources-self--report, partner report, and independent interviewer reports. Participants evaluated on a parallel 40-item instrument their preferences for the ideal personality characteristics of their mates. Results were consistent across both studies. Women expressed a greater preference than men for a wide array of socially desirable personality traits. Individuals differed in which characteristics they desired, preferring mates who were similar to themselves and actually obtaining mates who embodied what they desired. Finally, the personality characteristics of one's partner significantly predicted marital and sexual dissatisfaction, most notably when the partner was lower on Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect-Openness than desired.

Female field crickets incur increased parasitism risk when near preferred song.

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Cassandra M Martin

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Female animals often prefer males with conspicuous traits because these males provide direct or indirect benefits. Conspicuous male traits, however, can attract predators. This not only increases the risk of predation for conspicuous males but also for the females that prefer them. In the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, males that produce preferred song types provide females with greater material benefits, but they are also more likely to attract lethal parasitoid flies. First, we conducted a field experiment that tested the hypothesis that females have a greater risk of fly parasitism when in association with preferred high chirp rate males. Females were nearly twice as likely to be parasitized when caged with high chirp rate song than when caged with low chirp rate song. Females may thus be forced to trade off the quality of the benefits they receive from mating with preferred males and the risk of being killed by a predator when near these males. Second, we assessed female parasitism rates in a natural population. Up to 6% of the females were parasitized in field samples. Because the females we collected could have become parasitized had they not been collected, this provides a minimum estimate of the female parasitism rate in the field. In a laboratory study, we found no difference in the proportion of time parasitized and unparasitized females spent hiding under shelters; thus, differences in activity patterns do not appear to have biased our estimate of female parasitism rates. Overall, our results suggest that female association costs have the potential to shape the evolution of female mating preferences.

Females Choose Mates Based on Genetic Relatedness in a Small Dasyurid Marsupial, the Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis.

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Marissa L Parrott

Full Text Available Females in a variety of taxa mate with more than one male during a single oestrus and exhibit mate preferences for genetically compatible males, but the influence of female mate choice on siring success is not clearly understood. Whether females choose to mate with more than one male or endure forced copulations is also often unknown. Here, we examined the effects of genetic relatedness on female mate choice and siring success in a small semelparous carnivorous marsupial, the agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis, during two consecutive breeding seasons. Experimental trials were conducted in captivity over periods of 72 hours using interconnected enclosures in which female antechinus could choose to access any of four separated males, but males were only able to access females that entered their quarters. Females had access to two genetically similar and two genetically dissimilar males simultaneously and all behavioural interactions were observed and scored from continuous video recordings. Genetic similarity between mates and paternity of young was determined by microsatellite analyses. Some females chose to enter and mate with more than one male during a single oestrus period. Although females investigated all males, they spent significantly more time visiting, and mated more times with, genetically dissimilar males. Males that were genetically dissimilar to the female sired 88% of subsequent offspring. Whilst males mated readily with most females, they rejected the advances of some receptive females, indicating a previously unexpected level of male mate choice. The results show that genetic relatedness between mates has a significant influence on mate choice, breeding and siring success in the agile antechinus.

Mate choice and human stature: homogamy as a unified framework for understanding mating preferences.

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Courtiol, Alexandre; Raymond, Michel; Godelle, Bernard; Ferdy, Jean-Baptiste

2010-08-01

Assortative mating for human height has long attracted interest in evolutionary biology, and the phenomenon has been demonstrated in numerous human populations. It is often argued that mating preferences generate this pattern, but other processes can also induce trait correlations between mates. Here, we present a methodology tailored to quantify continuous preferences based on choice experiments between pairs of stimuli. In particular, it is possible to explore determinants of interindividual variations in preferences, such as the height of the chooser. We collected data from a sample of 200 individuals from France. Measurements obtained show that the perception of attractiveness depends on both the height of the stimuli and the stature of the individual who judged them. Therefore, this study demonstrates that homogamy is present at the level of preferences for both sexes. We also show that measurements of the function describing this homogamy are concordant with several distinct mating rules proposed in the literature. In addition, the quantitative approach introduced here fulfills metrics that can be used to compare groups of individuals. In particular, our results reveal an important disagreement between sexes regarding height preferences in the context of mutual mate choice. Finally, both women and men prefer individuals who are significantly taller than average. All major findings are confirmed by a reanalysis of previously published data.

Feral Pigeons (Columba livia Prefer Genetically Similar Mates despite Inbreeding Depression.

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Gwenaël Jacob

Full Text Available Avoidance of mating between related individuals is usually considered adaptive because it decreases the probability of inbreeding depression in offspring. However, mating between related partners can be adaptive if outbreeding depression is stronger than inbreeding depression or if females gain inclusive fitness benefits by mating with close kin. In the present study, we used microsatellite data to infer the parentage of juveniles born in a French colony of feral pigeons, which allowed us to deduce parent pairs. Despite detectable inbreeding depression, we found that pairwise relatedness between mates was significantly higher than between nonmates, with a mean coefficient of relatedness between mates of 0.065, approximately half the theoretical value for first cousins. This higher relatedness between mates cannot be explained by spatial genetic structure in this colonial bird; it therefore probably results from an active choice. As inbreeding but not outbreeding depression is observed in the study population, this finding accords with the idea that mating with genetically similar mates can confer a benefit in terms of inclusive fitness. Our results and published evidence suggest that preference for related individuals as mates might be relatively frequent in birds.

Previous experiences shape adaptive mate preferences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fawcett, Tim W.; Bleay, Colin

2009-01-01

Existing models of mate choice assume that individuals have perfect knowledge of their own ability to attract a mate and can adjust their preferences accordingly. However, real animals will typically be uncertain of their own attractiveness. A potentially useful source of information on this is the

The Post-mating Switch in the Pheromone Response of Nasonia Females Is Mediated by Dopamine and Can Be Reversed by Appetitive Learning

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Maria Lenschow

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The olfactory sense is of crucial importance for animals, but their response to chemical stimuli is plastic and depends on their physiological state and prior experience. In many insect species, mating status influences the response to sex pheromones, but the underlying neuromodulatory mechanisms are poorly understood. After mating, females of the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis are no longer attracted to the male sex pheromone. Here we show that this post-mating behavioral switch is mediated by dopamine (DA. Females fed a DA-receptor antagonist prior to mating maintained their attraction to the male pheromone after mating while virgin females injected with DA became unresponsive. However, the switch is reversible as mated females regained their pheromone preference after appetitive learning. Feeding mated N. vitripennis females with antagonists of either octopamine- (OA or DA-receptors prevented relearning of the pheromone preference suggesting that both receptors are involved in appetitive learning. Moreover, DA injection into mated females was sufficient to mimic the oviposition reward during odor conditioning with the male pheromone. Our data indicate that DA plays a key role in the plastic pheromone response of N. vitripennis females and reveal some striking parallels between insects and mammals in the neuromodulatory mechanisms underlying olfactory plasticity.

Male dominance, female mate choice and intersexual conflict in the rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus)

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Casalini, M.; Agbali, M.; Reichard, Martin; Konečná, Markéta; Bryjová, Anna; Smith, C.

2009-01-01

Roč. 63, č. 2 (2009), s. 366-376 ISSN 0014-3820 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC06073; GA AV ČR KJB600930501 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519 Keywords : female mating preference * good genes * olfactory cues * mate choice * MHC * Rhodeus ocellatus Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 5.429, year: 2009

Do assortative preferences contribute to assortative mating for adiposity?

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Claire I; Fincher, Corey L; Hahn, Amanda C; Little, Anthony C; DeBruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2014-01-01

Assortative mating for adiposity, whereby levels of adiposity in romantic partners tend to be positively correlated, has implications for population health due to the combined effects of partners' levels of adiposity on fertility and/or offspring health. Although assortative preferences for cues of adiposity, whereby leaner people are inherently more attracted to leaner individuals, have been proposed as a factor in assortative mating for adiposity, there have been no direct tests of this issue. Because of this, and because of recent work suggesting that facial cues of adiposity convey information about others' health that may be particularly important for mate preferences, we tested the contribution of assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity to assortative mating for adiposity (assessed from body mass index, BMI) in a sample of romantic couples. Romantic partners' BMIs were positively correlated and this correlation was not due to the effects of age or relationship duration. However, although men and women with leaner partners showed stronger preferences for cues of low levels of adiposity, controlling for these preferences did not weaken the correlation between partners' BMIs. Indeed, own BMI and preferences were uncorrelated. These results suggest that assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity contribute little (if at all) to assortative mating for adiposity. PMID:24168811

Personality may confound common measures of mate-choice.

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Morgan David

Full Text Available The measurement of female mating preferences is central to the study of the evolution of male ornaments. Although several different methods have been developed to assess sexual preference in some standardized way, the most commonly used procedure consists of recording female spatial association with different males presented simultaneously. Sexual preference is then inferred from time spent in front of each male. However, the extent to which the measurement of female mate-choice is related to exploration tendencies has not been addressed so far. In the present study we assessed the influence of variation in exploration tendencies, a trait closely associated to global personality, on the measurement of female mating preference in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata using the widely used four-chamber choice-apparatus. The number of movements performed within both exploration and mate-choice apparatus was consistent within and across the two contexts. In addition, personality explained variation in selectivity, preference strength and consistency. High-exploratory females showed lower selectivity, lower preference scores and displayed more consistent preference scores. Our results suggest that variation in personality may affect the measurement of female mating preference and may contribute to explain existing inconsistencies across studies.

The Effect of Attractiveness on Food Sharing Preferences in Human Mating Markets

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Michael Stirrat

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The current study explored how physical attractiveness affects food sharing by studying payment preferences for hypothetical romantic dinner dates (a hypothetical mating market. We analyzed payment preferences, self-rated attractiveness, and rated attractiveness for hypothetical dates in 416 participants. We hypothesized that (1 men would be more likely to prefer to pay than would women, (2 attractive individuals of both sexes would be less willing to pay, and (3 preferences to enter an exchange would be influenced by the attractiveness of prospective partners such that (3a men would prefer to pay for attractive women, and (3b women would prefer to be paid for by attractive men. All hypotheses were supported by our results. Individuals with higher self-rated attractiveness were more likely to prefer that their date would pay for the meal, and we found clear sex differences in how the attractiveness of potential dates affected payment preferences. Male participants preferred to pay for dates that had higher facial attractiveness, while female participants preferred that attractive men would pay. Individuals show condition dependent financial preferences consistent with the provisioning hypothesis in this mating market that are adaptive to evaluations of their own quality and that of prospective partners.

Assessing implicit mate preferences among Chinese and Japanese women by providing love, sex, or money cues.

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Jin, Zheng; Shiomura, Kimihiro; Jiang, Lizhu

2015-02-01

Love, sex, and money are the most direct cues involved in the fundamental forms of mate preferences. These fundamental forms are not mutually exclusive but are interrelated. As a result, humans base their mate choices on multiple cues. In this study, 62 undergraduate women (M age = 20.4 yr., SD = 1.4) from China and Japan served as the participants. They performed a variation of the semantic priming task, in which they were instructed to decide by means of a key-press whether the target was human or non-human. The primes were images that portrayed potent evolutionary factors for mate preference (i.e., love, sex, and money), and the manipulation was based on whether the prime and target matched regarding gender, independent of the target decision task (human vs non-human). Participants gave faster responses to male targets than to female targets under priming. The results generally supported the evolutionary premises that assume mate preference is determined by fundamental forms of providing emotional (love), material (money), and fertility support (sex). The money priming effect was stronger in the Chinese women than in the Japanese women, suggesting that social context may influence mate preferences.

The Effects of Control of Resources on Magnitudes of Sex Differences in Human Mate Preferences

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Fhionna Moore

2010-10-01

Full Text Available We tested the hypothesis that magnitudes of sex differences in human mate preferences would be inversely related to control of resources. Specifically, we predicted that the ideal partner age, maximum and minimum partner ages tolerated and preferences for “physical attractiveness” over “good financial prospects” of female participants would approach parity with that of men with increasing control of resources. In a sample of 3770 participants recruited via an online survey, the magnitudes of sex differences in age preferences increased with resource control whereas the sex difference in preferences for “physical attractiveness” over “good financial prospects” disappeared when resource control was high. Results are inconsistent, and are discussed in the context of adaptive tradeoff and biosocial models of sex differences in human mate preferences.

Female partner preferences enhance offspring ability to survive an infection.

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Raveh, Shirley; Sutalo, Sanja; Thonhauser, Kerstin E; Thoß, Michaela; Hettyey, Attila; Winkelser, Friederike; Penn, Dustin J

2014-01-23

It is often suggested that mate choice enhances offspring immune resistance to infectious diseases. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a study with wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus musculus) in which females were experimentally mated either with their preferred or non-preferred male, and their offspring were infected with a mouse pathogen, Salmonella enterica (serovar Typhimurium). We found that offspring sired by preferred males were significantly more likely to survive the experimental infection compared to those sired by non-preferred males. We found no significant differences in the pathogen clearance or infection dynamics between the infected mice, suggesting that offspring from preferred males were better able to cope with infection and had improved tolerance rather than immune resistance. Our results provide the first direct experimental evidence within a single study that partner preferences enhance offspring resistance to infectious diseases.

When not to copy: female fruit flies use sophisticated public information to avoid mated males

Science.gov (United States)

Loyau, Adeline; Blanchet, Simon; van Laere, Pauline; Clobert, Jean; Danchin, Etienne

2012-10-01

Semen limitation (lack of semen to fertilize all of a female's eggs) imposes high fitness costs to female partners. Females should therefore avoid mating with semen-limited males. This can be achieved by using public information extracted from watching individual males' previous copulating activities. This adaptive preference should be flexible given that semen limitation is temporary. We first demonstrate that the number of offspring produced by males Drosophila melanogaster gradually decreases over successive copulations. We then show that females avoid mating with males they just watched copulating and that visual public cues are sufficient to elicit this response. Finally, after males were given the time to replenish their sperm reserves, females did not avoid the males they previously saw copulating anymore. These results suggest that female fruit flies may have evolved sophisticated behavioural processes of resistance to semen-limited males, and demonstrate unsuspected adaptive context-dependent mate choice in an invertebrate.

Correlated Male Preferences for Femininity in Female Faces and Voices

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Paul J Fraccaro

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Sexually dimorphic physical traits are important for mate choice and mate preference in many species, including humans. Several previous studies have observed that women's preferences for physical cues of male masculinity in different domains (e.g., visual and vocal are correlated. These correlations demonstrate systematic, rather than arbitrary, variation in women's preferences for masculine men and are consistent with the proposal that sexually dimorphic cues in different domains reflect a common underlying aspect of male quality. Here we present evidence for a similar correlation between men's preferences for different cues of femininity in women; although men generally preferred feminized to masculinized versions of both women's faces and voices, the strength of men's preferences for feminized versions of female faces was positively and significantly correlated with the strength of their preferences for feminized versions of women's voices. In a second study, this correlation occurred when men judged women's attractiveness as long-term, but not short-term, mates, which is consistent with previous research. Collectively, these findings (1 present novel evidence for systematic variation in men's preferences for feminine women, (2 present converging evidence for concordant preferences for sexually dimorphic traits in different domains, and (3 complement findings of correlations between women's facial and vocal femininity.

Sexual imprinting on continuous variation: do female zebra finches prefer or avoid unfamiliar sons of their foster parents?

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Schielzeth, H; Burger, C; Bolund, E; Forstmeier, W

2008-09-01

Sexual imprinting on discrete variation that serves the identification of species, morphs or sexes is well documented. By contrast, sexual imprinting on continuous variation leading to individual differences in mating preferences within a single species, morph and sex has been studied only once (in humans). We measured female preferences in a captive population of wild-type zebra finches. Individual cross-fostering ensured that all subjects grew up with unrelated foster parents and nest mates. Females from two cohorts (N = 113) were given a simultaneous choice between (two or four) unfamiliar males, one of which was a genetic son of their foster parents (SFP). We found no significant overall preference for the SFP (combined effect size d = 0.14 +/- 0.15). Additionally, we tested if foster parent traits could potentially explain between-female variation in preferences. However, neither the effectiveness of cooperation between the parents nor male contribution to parental care affected female preferences for the son of the foster father. We conclude that at least in zebra finches sexual imprinting is not a major source of between-individual variation in mating preferences.

Good genes, complementary genes and human mate preferences.

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Roberts, S Craig; Little, Anthony C

2008-09-01

The past decade has witnessed a rapidly growing interest in the biological basis of human mate choice. Here we review recent studies that demonstrate preferences for traits which might reveal genetic quality to prospective mates, with potential but still largely unknown influence on offspring fitness. These include studies assessing visual, olfactory and auditory preferences for potential good-gene indicator traits, such as dominance or bilateral symmetry. Individual differences in these robust preferences mainly arise through within and between individual variation in condition and reproductive status. Another set of studies have revealed preferences for traits indicating complementary genes, focussing on discrimination of dissimilarity at genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). As in animal studies, we are only just beginning to understand how preferences for specific traits vary and inter-relate, how consideration of good and compatible genes can lead to substantial variability in individual mate choice decisions and how preferences expressed in one sensory modality may reflect those in another. Humans may be an ideal model species in which to explore these interesting complexities.

Interdependent effects of male and female body size plasticity on mating behaviour of predatory mites.

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Walzer, Andreas; Schausberger, Peter

2015-02-01

The adaptive canalization hypothesis predicts that traits with low phenotypic plasticity are more fitness relevant, because they have been canalized via strong past selection, than traits with high phenotypic plasticity. Based on differing male body size plasticities of the predatory mites Phytoseiulus persimilis (low plasticity) and Neoseiulus californicus (high plasticity), we accordingly hypothesized that small male body size entails higher costs in female choice and male-male competition in P. persimilis than N. californicus . Males of both species are highly polygynous but females differ in the level of polyandry (low level in P. persimilis ; medium level in N. californicus ). We videotaped the mating interactions in triplets of either P. persimilis or N. californicus , consisting of a virgin female (small or standard-sized) and a small and a standard-sized male. Mating by both small and standard-sized P. persimilis females was biased towards standard-sized males, resulting from the interplay between female preference for standard-sized males and the inferiority of small males in male-male competition. In contrast, mating by N. californicus females was equally balanced between small and standard-sized males. Small N. californicus males were more aggressive ('Napoleon complex') in male-male competition, reducing the likelihood of encounter between the standard-sized male and the female, and thus counterbalancing female preference for standard-sized males. Our results support the hypothesis that male body size is more important to fitness in the low-level polyandrous P. persimilis than in the medium-level polyandrous N. californicus and provide a key example of the implications of sexually selected body size plasticity on mating behaviour.

You can't always get what you want: size assortative mating by mutual mate choice as a resolution of sexual conflict

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Thünken Timo

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Assortative mating patterns for mate quality traits like body size are often observed in nature. However, the underlying mechanisms that cause assortative mating patterns are less well known. Sexual selection is one important explanation for assortment, suggesting that i one (usually the female or both sexes could show preferences for mates of similar size or ii mutual mate choice could resolve sexual conflict over quality traits into assortment. We tested these hypotheses experimentally in the socially monogamous cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus, in which mate choice is mutual. Results In mate choice experiments, both sexes preferred large mates irrespective of own body size suggesting mating preferences are not size-assortative. Especially males were highly selective for large females, probably because female body size signals direct fitness benefits. However, when potential mates were able to interact and assess each other mutually they showed size-assortative mating patterns, i.e. the likelihood to mate was higher in pairs with low size differences between mates. Conclusion Due to variation in body size, general preferences for large mating partners result in a sexual conflict: small, lower quality individuals who prefer themselves large partners are unacceptable for larger individuals. Relative size mismatches between mates translate into a lower likelihood to mate, suggesting that the threshold to accept mates depends on own body size. These results suggest that the underlying mechanism of assortment in P. taeniatus is mutual mate choice resolving the sexual conflict over mates, rather than preference for mates of similar size.

Lifetime number of mates interacts with female age to determine reproductive success in female guppies.

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Jonathan P Evans

Full Text Available In many species, mating with multiple males confers benefits to females, but these benefits may be offset by the direct and indirect costs associated with elevated mating frequency. Although mating frequency (number of mating events is often positively associated with the degree of multiple mating (actual number of males mated, most studies have experimentally separated these effects when exploring their implications for female fitness. In this paper I describe an alternative approach using the guppy Poecilia reticulata, a livebearing freshwater fish in which females benefit directly and indirectly from mating with multiple males via consensual matings but incur direct and indirect costs of mating as a consequence of male sexual harassment. In the present study, females were experimentally assigned different numbers of mates throughout their lives in order to explore how elevated mating frequency and multiple mating combine to influence lifetime reproductive success (LRS and survival (i.e. direct components of female fitness. Under this mating design, survival and LRS were not significantly affected by mating treatment, but there was a significant interaction between brood size and reproductive cycle (a correlate of female age because females assigned to the high mating treatment produced significantly fewer offspring later in life compared to their low-mating counterparts. This negative effect of mating treatment later in life may be important in these relatively long-lived fishes, and this effect may be further exacerbated by the known cross-generational fitness costs of sexual harassment in guppies.

Direct fitness benefits explain mate preference, but not choice, for similarity in heterozygosity levels.

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Zandberg, Lies; Gort, Gerrit; van Oers, Kees; Hinde, Camilla A

2017-10-01

Under sexual selection, mate preferences can evolve for traits advertising fitness benefits. Observed mating patterns (mate choice) are often assumed to represent preference, even though they result from the interaction between preference, sampling strategy and environmental factors. Correlating fitness with mate choice instead of preference will therefore lead to confounded conclusions about the role of preference in sexual selection. Here we show that direct fitness benefits underlie mate preferences for genetic characteristics in a unique experiment on wild great tits. In repeated mate preference tests, both sexes preferred mates that had similar heterozygosity levels to themselves, and not those with which they would optimise offspring heterozygosity. In a subsequent field experiment where we cross fostered offspring, foster parents with more similar heterozygosity levels had higher reproductive success, despite the absence of assortative mating patterns. These results support the idea that selection for preference persists despite constraints on mate choice. © 2017 The Authors Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Condition-dependent female preference for male genitalia length is based on male reproductive tactics.

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Hernandez-Jimenez, Armando; Rios-Cardenas, Oscar

2017-12-06

There is extensive morphological variation of male genitalia across animals with internal fertilization, even among closely related species. Most studies attempting to explain this extraordinary diversity have focused on processes that occur post-copula (e.g. sperm competition, cryptic female choice). Only a few studies have focused on the pre-copula process of female preference. In addition, the extent to which this variation could be associated with the use of different reproductive tactics has yet to be explored. Here, we show that female preference for male genitalia length in two livebearing fishes depends on the type of reproductive tactic of the males being evaluated as well as the body condition of the female. In a species where all males coax females to acquire matings (courters), females preferred males with short genitalia. In a species with genetically influenced alternative reproductive tactics (courter males that only court and produce courter sons, sneaker males that use the coercive tactic of sneak chase and produce sneaker sons), female preference depended on an interaction between male tactic and female condition: females in good condition preferred courter males with short genitalia, and sneaker males with long genitalia. Our results suggest that female preference for male traits favourable to their sons may be an important factor contributing to the diversification of male genitalia. Despite the contrasting selection for genitalia length that our female preference tests suggest, we found no significant differences in genitalia length between coaxing (courters) and coercive (sneakers) males. Our study represents a starting point to more clearly understand the role of alternative reproductive tactics and variation in female mate preference in the evolution of male genitalia. © 2017 The Author(s).

The Structure and Content of Long-Term and Short-Term Mate Preferences

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Peter K. Jonason

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This study addresses two limitations in the mate preferences literature. First, research all-too-often relies on single-item assessments of mate preferences precluding more advanced statistical techniques like factor analysis. Second, when factor analysis could be done, it exclusively has done for long-term mate preferences, at the exclusion of short-term mate preferences. In this study (N = 401, we subjected 20 items designed to measure short- and long-term mate preferences to both principle components (n = 200 and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 201. In the long-term context, we replicated previous findings that there are three different categories of preferences: physical attractiveness, interpersonal warmth, and social status. In the short-term context, physical attractiveness occupied two parts of the structure, social status dropped out, and interpersonal warmth remained. Across short- and long-term contexts, there were slight changes in what defined the shared dimensions (i.e., physical attractiveness and interpersonal warmth, suggesting prior work that applies the same inventory to each context might be flawed. We also replicated sex differences and similarities in mate preferences and correlates with sociosexuality and mate value. We adopt an evolutionary paradigm to understand our results.

Ontogenetic shifts in male mating preference and morph-specific polyandry in a female colour polymorphic insect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanchez-Guillen, Rosa Ana; Hammers, Martijn; Hansson, Bengt; Van Gossum, Hans; Cordero-Rivera, Adolfo; Galicia Mendoza, Dalia Ivette; Wellenreuther, Maren

2013-01-01

Background: Sexual conflict over mating rates may favour the origin and maintenance of phenotypes with contrasting reproductive strategies. The damselfly Ischnura elegans is characterised by a female colour polymorphism that consists of one androchrome and two gynochrome female morphs. Previous

What Do Women's Advertised Mate Preferences Reveal? An Analysis of Video Dating Profiles

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Cari D. Goetz

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This study examined women's video dating profiles to determine what their advertised mate preferences revealed about their mate value and relationship interests. Women created a one-minute long video dating profile for a hypothetical dating website. The videos were content analyzed into four categories of stated mate preferences: 1 “good genes” indicators 2 good resource investment potential indicators 3 good parenting indicators and 4 good partner indicators. Long-term mating interest was positively correlated with describing good partner indicators and self-perceived mate value was positively correlated with describing good genes indicators. Short-term mating interest was negatively correlated with describing any mate preferences while attractiveness was positively correlated with doing so. Results suggest that women's advertised mate preferences provide clues to their underlying relationship interests and mate value.

Are human mating preferences with respect to height reflected in actual pairings?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stulp, Gert; Buunk, Abraham P.; Pollet, Thomas V.; Nettle, Daniel; Verhulst, Simon

2013-01-01

Pair formation, acquiring a mate to form a reproductive unit, is a complex process. Mating preferences are a step in this process. However, due to constraining factors such as availability of mates, rival competition, and mutual mate choice, preferred characteristics may not be realised in the

Are Human Mating Preferences with Respect to Height Reflected in Actual Pairings?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stulp, G.; Buunk, A.P.; Pollet, T.V.; Nettle, D.; Verhulst, S.

2013-01-01

Pair formation, acquiring a mate to form a reproductive unit, is a complex process. Mating preferences are a step in this process. However, due to constraining factors such as availability of mates, rival competition, and mutual mate choice, preferred characteristics may not be realised in the

Mate-sampling costs and sexy sons.

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Kokko, H; Booksmythe, I; Jennions, M D

2015-01-01

Costly female mating preferences for purely Fisherian male traits (i.e. sexual ornaments that are genetically uncorrelated with inherent viability) are not expected to persist at equilibrium. The indirect benefit of producing 'sexy sons' (Fisher process) disappears: in some models, the male trait becomes fixed; in others, a range of male trait values persist, but a larger trait confers no net fitness advantage because it lowers survival. Insufficient indirect selection to counter the direct cost of producing fewer offspring means that preferences are lost. The only well-cited exception assumes biased mutation on male traits. The above findings generally assume constant direct selection against female preferences (i.e. fixed costs). We show that if mate-sampling costs are instead derived based on an explicit account of how females acquire mates, an initially costly mating preference can coevolve with a male trait so that both persist in the presence or absence of biased mutation. Our models predict that empirically detecting selection at equilibrium will be difficult, even if selection was responsible for the location of the current equilibrium. In general, it appears useful to integrate mate sampling theory with models of genetic consequences of mating preferences: being explicit about the process by which individuals select mates can alter equilibria. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Are Human Mating Preferences with Respect to Height Reflected in Actual Pairings?

OpenAIRE

Stulp, Gert; Buunk, Abraham P.; Pollet, Thomas V.; Nettle, Daniel; Verhulst, Simon

2013-01-01

Pair formation, acquiring a mate to form a reproductive unit, is a complex process. Mating preferences are a step in this process. However, due to constraining factors such as availability of mates, rival competition, and mutual mate choice, preferred characteristics may not be realised in the actual partner. People value height in their partner and we investigated to what extent preferences for height are realised in actual couples. We used data from the Millennium Cohort Study (UK) and comp...

Male mate choice and female response in relation to mating status and time since mating

OpenAIRE

Douglass H. Morse

2010-01-01

Models of sperm allocation predict that male mating behavior will vary with a female's reproductive condition and with information about her present and likely future status available to a male. Tests across a wide taxonomic range have shown that males allocate more sperm to previously mated females than to virgins but that in a minority of instances this allocation pattern is reversed. To investigate the basis for this discrepancy I ran sequential pairings of the crab spider Misumena vatia (...

Male mate choice scales female ornament allometry in a cichlid fish

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Kullmann Harald

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies addressing the adaptive significance of female ornamentation have gained ground recently. However, the expression of female ornaments in relation to body size, known as trait allometry, still remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the allometry of a conspicuous female ornament in Pelvicachromis taeniatus, a biparental cichlid that shows mutual mate choice and ornamentation. Females feature an eye-catching pelvic fin greatly differing from that of males. Results We show that allometry of the female pelvic fin is scaled more positively in comparison to other fins. The pelvic fin exhibits isometry, whereas the other fins (except the caudal fin show negative allometry. The size of the pelvic fin might be exaggerated by male choice because males prefer female stimuli that show a larger extension of the trait. Female pelvic fin size is correlated with individual condition, suggesting that males can assess direct and indirect benefits. Conclusions The absence of positive ornament allometry might be a result of sexual selection constricted by natural selection: fins are related to locomotion and thus may be subject to viability selection. Our study provides evidence that male mate choice might scale the expression of a female sexual ornament, and therefore has implications for the understanding of the relationship of female sexual traits with body size in species with conventional sex-roles.

Endocrinology of human female sexuality, mating, and reproductive behavior.

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Motta-Mena, Natalie V; Puts, David A

2017-05-01

Hormones orchestrate and coordinate human female sexual development, sexuality, and reproduction in relation to three types of phenotypic changes: life history transitions such as puberty and childbirth, responses to contextual factors such as caloric intake and stress, and cyclical patterns such as the ovulatory cycle. Here, we review the endocrinology underlying women's reproductive phenotypes, including sexual orientation and gender identity, mate preferences, competition for mates, sex drive, and maternal behavior. We highlight distinctive aspects of women's sexuality such as the possession of sexual ornaments, relatively cryptic fertile windows, extended sexual behavior across the ovulatory cycle, and a period of midlife reproductive senescence-and we focus on how hormonal mechanisms were shaped by selection to produce adaptive outcomes. We conclude with suggestions for future research to elucidate how hormonal mechanisms subserve women's reproductive phenotypes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Female Drosophila melanogaster gene expression and mate choice: the X chromosome harbours candidate genes underlying sexual isolation.

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Richard I Bailey

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The evolution of female choice mechanisms favouring males of their own kind is considered a crucial step during the early stages of speciation. However, although the genomics of mate choice may influence both the likelihood and speed of speciation, the identity and location of genes underlying assortative mating remain largely unknown.We used mate choice experiments and gene expression analysis of female Drosophila melanogaster to examine three key components influencing speciation. We show that the 1,498 genes in Zimbabwean female D. melanogaster whose expression levels differ when mating with more (Zimbabwean versus less (Cosmopolitan strain preferred males include many with high expression in the central nervous system and ovaries, are disproportionately X-linked and form a number of clusters with low recombination distance. Significant involvement of the brain and ovaries is consistent with the action of a combination of pre- and postcopulatory female choice mechanisms, while sex linkage and clustering of genes lead to high potential evolutionary rate and sheltering against the homogenizing effects of gene exchange between populations.Taken together our results imply favourable genomic conditions for the evolution of reproductive isolation through mate choice in Zimbabwean D. melanogaster and suggest that mate choice may, in general, act as an even more important engine of speciation than previously realized.

Direct fitness benefits explain mate preference, but not choice, for similarity in heterozygosity levels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandberg, Elizabeth Christina; Gort, G.; van Oers, K.; Hinde, C.A.

2017-01-01

Under sexual selection, mate preferences can evolve for traits advertising fitness benefits. Observed mating patterns (mate choice) are often assumed to represent preference, even though they result from the interaction between preference, sampling strategy and environmental factors. Correlating

Direct fitness benefits explain mate preference, but not choice, for similarity in heterozygosity levels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandberg, Lies; Gort, Gerrit; Oers, van Kees; Hinde, Camilla A.

2017-01-01

Under sexual selection, mate preferences can evolve for traits advertising fitness benefits. Observed mating patterns (mate choice) are often assumed to represent preference, even though they result from the interaction between preference, sampling strategy and environmental factors. Correlating

Last mated male sperm precedence in doubly mated females is not ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Genetics; Volume 92; Issue 2. Last mated male sperm precedence in doubly mated females is not ubiquitous: evidence from sperm competition in laboratory populations of Drosophila nasuta nasuta and Drosophila nasuta albomicans. B. Shruthi S. R. Ramesh. Research Note Volume 92 Issue 2 ...

Partner Preference and Mating System of the Taiwan Field Vole (Microtus kikuchii

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Chia-Chien Lee

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The mating system of the Taiwan field vole (Microtus kikuchii has been proposed to be monogamous. In monogamous animals, individuals should exhibit monogamy syndromes, such as little sexual dimorphism and strong pair bonding (a strong social preference for a familiar partner versus a strange one. In this study, we examined the effect of cohabitation on the partner preference. In a reciprocal experiment, all test individuals were cohabited with a heterosexual vole for 24 hr prior to the partner preference trials. We collected the feces of voles before and after the trials, and analyzed the concentration of fecal steroid hormones, including testosterone of males, progesterone and estradiol of females, and corticosterone of all voles. The results showed that the behaviors of focal voles were not influenced by the status (partner or stranger of stimulus vole. There was no significant relationship between steroid hormones and partner preference. Furthermore, the degree of sexual dimorphism in the Taiwan field vole was low, and similar to that of the monogamous prairie vole (M. ochrogaster. In light of this study and other recent findings, we propose that the mating system of the Taiwan field vole is not strictly monogamy, but flexible depending on environmental conditions.

Variation in social relationships relates to song preferences and EGR1 expression in a female songbird.

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Schubloom, Hannah E; Woolley, Sarah C

2016-09-01

Social experiences can profoundly shape social behavior and the underlying neural circuits. Across species, the formation of enduring social relationships is associated with both neural and behavioral changes. However, it remains unclear how longer-term relationships between individuals influence brain and behavior. Here, we investigated how variation in social relationships relates to variation in female preferences for and neural responses to song in a pair-bonding songbird. We assessed variation in the interactions between individuals in male-female zebra finch pairs and found that female preferences for their mate's song were correlated with the degree of affiliation and amount of socially modulated singing, but not with the frequency of aggressive interactions. Moreover, variation in measures of pair quality and preference correlated with variation in the song-induced expression of EGR1, an immediate early gene related to neural activity and plasticity, in brain regions important for auditory processing and social behavior. For example, females with weaker preferences for their mate's song had greater EGR1 expression in the nucleus Taeniae, the avian homologue of the mammalian medial amygdala, in response to playback of their mate's courtship song. Our data indicate that the quality of social interactions within pairs relates to variation in song preferences and neural responses to ethologically relevant stimuli and lend insight into neural circuits sensitive to social information. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 1029-1040, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Heritability of preferences for multiple cues of mate quality in humans

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zietsch, B.P.; Verweij, K.J.H.; Burri, A.V.

2012-01-01

Human mate preferences have received a great deal of attention in recent decades because of their centrality to sexual selection, which is thought to play a substantial role in human evolution. Most of this attention has been on universal aspects of mate preferences, but variation between

Heritability of preferences for multiple cues of mate quality in humans.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zietsch, B.P.; Verweij, K.J.H.; Burri, A.V.

2012-01-01

Human mate preferences have received a great deal of attention in recent decades because of their centrality to sexual selection, which is thought to play a substantial role in human evolution. Most of this attention has been on universal aspects of mate preferences, but variation between

Male resource defense mating system in primates? An experimental test in wild capuchin monkeys.

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Barbara Tiddi

Full Text Available Ecological models of mating systems provide a theoretical framework to predict the effect of the defendability of both breeding resources and mating partners on mating patterns. In resource-based mating systems, male control over breeding resources is tightly linked to female mating preference. To date, few field studies have experimentally investigated the relationship between male resource control and female mating preference in mammals due to difficulties in manipulating ecological factors (e.g., food contestability. We tested the within-group male resource defense hypothesis experimentally in a wild population of black capuchin monkeys (Sapajus nigritus in Iguazú National Park, Argentina. Sapajus spp. represent an ideal study model as, in contrast to most primates, they have been previously argued to be characterized by female mate choice and a resource-based mating system in which within-group resource monopolization by high-ranking males drives female mating preference for those males. Here, we examined whether females (N = 12 showed a weaker preference for alpha males during mating seasons in which food distribution was experimentally manipulated to be less defendable relative to those in which it was highly defendable. Results did not support the within-group male resource defense hypothesis, as female sexual preferences for alpha males did not vary based on food defendability. We discuss possible reasons for our results, including the possibility of other direct and indirect benefits females receive in exercising mate choice, the potential lack of tolerance over food directed towards females by alpha males, and phylogenetic constraints.

Asymmetric dominance and asymmetric mate choice oppose premating isolation after allopatric divergence.

Science.gov (United States)

Sefc, Kristina M; Hermann, Caroline M; Steinwender, Bernd; Brindl, Hanna; Zimmermann, Holger; Mattersdorfer, Karin; Postl, Lisbeth; Makasa, Lawrence; Sturmbauer, Christian; Koblmüller, Stephan

2015-04-01

Assortative mating promotes reproductive isolation and allows allopatric speciation processes to continue in secondary contact. As mating patterns are determined by mate preferences and intrasexual competition, we investigated male-male competition and behavioral isolation in simulated secondary contact among allopatric populations. Three allopatric color morphs of the cichlid fish Tropheus were tested against each other. Dyadic male-male contests revealed dominance of red males over bluish and yellow-blotch males. Reproductive isolation in the presence of male-male competition was assessed from genetic parentage in experimental ponds and was highly asymmetric among pairs of color morphs. Red females mated only with red males, whereas the other females performed variable degrees of heteromorphic mating. Discrepancies between mating patterns in ponds and female preferences in a competition-free, two-way choice paradigm suggested that the dominance of red males interfered with positive assortative mating of females of the subordinate morphs and provoked asymmetric hybridization. Between the nonred morphs, a significant excess of negative assortative mating by yellow-blotch females with bluish males did not coincide with asymmetric dominance among males. Hence, both negative assortative mating preferences and interference of male-male competition with positive assortative preferences forestall premating isolation, the latter especially in environments unsupportive of competition-driven spatial segregation.

Does the contraceptive pill alter mate choice in humans?

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Alvergne, Alexandra; Lummaa, Virpi

2010-03-01

Female and male mate choice preferences in humans both vary according to the menstrual cycle. Women prefer more masculine, symmetrical and genetically unrelated men during ovulation compared with other phases of their cycle, and recent evidence suggests that men prefer ovulating women to others. Such monthly shifts in mate preference have been suggested to bring evolutionary benefits in terms of reproductive success. New evidence is now emerging that taking the oral contraceptive pill might significantly alter both female and male mate choice by removing the mid-cycle change in preferences. Here, we review support for such conclusions and speculate on the consequences of pill-induced choice of otherwise less-preferred partners for relationship satisfaction, durability and, ultimately, reproductive outcomes.

Looking for a similar partner: host plants shape mating preferences of herbivorous insects by altering their contact pheromones.

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Geiselhardt, Sven; Otte, Tobias; Hilker, Monika

2012-09-01

The role of phenotypical plasticity in ecological speciation and the evolution of sexual isolation remains largely unknown. We investigated whether or not divergent host plant use in an herbivorous insect causes assortative mating by phenotypically altering traits involved in mate recognition. We found that males of the mustard leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae preferred to mate with females that were reared on the same plant species to females provided with a different plant species, based on divergent cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that serve as contact pheromones. The cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes of the beetles were host plant specific and changed within 2 weeks after a shift to a novel host plant species. We suggest that plant-induced phenotypic divergence in mate recognition cues may act as an early barrier to gene flow between herbivorous insect populations on alternative host species, preceding genetic divergence and thus, promoting ecological speciation. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Roles of Female and Male Genotype in Post-Mating Responses in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Delbare, Sofie Y N; Chow, Clement Y; Wolfner, Mariana F; Clark, Andrew G

2017-10-30

Mating induces a multitude of changes in female behavior, physiology, and gene expression. Interactions between female and male genotype lead to variation in post-mating phenotypes and reproductive success. So far, few female molecules responsible for these interactions have been identified. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster from 5 geographically dispersed populations to investigate such female × male genotypic interactions at the female transcriptomic and phenotypic levels. Females from each line were singly-mated to males from the same 5 lines, for a total of 25 combinations. Reproductive output and refractoriness to re-mating were assayed in females from the 25 mating combinations. Female × male genotypic interactions resulted in significant differences in these post-mating phenotypes. To assess whether female × male genotypic interactions affect the female post-mating transcriptome, next-generation RNA sequencing was performed on virgin and mated females at 5 to 6 h post-mating. Seventy-seven genes showed strong variation in mating-induced expression changes in a female × male genotype-dependent manner. These genes were enriched for immune response and odorant-binding functions, and for expression exclusively in the head. Strikingly, variation in post-mating transcript levels of a gene encoding a spermathecal endopeptidase was correlated with short-term egg production. The transcriptional variation found in specific functional classes of genes might be a read-out of female × male compatibility at a molecular level. Understanding the roles these genes play in the female post-mating response will be crucial to better understand the evolution of post-mating responses and related conflicts between the sexes. © The American Genetic Association 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Habitat adaptation rather than genetic distance correlates with female preference in fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra

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Weitere Markus

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although some mechanisms of habitat adaptation of conspecific populations have been recently elucidated, the evolution of female preference has rarely been addressed as a force driving habitat adaptation in natural settings. Habitat adaptation of fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra, as found in Middle Europe (Germany, can be framed in an explicit phylogeographic framework that allows for the evolution of habitat adaptation between distinct populations to be traced. Typically, females of S. salamandra only deposit their larvae in small permanent streams. However, some populations of the western post-glacial recolonization lineage use small temporary ponds as larval habitats. Pond larvae display several habitat-specific adaptations that are absent in stream-adapted larvae. We conducted mate preference tests with females from three distinct German populations in order to determine the influence of habitat adaptation versus neutral genetic distance on female mate choice. Two populations that we tested belong to the western post-glacial recolonization group, but are adapted to either stream or pond habitats. The third population is adapted to streams but represents the eastern recolonization lineage. Results Despite large genetic distances with FST values around 0.5, the stream-adapted females preferred males from the same habitat type regardless of genetic distance. Conversely, pond-adapted females did not prefer males from their own population when compared to stream-adapted individuals of either lineage. Conclusion A comparative analysis of our data showed that habitat adaptation rather than neutral genetic distance correlates with female preference in these salamanders, and that habitat-dependent female preference of a specific pond-reproducing population may have been lost during adaptation to the novel environmental conditions of ponds.

Optimal numbers of matings: the conditional balance between benefits and costs of mating for females of a nuptial gift-giving spider.

Science.gov (United States)

Toft, S; Albo, M J

2015-02-01

In species where females gain a nutritious nuptial gift during mating, the balance between benefits and costs of mating may depend on access to food. This means that there is not one optimal number of matings for the female but a range of optimal mating numbers. With increasing food availability, the optimal number of matings for a female should vary from the number necessary only for fertilization of her eggs to the number needed also for producing these eggs. In three experimental series, the average number of matings for females of the nuptial gift-giving spider Pisaura mirabilis before egg sac construction varied from 2 to 16 with food-limited females generally accepting more matings than well-fed females. Minimal level of optimal mating number for females at satiation feeding conditions was predicted to be 2-3; in an experimental test, the median number was 2 (range 0-4). Multiple mating gave benefits in terms of increased fecundity and increased egg hatching success up to the third mating, and it had costs in terms of reduced fecundity, reduced egg hatching success after the third mating, and lower offspring size. The level of polyandry seems to vary with the female optimum, regulated by a satiation-dependent resistance to mating, potentially leaving satiated females in lifelong virginity. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Fine-scale genetic analysis of species-specific female preference in Drosophila simulans.

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Laturney, M; Moehring, A J

2012-09-01

Behavioural differences are thought to be the first components to contribute to species isolation, yet the precise genetic basis of behavioural isolation remains poorly understood. Here, we used a combination of behaviour assays and genetic mapping to provide the first refined map locating candidate genes for interspecific female preference isolating Drosophila simulans from D. melanogaster. First, we tested whether two genes identified as affecting D. melanogaster female intraspecific mate choice also affect interspecific mate choice; neither of these genes was found to contribute to species-specific female preference. Next, we used deficiency mapping to locate genes on the right arm of the third chromosome for species-specific female preference and identified five small significant regions that contain candidate genes contributing to behavioural isolation. All five regions were located in areas that would have low interspecific recombination, which mirrors the results of other behavioural isolation studies that used quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, but without the potential concern of bias towards regions of low recombination that QTL mapping may have. As this model system may be refined to the individual gene level using the same methodology, this initial map we provide may potentially serve as a ready template for the identification and characterization of the first behavioural isolation genes. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Reinforcement shapes clines in female mate discrimination in Drosophila subquinaria

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Bewick, Emily R.; Dyer, Kelly A.

2014-01-01

Reinforcement of species boundaries may alter mate recognition in a way that also affects patterns of mate preference among conspecific populations. In the fly Drosophila subquinaria, females sympatric with the closely related species D. recens reject mating with heterospecific males as well as with conspecific males from allopatric populations. Here, we assess geographic variation in behavioral isolation within and among populations of D. subquinaria and use cline theory to understand patterns of selection on reinforced discrimination and its consequences for sexual isolation within species. We find that selection has fixed rejection of D. recens males in sympatry, while significant genetic variation in this behavior occurs within allopatric populations. In conspecific matings sexual isolation is also asymmetric and stronger in populations that are sympatric with D. recens. The clines in behavioral discrimination within and between species are similar in shape and are maintained by strong selection in the face of gene flow, and we show that some of their genetic basis may be either shared or linked. Thus, while reinforcement can drive extremely strong phenotypic divergence, the long-term consequences for incipient speciation depend on gene flow, genetic linkage of discrimination traits, and the cost of these behaviors in allopatry. PMID:25163510

The mating behavior of Iguana iguana

Science.gov (United States)

Rodda, G.H.

1992-01-01

Over a 19 month period I observed the social behaviors of individually recognized green iguanas, Iguana iguana, at three sites in the llanos of Venezuela. The behavior of iguanas outside the mating season differed from that seen during the mating season in three major ways: (1) during normal waking hours outside the breeding season, adult iguanas spent the majority of time immobile, apparently resting; (2) their interactions involved fewer high intensity displays; and (3) their day to day movements were often nomadic. During the mating season, one site was watched continuously during daylight hours (iguanas sleep throughout the night), allowing a complete count of all copulation attempts (N = 250) and territorial interactions. At all sites, dominant males controlled access to small mating territories. Within the territories there did not appear to be any resources needed by females or their offspring. Thus, females could choose mates directly on the basis of male phenotype. Females aggregated in the mating territories of the largest males and mated preferentially with them. Territorial males copulated only once per day, although on several occasions more than one resident female was receptive on the same day. A few small nonterritorial males exhibited pseudofemale behavior (i.e., they abstained from sexual competition), but most nonterritorial males stayed on the periphery of mating territories and attempted to force copulations on unguarded females (peripheral male behavior). Uncooperative females were mounted by as many as three males simultaneously. Females resisted 95% of the 200 observed mating attempts by peripheral males, but only 56% of the attempts by territorial males (N = 43). The selectivity of the females probably increased the genetic representation of the territorial males in the next generation. During the mating season females maintained a dominance hierarchy among themselves. Low ranked females tended to be excluded from preferred

FEMALE PREFERENCE FOR NESTS WITH EGGS IS BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF THE EGGS THEMSELVES

NARCIS (Netherlands)

KRAAK, SBM; GROOTHUIS, TGG; Kraak, Sarah B.M.; Groothuis, Ton G.G.

1994-01-01

In many fish species of which males care for eggs in a nest, including Aidablennius sphynx, females prefer to mate with males that already guard eggs. In this paper we present two aquarium experiments with this Mediterranean blenny to determine whether the females actually use the presence of eggs

The evolution of postpairing male mate choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Nan; Servedio, Maria R; Lloyd, Huw; Sun, Yue-Hua

2017-06-01

An increasing number of empirical studies in animals have demonstrated male mate choice. However, little is known about the evolution of postpairing male choice, specifically which occurs by differential allocation of male parental care in response to female signals. We use a population genetic model to examine whether such postpairing male mate choice can evolve when males face a trade-off between parental care and extra-pair copulations (EPCs). Specifically, we assume that males allocate more effort to providing parental care when mated to preferred (signaling) females, but they are then unable to allocate additional effort to seek EPCs. We find that both male preference and female signaling can evolve in this situation, under certain conditions. First, this evolution requires a relatively large difference in parental investment between males mated to preferred versus nonpreferred females. Second, whether male choice and female signaling alleles become fixed in a population versus cycle in their frequencies depends on the additional fecundity benefits from EPCs that are gained by choosy males. Third, less costly female signals enable both signaling and choice alleles to evolve under more relaxed conditions. Our results also provide a new insight into the evolution of sexual conflict over parental care. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Female sticklebacks use male coloration in mate choice and hence avoid parasitized males

Science.gov (United States)

Milinski, Manfred; Bakker, Theo C. M.

1990-03-01

AN important problem in evolutionary biology since the time of Darwin has been to understand why females preferentially mate with males handicapped by secondary sexual ornaments1-3. One hypothesis of sexual selection theory is that these ornaments reliably reveal the male's condition4-6, which can be affected for example by parasites4,7-13. Here we show that in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) the intensity of male red breeding coloration positively correlates with physical condition. Gravid females base their active mate choice on the intensity of the male's red coloration. Choice experiments under green light prevent the use of red colour cues by females, and males that were previously preferred are now chosen no more than randomly, although the courtship behaviour of the males remains unchanged. Parasitieation causes a deterioration in the males' condition and a decrease in the intensity of their red coloration. Tests under both lighting conditions reveal that the females recognize the formerly parasitized males by the lower intensity of their breeding coloration. Female sticklebacks possibly select a male with a good capacity for paternal care14 but if there is additive genetic variation for parasite resistance, then they might also select for resistance genes, as proposed by Hamilton and Zuk4.

Socioeconomic Development and Shifts in Mate Preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily A. Stone

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Mate preferences shift according to contexts such as temporal duration of mateship sought and ecological prevalence of parasites. One important cross-cultural context that has not been explored is a country's socioeconomic development. Because individuals in less developed countries are generally less healthy and possess fewer resources than those in more developed countries, displays of health and resources in a prospective long-term partner were hypothesized to be valued more in populations in which they are rare than in populations in which they are more common. We also predicted negative correlations between development and preferences for similar religious background and a desire for children. We found strong support for the health hypothesis and modest support for the resource acquisition potential hypothesis. We also found an unpredicted positive correlation between development and importance ratings for love. Discussion addresses limitations of the current research and highlights directions for future cross-cultural research on mating psychology.

Heterozygosity-based assortative mating in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus): implications for the evolution of mate choice

Science.gov (United States)

García-Navas, Vicente; Ortego, Joaquín; Sanz, Juan José

2009-01-01

The general hypothesis of mate choice based on non-additive genetic traits suggests that individuals would gain important benefits by choosing genetically dissimilar mates (compatible mate hypothesis) and/or more heterozygous mates (heterozygous mate hypothesis). In this study, we test these hypotheses in a socially monogamous bird, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We found no evidence for a relatedness-based mating pattern, but heterozygosity was positively correlated between social mates, suggesting that blue tits may base their mating preferences on partner's heterozygosity. We found evidence that the observed heterozygosity-based assortative mating could be maintained by both direct and indirect benefits. Heterozygosity reflected individual quality in both sexes: egg production and quality increased with female heterozygosity while more heterozygous males showed higher feeding rates during the brood-rearing period. Further, estimated offspring heterozygosity correlated with both paternal and maternal heterozygosity, suggesting that mating with heterozygous individuals can increase offspring genetic quality. Finally, plumage crown coloration was associated with male heterozygosity, and this could explain unanimous mate preferences for highly heterozygous and more ornamented individuals. Overall, this study suggests that non-additive genetic traits may play an important role in the evolution of mating preferences and offers empirical support to the resolution of the lek paradox from the perspective of the heterozygous mate hypothesis. PMID:19474042

Vocal neighbour-mate discrimination in female great tits despite high song similarity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blumenrath, Sandra H.; Dabelsteen, Torben; Pedersen, Simon Boel

2007-01-01

Discrimination between conspecifics is important in mediating social interactions between several individuals in a network environment. In great tits, Parus major, females readily distinguish between the songs of their mate and those of a stranger. The high degree of song sharing among neighbouring...... males, however, raises the question of whether females are also able to perceive differences between songs shared by their mate and a neighbour. The great tit is a socially monogamous, hole-nesting species with biparental care. Pair bond maintenance and coordination of the pair's reproductive efforts...... are important, and the female's ability to recognize her mate's song should therefore be adaptive. In a neighbour-mate discrimination playback experiment, we presented 13 incubating great tit females situated inside nestboxes with a song of their mate and the same song type from a neighbour. Each female...

Genetic Coupling of Female Mate Choice with Polygenic Ecological Divergence Facilitates Stickleback Speciation.

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Bay, Rachael A; Arnegard, Matthew E; Conte, Gina L; Best, Jacob; Bedford, Nicole L; McCann, Shaugnessy R; Dubin, Matthew E; Chan, Yingguang Frank; Jones, Felicity C; Kingsley, David M; Schluter, Dolph; Peichel, Catherine L

2017-11-06

Ecological speciation with gene flow is widespread in nature [1], but it presents a conundrum: how are associations between traits under divergent natural selection and traits that contribute to assortative mating maintained? Theoretical models suggest that genetic mechanisms inhibiting free recombination between loci underlying these two types of traits (hereafter, "genetic coupling") can facilitate speciation [2-4]. Here, we perform a direct test for genetic coupling by mapping both divergent traits and female mate choice in a classic model of ecological speciation: sympatric benthic and limnetic threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). By measuring mate choice in F2 hybrid females, we allowed for recombination between loci underlying assortative mating and those under divergent ecological selection. In semi-natural mating arenas in which females had access to both benthic and limnetic males, we found that F2 females mated with males similar to themselves in body size and shape. In addition, we found two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with female mate choice that also predicted female morphology along the benthic-limnetic trait axis. Furthermore, a polygenic genetic model that explains adaptation to contrasting benthic and limnetic feeding niches [5] also predicted F2 female mate choice. Together, these results provide empirical evidence that genetic coupling of assortative mating with traits under divergent ecological selection helps maintain species in the face of gene flow, despite a polygenic basis for adaptation to divergent environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of two methods to assess audience-induced changes in male mate choice

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Madlen ZIEGE; Carmen HENNIGE-SCHULZ; Frauke MUECKSCH; David BIERBACH; Ralph TIEDEMANN; Bruno STREIT; Martin PLATH

2012-01-01

Multidirectional communicative interactions in social networks can have a profound effect on mate choice behavior.Male Atlantic molly Poecilia mexicana exhibit weaker mating preferences when an audience male is presented.This could be a male strategy to reduce sperm competition risk:interacting more equally with different females may be advantageous because rivals might copy mate choice decisions.In line with this hypothesis,a previous study found males to show a strong audience effect when being observed while exercising mate choice,but not when the rival was presented only before the choice tests.Audience effects on mate choice decisions have been quantified in poeciliid fishes using association preference designs,but it remains unknown if patterns found from measuring association times translate into actual mating behavior.Thus,we createl five audience treatments simulating different forms of perceived sperm competition risk and determined focal males' mating preferences by scoring pre-mating (nipping) and mating behavior (gonopodial thrusting).Nipping did not reflect the pattern that was found when association preferences were measured,while a very similar pattern was uncovered in thrusting behavior.The strongest response was observed when the audience could eavesdrop on the focal male's behavior.A reduction in the strength of focal males' preferences was also seen after the rival male had an opportunity to mate with the focal male's preferred mate.In comparison,the reduction of mating preferences in response to an audience was greater when measuring association times than actual mating behavior.While measuring direct sexual interactions between the focal male and both stimulus females not only the male's motivational state is reflected but also females' behavior such as avoidance of male sexual harassment [Current Zoology 58 (1):84-94,2012].

Sex-specific conditional mating preferences in a cichlid fish : Implications for sexual conflict

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baldauf, Sebastian A.; Engqvist, Leif; Ottenheym, Tobias; Bakker, Theo C. M.; Thuenken, Timo

Conditional mating strategies enable individuals to modulate their mating behaviour depending on 'individual status' to maximise fitness. Theory predicts that variation in individual quality can lead to differences in mating preferences. However, empirical evidence is scarce particular in terms of

Are high-quality mates always attractive? State-dependent mate preferences in birds and humans

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riebel, Katharina; Holveck, Marie-Jeanne; Verhulst, Simon; Fawcett, Tim W.

2010-01-01

Sexual selection theory posits that females should choose mates in a way that maximizes their reproductive success. But what exactly is the optimal choice? Most empirical research is based on the assumption that females seek a male of the highest possible quality (in terms of the genes or resources

The smell of virgins: mating status of females affects male swimming behaviour in Oithona davisae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heuschele, Jan; Kiørboe, Thomas

2012-01-01

in the presence of virgin when compared with mated females and that the cue is waterborne. The ability to distinguish between virgin and mated females may reduce male mortality during mate search and the cost related to mating behaviour (precopula) in both sexes. We estimate that at realistic population densities...... the ability of males to distinguish between virgin and mated females saves them several hours per day of dangerous and energetically expensive fast female tracking...

Mating Success of Female Dungeness Crabs (Cancer magister) in Oregon Coastal Waters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dunn, Paul; Shanks, Alan

2012-01-01

year, and when combined with crabs that carried sperm from previous mating encounters (females store sperm), the percent of females that would have produced viable eggs was 83%. Crabs that definitely molted during the collection year showed higher mating success (95%). The largest females examined...

Parallel female preferences for call duration in a diploid ancestor of an allotetraploid treefrog.

Science.gov (United States)

Bee, Mark A

2008-09-01

The gray treefrog species complex (Hyla chrysoscelis and H. versicolor) comprises a single allotetraploid species (H. versicolor) that arose multiple times from hybrid matings between an extant diploid species (H. chrysoscelis) and at least two other extinct diploid treefrogs. While previous studies have investigated female preferences for call duration in the tetraploid, we know little about these preferences in its putative diploid anscestors. Here, I report results from two-choice phonotaxis experiments investigating call duration preferences in H. chrysoscelis. Females preferred an average-length call over shorter-than-average calls (0.5-2.0 standard deviations [SD] below average), and they preferred longer-than-average calls over average or shorter-than-average calls if the difference in pulse number was at least 2.0 SD. When the amplitude of the longer alternative was attenuated by 6 dB, females still preferred an average-length call over a shorter-than-average call, but there was no preference for longer-than-average calls over an average call. In the presence of chorus noise, female preferences for both average and longer-than-average calls over shorter alternatives were weakened or reversed. Together, the results from this study reveal patterns of female preferences for call duration that are strikingly similar among two members of a species complex with a novel evolutionary history. In both species, female preferences are directional, nonlinear, and limited by environmental noise. Furthermore, these results also highlight the need for caution in studies of sexual selection when extrapolating from patterns of female preference obtained under ideal laboratory conditions to conclusions about how those preferences are expressed in the real world.

Dynamic, mating-induced gene expression changes in female head and brain tissues of Drosophila melanogaster

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Stirling Emma J

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Drosophila melanogaster females show changes in behavior and physiology after mating that are thought to maximize the number of progeny resulting from the most recent copulation. Sperm and seminal fluid proteins induce post-mating changes in females, however, very little is known about the resulting gene expression changes in female head and central nervous system tissues that contribute to the post-mating response. Results We determined the temporal gene expression changes in female head tissues 0-2, 24, 48 and 72 hours after mating. Females from each time point had a unique post-mating gene expression response, with 72 hours post-mating having the largest number of genes with significant changes in expression. At most time points, genes expressed in the head fat body that encode products involved in metabolism showed a marked change in expression. Additional analysis of gene expression changes in dissected brain tissues 24 hours post-mating revealed changes in transcript abundance of many genes, notably, the reduced transcript abundance of genes that encode ion channels. Conclusions Substantial changes occur in the regulation of many genes in female head tissues after mating, which might underlie aspects of the female post-mating response. These results provide new insights into the physiological and metabolic changes that accompany changes in female behaviors.

Floral to green: mating switches moth olfactory coding and preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Saveer, Ahmed M; Kromann, Sophie H; Birgersson, Göran; Bengtsson, Marie; Lindblom, Tobias; Balkenius, Anna; Hansson, Bill S; Witzgall, Peter; Becher, Paul G; Ignell, Rickard

2012-06-22

Mating induces profound physiological changes in a wide range of insects, leading to behavioural adjustments to match the internal state of the animal. Here, we show for the first time, to our knowledge, that a noctuid moth switches its olfactory response from food to egg-laying cues following mating. Unmated females of the cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis) are strongly attracted to lilac flowers (Syringa vulgaris). After mating, attraction to floral odour is abolished and the females fly instead to green-leaf odour of the larval host plant cotton, Gossypium hirsutum. This behavioural switch is owing to a marked change in the olfactory representation of floral and green odours in the primary olfactory centre, the antennal lobe (AL). Calcium imaging, using authentic and synthetic odours, shows that the ensemble of AL glomeruli dedicated to either lilac or cotton odour is selectively up- and downregulated in response to mating. A clear-cut behavioural modulation as a function of mating is a useful substrate for studies of the neural mechanisms underlying behavioural decisions. Modulation of odour-driven behaviour through concerted regulation of odour maps contributes to our understanding of state-dependent choice and host shifts in insect herbivores.

Stepping out of the caveman's shadow: nations' gender gap predicts degree of sex differentiation in mate preferences.

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Zentner, Marcel; Mitura, Klaudia

2012-10-01

An influential explanation for gender differences in mating strategies is that the sex-specific reproductive constraints faced by human ancestors shaped these differences. Other theorists have emphasized the role of societal factors, hypothesizing, for example, that gender differences in mate preferences should wane in gender-equal societies. However, findings have been ambiguous. Using recent data and a novel measure of gender equality, we revisited the role of gender parity in gender differentiation for mate preferences. In the first study, 3,177 participants from 10 nations with a gradually decreasing Global Gender Gap Index (GGI) provided online ratings of the desirability of mate attributes with reportedly evolutionary origins. In the second study, GGI scores were related to gender differences in mate preferences previously reported for 8,953 participants from 31 nations (Buss, 1989). Both studies show that gender differences in mate preferences with presumed evolutionary roots decline proportionally to increases in nations' gender parity.

Intrasexual competition facilitates the evolution of alternative mating strategies in a colour polymorphic fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurtado-Gonzales, Jorge L; Uy, J Albert C

2010-12-23

Intense competition for access to females can lead to males exploiting different components of sexual selection, and result in the evolution of alternative mating strategies (AMSs). Males of Poecilia parae, a colour polymorphic fish, exhibit five distinct phenotypes: drab-coloured (immaculata), striped (parae), structural-coloured (blue) and carotenoid-based red and yellow morphs. Previous work indicates that immaculata males employ a sneaker strategy, whereas the red and yellow morphs exploit female preferences for carotenoid-based colours. Mating strategies favouring the maintenance of the other morphs remain to be determined. Here, we report the role of agonistic male-male interactions in influencing female mating preferences and male mating success, and in facilitating the evolution of AMSs. Our study reveals variation in aggressiveness among P. parae morphs during indirect and direct interactions with sexually receptive females. Two morphs, parae and yellow, use aggression to enhance their mating success (i.e., number of copulations) by 1) directly monopolizing access to females, and 2) modifying female preferences after winning agonistic encounters. Conversely, we found that the success of the drab-coloured immaculata morph, which specializes in a sneak copulation strategy, relies in its ability to circumvent both male aggression and female choice when facing all but yellow males. Strong directional selection is expected to deplete genetic variation, yet many species show striking genetically-based polymorphisms. Most studies evoke frequency dependent selection to explain the persistence of such variation. Consistent with a growing body of evidence, our findings suggest that a complex form of balancing selection may alternatively explain the evolution and maintenance of AMSs in a colour polymorphic fish. In particular, this study demonstrates that intrasexual competition results in phenotypically distinct males exhibiting clear differences in their levels of

Intrasexual competition facilitates the evolution of alternative mating strategies in a colour polymorphic fish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uy J Albert C

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Intense competition for access to females can lead to males exploiting different components of sexual selection, and result in the evolution of alternative mating strategies (AMSs. Males of Poecilia parae, a colour polymorphic fish, exhibit five distinct phenotypes: drab-coloured (immaculata, striped (parae, structural-coloured (blue and carotenoid-based red and yellow morphs. Previous work indicates that immaculata males employ a sneaker strategy, whereas the red and yellow morphs exploit female preferences for carotenoid-based colours. Mating strategies favouring the maintenance of the other morphs remain to be determined. Here, we report the role of agonistic male-male interactions in influencing female mating preferences and male mating success, and in facilitating the evolution of AMSs. Results Our study reveals variation in aggressiveness among P. parae morphs during indirect and direct interactions with sexually receptive females. Two morphs, parae and yellow, use aggression to enhance their mating success (i.e., number of copulations by 1 directly monopolizing access to females, and 2 modifying female preferences after winning agonistic encounters. Conversely, we found that the success of the drab-coloured immaculata morph, which specializes in a sneak copulation strategy, relies in its ability to circumvent both male aggression and female choice when facing all but yellow males. Conclusions Strong directional selection is expected to deplete genetic variation, yet many species show striking genetically-based polymorphisms. Most studies evoke frequency dependent selection to explain the persistence of such variation. Consistent with a growing body of evidence, our findings suggest that a complex form of balancing selection may alternatively explain the evolution and maintenance of AMSs in a colour polymorphic fish. In particular, this study demonstrates that intrasexual competition results in phenotypically distinct

Choosy but not chaste: multiple mating in human females.

Science.gov (United States)

Scelza, Brooke A

2013-01-01

When Charles Darwin set out to relate his theory of evolution by natural selection to humans he discovered that a complementary explanation was needed to properly understand the great variation seen in human behavior. The resulting work, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, laid out the defining principles and evidence of sexual selection. In brief, this work is best known for illuminating the typically male strategy of intrasexual competition and the typically female response of intersexual choice. While these sexual stereotypes were first laid out by Darwin, they grew in importance when, years later, A. J. Bateman, in a careful study of Drosophila mating strategies, noted that multiple mating appeared to provide great benefit to male reproductive success, but to have no such effect on females. As a result, female choice soon became synonymous with being coy, and only males were thought to gain from promiscuous behavior. However, the last thirty years of research have served to question much of the traditional wisdom about sex differences proposed by Darwin and Bateman, illuminating the many ways that women (and females more generally) can and do engage in multiple mating. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Last mated male sperm precedence in doubly mated females is not ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

DST Unit on Evolution and Genetics, Department of Studies in Zoology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri,. Mysore 570 006, India .... using SPSS software (ver. 16.0). Results ... Proportions of first male and second male progeny of doubly mated female and the results of paired-sample t-test carried out independently for ...

Serotonin-induced mate rejection in the female cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora

Science.gov (United States)

Obara, Yoshiaki; Fukano, Yuya; Watanabe, Kenta; Ozawa, Gaku; Sasaki, Ken

2011-11-01

Virgin female cabbage butterflies, Pieris rapae crucivora, accept and mate with courting males, whereas mated females reject them and assume the "mate refusal posture". This study tested whether the biogenic amines, serotonin (5HT), dopamine (DA), and octopamine (OA), were responsible for this change in behavior. The results showed that 2-3-day-old virgin females fed with 5HT rejected courting males significantly more frequently compared with controls fed on sucrose. In contrast, the proportions of courting males rejected by virgin females fed with either DA or OA did not differ from sucrose-fed controls. Oral application of each amine resulted in significantly increased levels of the amine applied (or its metabolite) in the brain. The results strongly suggest that 5HT or a 5HT metabolite may be responsible for the post-mating change in behavioral response of 2-3-day-old virgin females to courting males. Similar effects of 5HT treatment were observed in 6-8-day-old virgin females, but in this case the results were only marginally different from the controls, suggesting that the effect may decline with increasing female age.

Multiple sexual signals: Calls over colors for mate attraction in an aposematic, color-diverse poison frog

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Corinna Eva Dreher

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Sexual signals indicate species identity and mate quality, and their importance for mate attraction is largely recognized. Recently, research in animal communication has started to integrate multiple signal modalities and evaluate their interactions. However, mate choice experiments across animal taxa have been limited to laboratory conditions, and assessments of multiple sexual signals under field conditions are still lacking. We take advantage of the divergence in visual and acoustic signals among populations of the Neotropical poison frog Oophaga pumilio to evaluate the importance of male advertisement calls and color patterns in female mate selection. Previous mate choice experiments in this species suggested color-assortative female mate preferences across many populations. Nevertheless, acoustic signals are crucial for sexual selection in frogs, and males of O. pumilio use advertisement calls to attract females. We hypothesize that both advertisement calls and coloration affects female mate selection in O.pumilio. To test this hypothesis we tested 452 receptive females from six populations in Costa Rica and Panama in their natural home ranges for preferences regarding local vs. non-local advertisement calls and color patterns. Overall, the calls overrode the effect of coloration, whereby most females preferred local over non-local calls. We found a tendency to prefer brighter (but not necessarily local males in two populations. Furthermore the strength of preferences varied geographically, and thus might be involved in prezygotic isolation among populations. The stronger effect of calls on mate attraction is associated with acoustic divergence between genetic groups in the species, while colour pattern diversity is mostly located within one genetic group, i.e. not linked to large-scale population structure. Finally our data highlights the importance to consider an array of signal modalities in multiple wild populations in studies of

Mating choice of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae): influence of male ageing on mating success

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva Neto, Alberto M. da; Dias, Vanessa S.; Joachim-Bravo, Iara S.

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of male ageing on male pheromone release and mating success of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The effects of male ageing on mating were evaluated on fi ve and 21 d-old males by assessing their mating success (males chosen by a female for copulation) and the amount of males releasing the sex pheromone. The mating success was evaluated by using several ratios of young to older males by increasing the number of older males:young males from 1:1 to 5:1. The mating success of the 1:1 ratio was also evaluated in fi eld cages. The evaluation of the mating success (in the 1:1 ratio) showed a clear preference of the females for young males. Sex pheromone emission was much more common on young than older males. Even in cases were older males were more abundant (ratios 2:1 and 3:1), females still chose the young males. However, females could not distinguish young from older males in ratios of 4:1 or 5:1. Our data indicate that the ageing of C. capitata males has a considerable negative effect on their reproductive success, especially if they are found in a proportion any lower than 3:1. (author)

Variation in male mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Dominic A Edward

Full Text Available Male mate choice has been reported in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, even though males of this species were previously thought to maximise their fitness by mating with all available females. To understand the evolution of male mate choice it is important to understand variation in male mating preferences. Two studies, using different stock populations and different methods, have reported contrasting patterns of variation in male mate choice in D. melanogaster. Two possible explanations are that there are evolved differences in each stock population or that the methods used to measure choice could have biased the results. We investigated these hypotheses here by repeating the methods used in one study in which variable male mate choice was found, using the stock population from the other study in which choice was not variable. The results showed a significant resource-independent male preference for less fecund, smaller females, which contrasts with previous observations of male mate choice. This indicates that different selection pressures between populations have resulted in evolved differences in the expression of male mate choice. It also reveals phenotypic plasticity in male mate choice in response to cues encountered in each choice environment. The results highlight the importance of variation in male mate choice, and of identifying mechanisms in order to understand the evolution of mate choice under varying ecological conditions.

When less is best: female brown-headed cowbirds prefer less intense male displays.

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O'Loghlen, Adrian L; Rothstein, Stephen I

2012-01-01

Sexual selection theory predicts that females should prefer males with the most intense courtship displays. However, wing-spread song displays that male brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) direct at females are generally less intense than versions of this display that are directed at other males. Because male-directed displays are used in aggressive signaling, we hypothesized that females should prefer lower intensity performances of this display. To test this hypothesis, we played audiovisual recordings showing the same males performing both high intensity male-directed and low intensity female-directed displays to females (N = 8) and recorded the females' copulation solicitation display (CSD) responses. All eight females responded strongly to both categories of playbacks but were more sexually stimulated by the low intensity female-directed displays. Because each pair of high and low intensity playback videos had the exact same audio track, the divergent responses of females must have been based on differences in the visual content of the displays shown in the videos. Preferences female cowbirds show in acoustic CSD studies are correlated with mate choice in field and captivity studies and this is also likely to be true for preferences elucidated by playback of audiovisual displays. Female preferences for low intensity female-directed displays may explain why male cowbirds rarely use high intensity displays when signaling to females. Repetitive high intensity displays may demonstrate a male's current condition and explain why these displays are used in male-male interactions which can escalate into physical fights in which males in poorer condition could be injured or killed. This is the first study in songbirds to use audiovisual playbacks to assess how female sexual behavior varies in response to variation in a male visual display.

Evidence for genetic variation in human mate preferences for sexually dimorphic physical traits.

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Karin J H Verweij

Full Text Available Intersexual selection has been proposed as an important force in shaping a number of morphological traits that differ between human populations and/or between the sexes. Important to these accounts is the source of mate preferences for such traits, but this has not been investigated. In a large sample of twins, we assess forced-choice, dichotomous mate preferences for height, skin colour, hair colour and length, chest hair, facial hair, and breast size. Across the traits, identical twins reported more similar preferences than nonidentical twins, suggesting genetic effects. However, the relative magnitude of estimated genetic and environmental effects differed greatly and significantly between different trait preferences, with heritability estimates ranging from zero to 57%.

Mate Preference of Female Blue Tits Varies with Experimental Photoperiod

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Reparaz, L.B.; Van Oers, K.; Naguib, M.; Doutrelant, C.; Visser, M.E.; Caro, S.P.

2014-01-01

Organisms use environmental cues to time their life-cycles and among these cues, photoperiod is the main trigger of reproductive behaviours such as territory defence or song activity. Whether photoperiod is also important for another behaviour closely associated with reproduction, mate choice, is

Mate preference of female blue tits varies with experimental photoperiod

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Reparaz, L.B.; Oers, van K.; Naguib, M.; Doutrelant, C.; Visser, M.E.; Caro, S.P.

2014-01-01

Organisms use environmental cues to time their life-cycles and among these cues, photoperiod is the main trigger of reproductive behaviours such as territory defence or song activity. Whether photoperiod is also important for another behaviour closely associated with reproduction, mate choice, is

Negative Assortative Mating Based on Body Coloration in the Freshwater Platyfish (Poecillidae: Xiphophorus maculatus

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Tyler E. Frankel

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The ability of individuals within a population to survive and thrive is highly dependent upon the maintenance of genetic variation and phenotypic diversity, thereby ensuring adaptation to dynamic environments. A fundamental method of maintaining such variation is through a negative assortative mating strategy, in which individuals would be expected to reproductively select members of the opposite sex that exhibit dissimilar phenotypes. Employing three uniform body color morphs, red, yellow and blue, of the platyfish (Xiphophorus maculatus, this study was designed to investigate whether X. maculatus females would preferentially be attracted to males exhibiting an alternative color, thereby enabling an examination of the effect of male body coloration on mate choice by adult females. Mate choice was determined based on the initial preference of each female, as well as the amount of time females spent associating with each male. Initial preferences were analyzed using a binomial distribution test, and overall preference data using Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Red females initially selected for dissimilar colored males, and spent a significantly larger amount of time associating with blue and yellow males, as did yellow females with red and blue males. Blue females initially selected and spent a significantly larger amount of time associating with red males but, interestingly, showed no selective preference between blue and yellow males. In these experimental trials, the overall strong mate selection exhibited by female platyfish for males of dissimilar coloration is suggestive of a negative assortative mating strategy and provides evidence for the maintenance of color polymorphism in nature populations.

A comparison of two methods to assess audience-induced changes in male mate choice

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Madlen ZIEGE, Carmen HENNIGE-SCHULZ, Frauke MUECKSCH,David BIERBACH, Ralph TIEDEMANN, Bruno STREIT, Martin PLATH

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Multidirectional communicative interactions in social networks can have a profound effect on mate choice behavior. Male Atlantic molly Poecilia mexicana exhibit weaker mating preferences when an audience male is presented. This could be a male strategy to reduce sperm competition risk: interacting more equally with different females may be advantageous because rivals might copy mate choice decisions. In line with this hypothesis, a previous study found males to show a strong audience effect when being observed while exercising mate choice, but not when the rival was presented only before the choice tests. Audience effects on mate choice decisions have been quantified in poeciliid fishes using association preference designs, but it remains unknown if patterns found from measuring association times translate into actual mating behavior. Thus, we created five audience treatments simulating different forms of perceived sperm competition risk and determined focal males’ mating preferences by scoring pre-mating (nipping and mating behavior (gonopodial thrusting. Nipping did not reflect the pattern that was found when association preferences were measured, while a very similar pattern was uncovered in thrusting behavior. The strongest response was observed when the audience could eavesdrop on the focal male’s behavior. A reduction in the strength of focal males’ preferences was also seen after the rival male had an opportunity to mate with the focal male’s preferred mate. In comparison, the reduction of mating preferences in response to an audience was greater when measuring association times than actual mating behavior. While measuring direct sexual interactions between the focal male and both stimulus females not only the male’s motivational state is reflected but also females’ behavior such as avoidance of male sexual harassment [Current Zoology 58 (1: 84–94, 2012].

Neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb induced by paced mating in the female rat is opioid dependent.

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Marianela Santoyo-Zedillo

Full Text Available The possibility to control the rate of sexual stimulation that the female rat receives during a mating encounter (pacing increases the number of newborn neurons that reach the granular layer of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB. If females mate repeatedly, the increase in the number of neurons is observed in other regions of the AOB and in the main olfactory bulb (MOB. It has also been shown that paced mating induces a reward state mediated by opioids. There is also evidence that opioids modulate neurogenesis. In the present study, we evaluated whether the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (NX could reduce the increase in neurogenesis in the AOB induced by paced mating. Ovariectomized female rats were randomly divided in 5 different groups: 1 Control (not mated treated with saline, 2 control (not mated treated with naloxone, 3 females that mated without controlling the sexual interaction (no-pacing, 4 females injected with saline before pacing the sexual interaction and 5 females injected with NX before a paced mating session. We found, as previously described, that paced mating induced a higher number of new cells in the granular layer of the AOB. The administration of NX before paced mating, blocked the increase in the number of newborn cells and prevented these cells from differentiating into neurons. These data suggest that opioid peptides play a fundamental role in the neurogenesis induced by paced mating in female rats.

Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive.

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Arbuthnott, Devin; Fedina, Tatyana Y; Pletcher, Scott D; Promislow, Daniel E L

2017-01-17

According to rational choice theory, beneficial preferences should lead individuals to sort available options into linear, transitive hierarchies, although the extent to which non-human animals behave rationally is unclear. Here we demonstrate that mate choice in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster results in the linear sorting of a set of diverse isogenic female lines, unambiguously demonstrating the hallmark of rational behaviour, transitivity. These rational choices are associated with direct benefits, enabling males to maximize offspring production. Furthermore, we demonstrate that female behaviours and cues act redundantly in mate detection and assessment, as rational mate choice largely persists when visual or chemical sensory modalities are impaired, but not when both are impaired. Transitivity in mate choice demonstrates that the quality of potential mates varies significantly among genotypes, and that males and females behave in such a way as to facilitate adaptive mate choice.

Computational mate choice: theory and empirical evidence.

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Castellano, Sergio; Cadeddu, Giorgia; Cermelli, Paolo

2012-06-01

The present review is based on the thesis that mate choice results from information-processing mechanisms governed by computational rules and that, to understand how females choose their mates, we should identify which are the sources of information and how they are used to make decisions. We describe mate choice as a three-step computational process and for each step we present theories and review empirical evidence. The first step is a perceptual process. It describes the acquisition of evidence, that is, how females use multiple cues and signals to assign an attractiveness value to prospective mates (the preference function hypothesis). The second step is a decisional process. It describes the construction of the decision variable (DV), which integrates evidence (private information by direct assessment), priors (public information), and value (perceived utility) of prospective mates into a quantity that is used by a decision rule (DR) to produce a choice. We make the assumption that females are optimal Bayesian decision makers and we derive a formal model of DV that can explain the effects of preference functions, mate copying, social context, and females' state and condition on the patterns of mate choice. The third step of mating decision is a deliberative process that depends on the DRs. We identify two main categories of DRs (absolute and comparative rules), and review the normative models of mate sampling tactics associated to them. We highlight the limits of the normative approach and present a class of computational models (sequential-sampling models) that are based on the assumption that DVs accumulate noisy evidence over time until a decision threshold is reached. These models force us to rethink the dichotomy between comparative and absolute decision rules, between discrimination and recognition, and even between rational and irrational choice. Since they have a robust biological basis, we think they may represent a useful theoretical tool for

Direct observation of female mating frequency using time-lapse photography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijper, Bram; Morrow, Edward H.

2009-01-01

One basic condition of postmating sexual selection is that females mate more than once before fertilizing their ova. Knowledge of the frequency and extent of multiple mating in a given population or species is therefore important in order to fully understand the potential for sexual selection, in

Pheromonal Cues Deposited by Mated Females Convey Social Information about Egg-Laying Sites in Drosophila Melanogaster.

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Duménil, Claire; Woud, David; Pinto, Francesco; Alkema, Jeroen T; Jansen, Ilse; Van Der Geest, Anne M; Roessingh, Sanne; Billeter, Jean-Christophe

2016-03-01

Individuals can make choices based on information learned from others, a phenomenon called social learning. How observers differentiate between which individual they should or should not learn from is, however, poorly understood. Here, we showed that Drosophila melanogaster females can influence the choice of egg-laying site of other females through pheromonal marking. Mated females mark territories of high quality food by ejecting surplus male sperm containing the aggregation pheromone cis-11-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) and, in addition, deposit several sex- and species-specific cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) pheromones. These pheromonal cues affect the choices of other females, which respond by preferentially laying eggs on the marked food. This system benefits both senders and responders, as communal egg laying increases offspring survival. Virgin females, however, do not elicit a change in the egg-laying decision of mated females, even when food has been supplemented with ejected sperm from mated females, thus indicating the necessity for additional cues. Genetic ablation of either a female's CHC pheromones or those of their mate results in loss of ability of mated females to attract other females. We conclude that mated females use a pheromonal marking system, comprising cVA acquired from male ejaculate with sex- and species-specific CHCs produced by both mates, to indicate egg-laying sites. This system ensures information reliability because mated, but not virgin, females have both the ability to generate the pheromone blend that attracts other flies to those sites and a direct interest in egg-laying site quality.

How age influences phonotaxis in virgin female Jamaican field crickets (Gryllus assimilis

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Karen Pacheco

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Female mating preference can be a dominant force shaping the evolution of sexual signals. However, females rarely have consistent mating preferences throughout their lives. Preference flexibility results from complex interactions of predation risk, social and sexual experience, and age. Because residual reproductive value should theoretically decline with age, older females should not be as choosy as younger females. We explored how age influences phonotaxis towards a standard mate attraction signal using a spherical treadmill (trackball and a no-choice experimental protocol. Female Jamaican field crickets, Gryllus assimilis, were highly variable in their phonotaxis; age explained up to 64% of this variation. Females 10 days post imaginal eclosion and older oriented toward the mate attraction signal, with 10- and 13-day females exhibiting the greatest movement in the direction of the signal. Our study suggests 10- and 13-day old females would be most responsive when quantifying the preference landscape for G. assimilis sexual signals.

Environmental influences on mate preferences as assessed by a scenario manipulation experiment.

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Marzoli, Daniele; Moretto, Francesco; Monti, Aura; Tocci, Ornella; Roberts, S Craig; Tommasi, Luca

2013-01-01

Many evolutionary psychology studies have addressed the topic of mate preferences, focusing particularly on gender and cultural differences. However, the extent to which situational and environmental variables might affect mate preferences has been comparatively neglected. We tested 288 participants in order to investigate the perceived relative importance of six traits of an ideal partner (wealth, dominance, intelligence, height, kindness, attractiveness) under four different hypothetical scenarios (status quo/nowadays, violence/post-nuclear, poverty/resource exhaustion, prosperity/global well-being). An equal number of participants (36 women, 36 men) was allotted to each scenario; each was asked to allocate 120 points across the six traits according to their perceived value. Overall, intelligence was the trait to which participants assigned most importance, followed by kindness and attractiveness, and then by wealth, dominance and height. Men appraised attractiveness as more valuable than women. Scenario strongly influenced the relative importance attributed to traits, the main finding being that wealth and dominance were more valued in the poverty and post-nuclear scenarios, respectively, compared to the other scenarios. Scenario manipulation generally had similar effects in both sexes, but women appeared particularly prone to trade off other traits for dominance in the violence scenario, and men particularly prone to trade off other traits for wealth in the poverty scenario. Our results are in line with other correlational studies of situational variables and mate preferences, and represent strong evidence of a causal relationship of environmental factors on specific mate preferences, corroborating the notion of an evolved plasticity to current ecological conditions. A control experiment seems to suggest that our scenarios can be considered as realistic descriptions of the intended ecological conditions.

Environmental influences on mate preferences as assessed by a scenario manipulation experiment.

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Daniele Marzoli

Full Text Available Many evolutionary psychology studies have addressed the topic of mate preferences, focusing particularly on gender and cultural differences. However, the extent to which situational and environmental variables might affect mate preferences has been comparatively neglected. We tested 288 participants in order to investigate the perceived relative importance of six traits of an ideal partner (wealth, dominance, intelligence, height, kindness, attractiveness under four different hypothetical scenarios (status quo/nowadays, violence/post-nuclear, poverty/resource exhaustion, prosperity/global well-being. An equal number of participants (36 women, 36 men was allotted to each scenario; each was asked to allocate 120 points across the six traits according to their perceived value. Overall, intelligence was the trait to which participants assigned most importance, followed by kindness and attractiveness, and then by wealth, dominance and height. Men appraised attractiveness as more valuable than women. Scenario strongly influenced the relative importance attributed to traits, the main finding being that wealth and dominance were more valued in the poverty and post-nuclear scenarios, respectively, compared to the other scenarios. Scenario manipulation generally had similar effects in both sexes, but women appeared particularly prone to trade off other traits for dominance in the violence scenario, and men particularly prone to trade off other traits for wealth in the poverty scenario. Our results are in line with other correlational studies of situational variables and mate preferences, and represent strong evidence of a causal relationship of environmental factors on specific mate preferences, corroborating the notion of an evolved plasticity to current ecological conditions. A control experiment seems to suggest that our scenarios can be considered as realistic descriptions of the intended ecological conditions.

Paternity of offspring in multiply-mated, female crickets: the effect of nuptial food gifts and the advantage of mating first

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Calos, J. B.; Sakaluk, S. K.

1998-01-01

The spermatophore transferred by male decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) includes a large gelatinous mass, the spermatophylax, that is consumed by the female after mating. This nuptial gift preoccupies the female while sperm are discharged from the remaining portion of the spermatophore, the sperm ampulla, into her reproductive tract. There is considerable variation in the mass of the spermatophylax, and about half of all males produce spermatophylaxes that are too small to ensure complete sperm transfer. We tested two hypotheses concerning the maintenance of this variation: (i) males trade-off investment in spermatophylaxes against copulation frequency; and (ii) males synthesize the largest spermatophylaxes of which they are physiologically capable. Males synthesizing large and small food gifts were permitted multiple mating opportunities with the same females, and allozyme markers were used to establish the paternity of offspring. There was a significant advantage to those males that mated first irrespective of gift size. This advantage probably arose, in part, because the sperm of first males would have had exclusive access to females' eggs during the first 24 hours of oviposition, and underscores the benefits of matings with virgin females. The paternity of 'small-gift' males increased with gift mass, but there was no such increase in 'large-gift' males. This difference probably stems from the relationship between gift mass and sperm transfer: most of the gifts of the large-gift males would have been above the threshold needed to achieve complete inseminations, whereas those of small-gift males would have been below the threshold. Within mating-order positions, there was no significant difference in the paternity of large-gift and small-gift males, a result seemingly consistent with the 'trade-off' hypothesis. However, there was no correlation between spermatophylax mass and male mating frequency, so that the mechanism by which small-gift males offset

Resources, attractiveness, family commitment; reproductive decisions in human mate choice.

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Bereczkei, T; Voros, S; Gal, A; Bernath, L

1997-08-01

This study of reproductive decisions in human mate selection used data from "lonely hearts" advertisements to examine a series of predictions based on the mate preferences of male and females relating to age; physical appearance; financial condition and socioeconomic status; family commitment and personal traits; short- and long-term mating; and marital status and preexisting children. The sample consisted of 1000 personal advertisements (500 male) placed in two daily, national papers between February and October 1994 in Hungary. The research procedure included a pilot study of 150 advertisers (75 male) to refine the categories examined. Analysis was performed using 1) a matrix with one axis referring to offers and the other to demands of males and females separately; 2) a matrix of offers only to derive correlated traits of claims by males and females; and 3) a matrix with columns describing sex, offers, demands, advertiser's age, and required age and a row for each of the 1000 samples. It was found that men preferred younger mates, while women preferred older ones. Men were more likely to seek physical attractiveness, while women were more likely to seek financial resources (ranked 7th) and high status (ranked 6th). Women strongly preferred male domestic virtue and family commitment, and twice as many women as men demanded long-term relationships. Women more frequently declared preexisting children, and men exhibited a reluctance to accept these children. Both males and females employed "trade-off" strategies, making greater demands if they felt they had attractive offers.

An investigation on mate preferences with emphasize on the role of personality characters

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Fatemeh Sadat Dibaj

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the relationships between Big-Five personality traits and mate preferences in Isfahan, Iran. The sample consisted of 225 single girls and boys that they were volunteer to complete the research measures. They completed of Neo- FFI-3 to evaluate personality traits and Iranian cultural preference questionnaire. To response to research question, data was examined in two steps. The first step was to examine the intercorrelate relations matrix among dependent and independent variables. The results showed extraversion is related to attractive appearance, educational level, no having sexy relations with opposite sex in single period, and no having addiction. Also attractive appearance and no having too close relations with each other family is correlated with neuroticism and conscientiousness. Also extraversion can predict attractive appearance and no having addiction preferences. Neuroticism can predict no having too close relations with mate families preference. Other variables, although contributing to the overall variance, were not significant predictors in our focused and cultural preferences.

Male but not female olfaction is crucial for intermolt mating in European lobsters (Homarus gammarus L.).

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Skog, Malin

2009-02-01

Chemical signals are common in most crustacean social interactions and are often perceived via chemosensory (olfactory) organs on the first antenna. Intermolt courtship behaviors and mating were investigated in size-matched pairs of intermolt European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) where the olfactory receptors of either the male or the female were lesioned with distilled water (olfactory ablation) or seawater (control). Matings or advanced male courtship behaviors (mounting and turning) were common in seawater controls and olfactory-ablated females. In contrast, when male olfaction was ablated with distilled water, there was not a single mating, and the only male courtship behaviors seen were a few very brief and unsuccessful mounting attempts. Individual females mated up to 5 times with different males, showing that previously inseminated females were still attractive to males. Thus, male but not female olfaction is crucial for intermolt mating in H. gammarus, indicating the presence of a female sex pheromone during the entire female molt cycle, not only at the time of molting. Female sex discrimination may be based on other cues from the male in combination with typical male behaviors.

SEXUAL SELECTION. Irrationality in mate choice revealed by túngara frogs.

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Lea, Amanda M; Ryan, Michael J

2015-08-28

Mate choice models derive from traditional microeconomic decision theory and assume that individuals maximize their Darwinian fitness by making economically rational decisions. Rational choices exhibit regularity, whereby the relative strength of preferences between options remains stable when additional options are presented. We tested female frogs with three simulated males who differed in relative call attractiveness and call rate. In binary choice tests, females' preferences favored stimulus caller B over caller A; however, with the addition of an inferior "decoy" C, females reversed their preferences and chose A over B. These results show that the relative valuation of mates is not independent of inferior alternatives in the choice set and therefore cannot be explained with the rational choice models currently used in sexual selection theory. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Mate Choice Drives Evolutionary Stability in a Hybrid Complex.

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Miguel Morgado-Santos

Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that assortative mating acts as a driver of speciation by countering hybridization between two populations of the same species (pre-zygotic isolation or through mate choice among the hybrids (hybrid speciation. In both speciation types, assortative mating promotes speciation over a transient hybridization stage. We studied mate choice in a hybrid vertebrate complex, the allopolyploid fish Squalius alburnoides. This complex is composed by several genomotypes connected by an intricate reproductive dynamics. We developed a model that predicts the hybrid complex can persist when females exhibit particular mate choice patterns. Our model is able to reproduce the diversity of population dynamic outcomes found in nature, namely the dominance of the triploids and the dominance of the tetraploids, depending on female mate choice patterns and frequency of the parental species. Experimental mate choice trials showed that females exhibit the preferences predicted by the model. Thus, despite the known role of assortative mating in driving speciation, our findings suggest that certain mate choice patterns can instead hinder speciation and support the persistence of hybrids over time without speciation or extinction.

Testing the mate-choice hypothesis of the female orgasm: disentangling traits and behaviours

OpenAIRE

Sherlock, James M.; Sidari, Morgan J.; Harris, Emily Ann; Barlow, Fiona Kate; Zietsch, Brendan P.

2016-01-01

Background: The evolution of the female orgasm in humans and its role in romantic relationships is poorly understood. Whereas the male orgasm is inherently linked to reproduction, the female orgasm is not linked to obvious reproductive or survival benefits. It also occurs less consistently during penetrative sex than does the male orgasm. Mate-choice hypotheses posit that the wide variation in female orgasm frequency reflects a discriminatory mechanism designed to select high-quality mates.Ob...

A potential mate influences reproductive development in female, but not male, pine siskins.

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Watts, Heather E; Edley, Bruce; Hahn, Thomas P

2016-04-01

The role of photoperiod in avian reproductive timing has been well studied, and we are increasingly recognizing the roles of other environmental cues such as social cues. However, few studies have evaluated the extent to which males and females of the same species respond similarly to the same type of cue. Moreover, previous studies have rarely examined how variation in the quality or nature of a given social cue might modulate its effect. Here, we examine the sensitivity of male and female pine siskins (Spinus pinus) to a potential mate as a stimulatory cue for gonadal recrudescence, and we investigate whether variation in the relationship between a bird and its potential mate modulates the effect of that potential mate. Birds were initially housed without opposite sex birds on a 12L:12D photoperiod with ad libitum food. After gonadal recrudescence had begun males and females were randomly paired with an opposite sex bird or housed alone. An additional group of males was paired with estradiol-implanted females. In males, these social treatments had no effect on testis length, cloacal protuberance length, luteinizing hormone (LH) levels, or testosterone levels. In females, presence of a potential mate had a significant and positive effect on ovary score, defeathering of the brood patch, and LH levels. Among paired birds, the degree of affiliation within a pair corresponded to the extent of reproductive development in females, but not males. Thus, reproductive timing in females appears to be sensitive to both the presence of a potential mate and her relationship with him. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations of Collectivism with Relationship Commitment, Passion, and Mate Preferences: Opposing Roles of Parental Influence and Family Allocentrism

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Bejanyan, Kathrine; Marshall, Tara C.; Ferenczi, Nelli

2015-01-01

In collectivist cultures, families tend to be characterized by respect for parental authority and strong, interdependent ties. Do these aspects of collectivism exert countervailing pressures on mate choices and relationship quality? In the present research, we found that collectivism was associated with greater acceptance of parental influence over mate choice, thereby driving relationship commitment down (Studies 1 and 2), but collectivism was also associated with stronger family ties (referred to as family allocentrism), which drove commitment up (Study 2). Along similar lines, Study 1 found that collectivists’ greater acceptance of parental influence on mate choice contributed to their reduced relationship passion, whereas Study 2 found that their greater family allocentrism may have enhanced their passion. Study 2 also revealed that collectivists may have reported a smaller discrepancy between their own preferences for mates high in warmth and trustworthiness and their perception of their parents’ preferences for these qualities because of their stronger family allocentrism. However, their higher tolerance of parental influence may have also contributed to a smaller discrepancy in their mate preferences versus their perceptions of their parents’ preferences for qualities signifying status and resources. Implications for the roles of collectivism, parental influence, and family allocentrism in relationship quality and mate selection will be discussed. PMID:25719563

Associations of collectivism with relationship commitment, passion, and mate preferences: opposing roles of parental influence and family allocentrism.

Science.gov (United States)

Bejanyan, Kathrine; Marshall, Tara C; Ferenczi, Nelli

2015-01-01

In collectivist cultures, families tend to be characterized by respect for parental authority and strong, interdependent ties. Do these aspects of collectivism exert countervailing pressures on mate choices and relationship quality? In the present research, we found that collectivism was associated with greater acceptance of parental influence over mate choice, thereby driving relationship commitment down (Studies 1 and 2), but collectivism was also associated with stronger family ties (referred to as family allocentrism), which drove commitment up (Study 2). Along similar lines, Study 1 found that collectivists' greater acceptance of parental influence on mate choice contributed to their reduced relationship passion, whereas Study 2 found that their greater family allocentrism may have enhanced their passion. Study 2 also revealed that collectivists may have reported a smaller discrepancy between their own preferences for mates high in warmth and trustworthiness and their perception of their parents' preferences for these qualities because of their stronger family allocentrism. However, their higher tolerance of parental influence may have also contributed to a smaller discrepancy in their mate preferences versus their perceptions of their parents' preferences for qualities signifying status and resources. Implications for the roles of collectivism, parental influence, and family allocentrism in relationship quality and mate selection will be discussed.

A sex-specific trade-off between mating preferences for genetic compatibility and body size in a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thuenken, Timo; Meuthen, Denis; Bakker, Theo C. M.; Baldauf, Sebastian A.

2012-01-01

Mating preferences for genetic compatibility strictly depend on the interplay of the genotypes of potential partners and are therein fundamentally different from directional preferences for ornamental secondary sexual traits. Thus, the most compatible partner is on average not the one with most

Mating Reverses Actuarial Aging in Female Queensland Fruit Flies.

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Sarsha Yap

Full Text Available Animals that have a long pre-reproductive adult stage often employ mechanisms that minimize aging over this period in order to preserve reproductive lifespan. In a remarkable exception, one tephritid fruit fly exhibits substantial pre-reproductive aging but then mitigates this aging during a diet-dependent transition to the reproductive stage, after which life expectancy matches that of newly emerged flies. Here, we ascertain the role of nutrients, sexual maturation and mating in mitigation of previous aging in female Queensland fruit flies. Flies were provided one of three diets: 'sugar', 'essential', or 'yeast-sugar'. Essential diet contained sugar and micronutrients found in yeast but lacked maturation-enabling protein. At days 20 and 30, a subset of flies on the sugar diet were switched to essential or yeast-sugar diet, and some yeast-sugar fed flies were mated 10 days later. Complete mitigation of actuarial aging was only observed in flies that were switched to a yeast-sugar diet and mated, indicating that mating is key. Identifying the physiological processes associated with mating promise novel insights into repair mechanisms for aging.

Mating-induced changes in olfactory-mediated behavior of laboratory-reared normal, sterile, and wild female Mediterranean fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) mated to conspecific males

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, E.B.; McInnis, D.O.; Lance, D.R.; Carvalho, L.A.

1998-01-01

Laboratory-reared normal, sterile, and wild female Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), were mated with laboratory-reared normal, sterile, and wild male flies to assess the ability of males to alter olfactory-mediated behavioral responses of females to male-produced pheromone or host fruit odor. Virgin females of all 3 types showed a preferential attraction and arrestment on yellow spheres emitting male-produced pheromone in a laboratory flight tunnel. Laboratory-reared normal and wild females mated to laboratory reared normal, sterile, or wild males switched their behavior showing strong preferential attraction to, arrestment on, and egg-laying in (for laboratory-reared females) yellow spheres emitting host fruit odor (guava) over male-produced pheromone. Sterile females did not show a significant switch in behavior except when mated to sterile males. The olfactory-mediated behavioral switch was most evident in the laboratory-reared normal female × laboratory-reared normal male mating. These findings suggest that irradiation of males inducing gamete sterility does not affect the factor(s) from the male accessory gland associated with altering female olfactory behavior. The ability of sterile males to alter adequately olfactory-mediated behavior of wild females is discussed in the context of the sterile insect technique for control of Mediterranean fruit flies in the field

Mating opportunities in Sangalopsis veliterna females: Costs and benefits

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Hernández Duran, Linda C.; Fajardo Medina, Gonzalo E.; Fuentes Quinter, Luz S.; Martin, Oliver

2014-01-01

Abstract In nature, females of several animal taxa exhibit considerable variation in their mating system, and this variation involves different balances of costs (e.g., energetic, reproductive) and benefits (e.g., increased net reproductive rate of the female, increased longevity). Many studies have focused on discovering the potential advantages and disadvantages that females could have when increasing their mating rate and the possible evolutionary consequences that may result. Butterflies and moths are an ideal study system because it is easy to determine and to manipulate experimentally their mating frequency. In this study, the effect of continuous availability of different numbers of males (1, 2, 4, 8) on female mating rate and fitness components was estimated by comparing the number of spermatophores in the corpus bursa (an estimate of the number of copulations, but not of the number males involved in these copulations), female longevity, lifetime number of laid eggs (fecundity), and proportion of hatching eggs (fertility) in the moth Sangalopsis veliterna Druce (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). The results showed that there were no significant differences in either fertility or fecundity when treatments were compared, but longevity and in some cases fecundity increased when females had several matings. Resumen En la naturaleza, hembras de varios taxa animal muestran una variación considerable en su sistema de apareamiento, esta variación involucra diferentes costos (energéticos, reproductivos, etc) y beneficios (aumento de la tasa reproductiva neta de la hembra, mayor longevidad, entre otros). En años recientes, muchos estudios se han enfocado en descubrir las potenciales ventajas y desventajas que las hembras podrían tener al aumentar su número de cópulas y las posibles consecuencias evolutivas que podrían resultar. Las mariposas y polillas son un sistema de estudio ideal, dada la facilidad para determinar y manipular experimentalmente su frecuencia de

A cost of sexual attractiveness to high-fitness females.

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Tristan A F Long

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Adaptive mate choice by females is an important component of sexual selection in many species. The evolutionary consequences of male mate preferences, however, have received relatively little study, especially in the context of sexual conflict, where males often harm their mates. Here, we describe a new and counterintuitive cost of sexual selection in species with both male mate preference and sexual conflict via antagonistic male persistence: male mate choice for high-fecundity females leads to a diminished rate of adaptive evolution by reducing the advantage to females of expressing beneficial genetic variation. We then use a Drosophila melanogaster model system to experimentally test the key prediction of this theoretical cost: that antagonistic male persistence is directed toward, and harms, intrinsically higher-fitness females more than it does intrinsically lower-fitness females. This asymmetry in male persistence causes the tails of the population's fitness distribution to regress towards the mean, thereby reducing the efficacy of natural selection. We conclude that adaptive male mate choice can lead to an important, yet unappreciated, cost of sex and sexual selection.

A pair choice test to identify female mating patterns in relation to ovulation in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nikitopoulos, E.; Heistermann, M.; Vries, Han de; Hooff, J.A.R.A.M. van; Sterck, E.H.M.

2005-01-01

Female mammals may exert choice for mates directly by mating selectively. Alternatively, females can mate promiscuously, allowing sperm competition and/or cryptic female choice to operate. Primate sexual behaviour is probably a compromise between conflicting male and female interests, so it may be

"Nice guys finish last": influence of mate choice on reproductive success in Long-Evans rats.

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Winland, C; Bolton, J L; Ford, B; Jampana, S; Tinker, J; Frohardt, R J; Guarraci, F A; Zewail-Foote, M

2012-02-01

The present study was designed to determine if male physiology and male reproductive behavior predict reproductive success in Long-Evans rats. Mating behavior was observed in sexually naïve, naturally cycling female rats during behavioral estrous that were given the opportunity to mate with two males simultaneously. DNA analysis of offspring born following these mating encounters was used to identify the paternity of each pup. In order to assess the effect of mate choice during these mating encounters on reproductive success, one male rat in each pair was categorized as the preferred mate if the female spent more time (>50%) with him during the mating test of the present study. Furthermore, each male in the pairs was categorized as "attractive" or "non-attractive" by computing the number of females that preferred each male across many mating tests. Similar to results reported in Lovell et al. (2007), during 76% of these mating tests the same male rat in each pair was preferred by different female rats. Overall attractiveness of individual male rats predicted reproductive success in the present study. Interestingly, "attractive" males sired significantly FEWER pups than "non-attractive" males. Neither behavioral (e.g., latency to first sexual stimulation, number of sexual stimulations) nor physiological measures (e.g., body weight, urinary testosterone levels) of male rats predicted their reproductive success. In conclusion, the present results indicate that certain features of some males are more attractive to females, but attractive males are at a reproductive disadvantage (as measured by the number of pups sired). Although basal urinary testosterone levels did not differ between males that sired the majority of pups in a litter and males that sired few or none of the pups in a litter, aggression and/or other physiological measures of fertility (e.g., penile reflexes) may differ between males that are attractive to females and those that have a reproductive

Azadirachtin impact on mate choice, female sexual receptivity and male activity in Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

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Aribi, N; Oulhaci, M C; Kilani-Morakchi, S; Sandoz, J C; Kaiser, L; Denis, B; Joly, D

2017-11-01

Azadirachtin, a neem compound (Azadirachta indica) with medical and anti-insect properties, is one the most successful botanical pesticides in agricultural use. However, its controversial impact on non-targeted species and its mechanism of action need to be clarified. In addition, Azadirachtin impact on pre- and post-mating traits remains largely undocumented. The current study examined the effects of Azadirachtin on Drosophila melanogaster as a non-target and model species. Azadirachtin was applied topically at its LD 50 (0.63μg) on the day of adult emergence and its effect was evaluated on several traits of reproductive behavior: mate choice, male activity, female sexual receptivity, sperm storage and female sterility. In choice and no choice conditions, only male treatment reduced mating probability. Female treatment impaired mating probability only when males had the choice. Males' mating ability may have been impaired by an effect of the treatment on their mobility. Such an effect was observed in the actimeter, which revealed that treated males were less active than untreated ones, and this effect persisted over 8days. Azadirachtin treatment had, however, no effect on the nycthemeral rhythm of those males. Even when mating occurred, Azadirachtin treatment impaired post-mating responses especially when females or both sexes were treated: remating probability increases and female fertility (presence of larvae) decreases. No impairment was observed on the efficiency of mating, evaluated by the presence of sperm in the spermatheca or the ventral receptacle. Male treatment only had no significant effect on these post-mating responses. These findings provide clear evidence that Azadirachtin alters the reproductive behavior of both sexes in D. melanogaster via mating and post-mating processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mating rate influences female reproductive investment in a simultaneous hermaphrodite, Lymnaea stagnalis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoffer, J.N.A.; Schwegler, D.; Ellers, J.; Koene, J.M.

2012-01-01

Multiple mating often imposes direct fitness costs on females but can provide indirect benefits such as enhanced genetic diversity and offspring quality. The costs and benefits of multiple mating have been investigated extensively in separate-sex species but less so in simultaneous hermaphrodites,

Postnatal nutrition influences male attractiveness and promotes plasticity in male mating preferences

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Noguera, José C.; Metcalfe, Neil B.; Monaghan, Pat

2017-12-01

Poor early-life nutrition could reduce adult reproductive success by negatively affecting traits linked to sexual attractiveness such as song complexity. If so, this might favor strategic mate choice, allowing males with less complex songs to tailor their mating tactics to maximize the reproductive benefits. However, this possibility has been ignored in theoretical and empirical studies. By manipulating the micronutrient content of the diet (e.g., low or high) during the postnatal period of male zebra finches, we show for the first time (1) that males reared on a poor (low) micronutrient diet had less complex songs as adults; (2) that these males, in contrast to the high micronutrient diet group, were more selective in their mating strategies, discriminating against those females most likely to reduce their clutch size when paired with males having less complex songs; and (3) that by following different mating strategies, males reared on the contrasting diets obtained similar reproductive benefits. These results suggest that early-life dietary conditions can induce multiple and long-lasting effects on male and female reproductive traits. Moreover, the results seem to reflect a previously unreported case of adaptive plasticity in mate choice in response to a nutritionally mediated reduction in sexual attractiveness.

The Criteria of Love: Trait Desirability of Filipino Youth on Mate Selection

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Racidon P. Bernarte

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In choosing a life partner, making a ‘good match’ is what everyone hopes for. Usually we have the habit of thinking on how many potential mates are sitting around? And with that, how many would you be attracted and attached to, and how many person you’d probably never date? To find out the relevance of the claim, this quantitative study was designed to know the desirable traits being considered by the Filipino youth in selecting their potential mate, and how male and female differ in their preferences. A total of 400 Filipino university students with the age of 15 to 23 years old participated in the study through self-administered survey. General findings revealed that over the 6 trait dimensions: Physical Traits; Social Traits; Personality Traits; Skills; Achievements; and Spiritual Traits—male and female have significant difference in their trait preference in choosing their mate. Though there are traits that fall under the same degree of importance, women still have higher preference in mate selection criteria as compared to men in all traits. Overall, the trait preferences of the respondents were critically influenced by their sex. Nevertheless, this study clearly suggests the similarity that men and women put importance to traits which can help them develop and maintain an intimate and strong interpersonal relationship with their mate.

The evolution of sex differences in mate searching when females benefit: new theory and a comparative test.

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McCartney, J; Kokko, H; Heller, K-G; Gwynne, D T

2012-03-22

Sexual selection is thought to have led to searching as a profitable, but risky way of males obtaining mates. While there is great variation in which sex searches, previous theory has not considered search evolution when both males and females benefit from multiple mating. We present new theory and link it with data to bridge this gap. Two different search protocols exist between species in the bush-cricket genus Poecilimon (Orthoptera): females search for calling males, or males search for calling females. Poecilimon males also transfer a costly nuptial food gift to their mates during mating. We relate variations in searching protocols to variation in nuptial gift size among 32 Poecilimon taxa. As predicted, taxa where females search produce significantly larger nuptial gifts than those where males search. Our model and results show that search roles can reverse when multiple mating brings about sufficiently strong material benefits to females.

Sex roles and mutual mate choice matter during mate sampling.

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Myhre, Lise Cats; de Jong, Karen; Forsgren, Elisabet; Amundsen, Trond

2012-06-01

The roles of females and males in mating competition and mate choice have lately proven more variable, between and within species, than previously thought. In nature, mating competition occurs during mate search and is expected to be regulated by the numbers of potential mates and same-sex competitors. Here, we present the first study to test how a temporal change in sex roles affects mating competition and mate choice during mate sampling. Our model system (the marine fish Gobiusculus flavescens) is uniquely suitable because of its change in sex roles, from conventional to reversed, over the breeding season. As predicted from sex role theory, courtship was typically initiated by males and terminated by females early in the breeding season. The opposite pattern was observed late in the season, at which time several females often simultaneously courted the same male. Mate-searching females visited more males early than late in the breeding season. Our study shows that mutual mate choice and mating competition can have profound effects on female and male behavior. Future work needs to consider the dynamic nature of mating competition and mate choice if we aim to fully understand sexual selection in the wild.

Gender, Gender Roles Affecting Mate Preferences in Turkish College Students

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Gazioglu, A. Esra Ismen

2008-01-01

The subject of this study is gender and gender roles affecting mate preferences. The sample of the study consists of 300 undergraduates and master students. To identify students' gender roles the Sex Role Evaluation Inventory (Bem, 1974) is used. The Question List (Bacanli 2001; Buss et. al., 1990) is applied to the sample group to determine the…

The role of oxytocin and vasopressin in conditioned mate guarding behavior in the female rat.

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Holley, Amanda; Bellevue, Shannon; Vosberg, Daniel; Wenzel, Kerstin; Roorda, Sieger; Pfaus, James G

2015-05-15

We have shown previously that female rats given their first copulatory experiences with the same male rat display mate guarding behavior in the presence of that male provided a female competitor is also present. Females given access to the familiar male show more Fos induction within regions of the brain that contain oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) cell bodies, notably the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular nuclei (PVN) relative to females given sexual experience with different males. The present experiments examined whether the Fos induction we previously observed within the SON and PVN occurred within OT and/or AVP neurons, and whether exogenous administration of OT or AVP prior to female rats first sexual experience could potentiate the acquisition of mate guarding behavior. Female rats that display conditioned mate guarding had significantly more double-labeled Fos/OT neurons in both SON and PVN, and significantly more Fos/AVP neurons in the PVN. Peripheral administration of OT or AVP prior to their first sexual experience with the familiar male facilitated different aspects of mate guarding: OT augmented affiliative behaviors and presenting responses whereas AVP augmented interference behavior. These results indicate that female rats' first experiences with sexual reward when paired with the same male induce changes to bonding networks in the brain. Moreover peripheral administration of OT or AVP during their first sexual experience can augment different aspects of mate guarding behavior. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Male red ornamentation is associated with female red sensitivity in sticklebacks.

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Ingolf P Rick

Full Text Available Sexual selection theory proposes correlated evolutionary changes in mating preferences and secondary sexual characters based on a positive genetic correlation between preference and the preferred trait. Empirical work has provided support for a genetic covariation between female preference and male attractiveness in several taxa. Here, we study parent and offspring visual traits in threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus. While focusing on the proximate basis of mating preferences, we compare the red breeding coloration of males, which strongly contributes to female choice, with their daughters' red sensitivity measured by optomotor response thresholds. We show that the red color expression of fathers correlates well with their daughters' red sensitivity. Given that a within-population genetic correlation between signal and preference was experimentally confirmed for the red coloration in sticklebacks, our results indicate a proximate mechanism in terms of perceptual sensitivity being involved in the co-evolution of female preferences and male mating signals.

Post-mating interactions and their effects on fitness of female and male Echinothrips americanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a new insect pest in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Wei; Jiang, Hong-Xue; Zhang, Xiao-Chen; Shelton, Anthony M; Feng, Ji-Nian

2014-01-01

Post-mating, sexual interactions of opposite sexes differ considerably in different organisms. Post-mating interactions such as re-mating behavior and male harassment can affect the fitness of both sexes. Echinothrips americanus is a new insect pest in Mainland China, and little is known about its post-mating interactions. In this study, we observed re-mating frequency and male harassment frequency and their effects on fitness parameters and offspring sex ratios of E. americanus females. Furthermore, we tested the impact of mating and post-mating interactions on fitness parameters of males. Our results revealed that the re-mating frequency in female adults was extremely low during a 30-day period. However, post-mating interactions between females and males, consisting mainly of male harassment and female resistance, did occur and significantly reduced female longevity and fecundity. Interestingly, increased access to males did not affect the ratio of female offspring. For males, mating dramatically reduced their longevity. However, post-mating interactions with females had no effects on the longevity of mated males. These results enrich our basic knowledge about female and male mating and post-mating behaviors in this species and provide important information about factors that may influence population regulation of this important pest species.

Post-mating interactions and their effects on fitness of female and male Echinothrips americanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae, a new insect pest in China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Wei Li

Full Text Available Post-mating, sexual interactions of opposite sexes differ considerably in different organisms. Post-mating interactions such as re-mating behavior and male harassment can affect the fitness of both sexes. Echinothrips americanus is a new insect pest in Mainland China, and little is known about its post-mating interactions. In this study, we observed re-mating frequency and male harassment frequency and their effects on fitness parameters and offspring sex ratios of E. americanus females. Furthermore, we tested the impact of mating and post-mating interactions on fitness parameters of males. Our results revealed that the re-mating frequency in female adults was extremely low during a 30-day period. However, post-mating interactions between females and males, consisting mainly of male harassment and female resistance, did occur and significantly reduced female longevity and fecundity. Interestingly, increased access to males did not affect the ratio of female offspring. For males, mating dramatically reduced their longevity. However, post-mating interactions with females had no effects on the longevity of mated males. These results enrich our basic knowledge about female and male mating and post-mating behaviors in this species and provide important information about factors that may influence population regulation of this important pest species.

Male chimpanzees' grooming rates vary by female age, parity, and fertility status.

Science.gov (United States)

Proctor, Darby P; Lambeth, Susan P; Schapiro, Steven J; Brosnan, Sarah F

2011-10-01

Copulation preferences in our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, suggest that males prefer older females who have had previous offspring. However, this finding is counter to some behavioral models, which predict that chimpanzee males, as promiscuous breeders with minimal costs to mating, should show little or no preference when choosing mating partners (e.g. should mate indiscriminately). To determine if the preferences indicated by copulations appear in other contexts as well as how they interact, we examined how male chimpanzees' grooming patterns varied amongst females. We found that males' preferences were based on interactions among females' fertility status, age, and parity. First, grooming increased with increasing female parity. We further found an effect of the estrous cycle on grooming; when females were at the lowest point of their cycle, males preferentially groomed parous females at peak reproductive age, but during maximal tumescence, males preferred the oldest multiparous females. Nulliparous females received relatively little grooming regardless of age or fertility. Thus, male chimpanzees apparently chose grooming partners based on both female's experience and fertility, possibly indicating a two-pronged social investment strategy. Male selectivity seems to have evolved to effectively distribute costly social resources in a pattern which may increase their overall reproductive success. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Why Are Males Bad for Females? Models for the Evolution of Damaging Male Mating Behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lessells, C.M.

2005-01-01

One explanation for the cost to mating for females caused by damaging male mating behavior is that this causes the females to adaptively modify their subsequent life histories in a way that also increases male fitness. This might occur because the reduction in residual reproductive value of the

Females paired with new and heavy mates reduce intra-clutch differences in resource allocation.

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Maud Poisbleau

Full Text Available Reproductive investment affects both offspring and parental fitness and influences the evolution of life histories. Females may vary their overall primary reproductive effort in relation to the phenotypic characteristics of their mate. However, the effects of male quality on differential resource allocation within clutches have been largely neglected despite the potential implications for mate choice and population dynamics, especially in species exhibiting biparental care and brood reduction. Female southern rockhopper penguins Eudyptes chrysocome paired with heavy mates reduced intra-clutch variation in egg and albumen masses. Females paired with new mates also reduced intra-clutch variation in yolk androgen levels. Since both an increased mass and increased androgen concentrations positively influence chick survival under sibling competition, the chances of fledging the whole clutch are likely to be higher for newly formed pairs with heavy males than for previously formed pairs with light males. Interestingly, total clutch provisioning did not vary with male quality. We show for the first time that females vary intra-clutch variation in resource allocation according to male quality. In species with brood reduction, it may be more adaptive for females to modulate the distribution of resources within the clutch according to breeding conditions, than to change their total clutch provisioning.

Embryonic origin of mate choice in a lizard with temperature-dependent sex determination.

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Putz, Oliver; Crews, David

2006-01-01

Individual differences in the adult sexual behavior of vertebrates are rooted in the fetal environment. In the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius), a species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), hatchling sex ratios differ between incubation temperatures, as does sexuality in same-sex animals. This variation can primarily be ascribed to the temperature having direct organizing actions on the brain. Here we demonstrate that embryonic temperature can affect adult mate choice in the leopard gecko. Given the simultaneous choice between two females from different incubation temperatures (30.0 and 34.0 degrees C), males from one incubation temperature (30.0 degrees C) preferred the female from 34.0 degrees C, while males from another incubation temperature (32.5 degrees C) preferred the female from 30.0 degrees C. We suggest that this difference in mate choice is due to an environmental influence on brain development leading to differential perception of opposite-sex individuals. This previously unrecognized modulator of adult mate choice lends further support to the view that mate choice is best understood in the context of an individual's entire life-history. Thus, sexual selection results from a combination of the female's as well as the male's life history. Female attractiveness and male choice therefore are complementary. Copyright 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Female behaviour and the interaction of male and female genital traits mediate sperm transfer during mating.

Science.gov (United States)

Friesen, C R; Uhrig, E J; Mason, R T; Brennan, P L R

2016-05-01

Natural selection and post-copulatory sexual selection, including sexual conflict, contribute to genital diversification. Fundamental first steps in understanding how these processes shape the evolution of specific genital traits are to determine their function experimentally and to understand the interactions between female and male genitalia during copulation. Our experimental manipulations of male and female genitalia in red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) reveal that copulation duration and copulatory plug deposition, as well as total and oviductal/vaginal sperm counts, are influenced by the interaction between male and female genital traits and female behaviour during copulation. By mating females with anesthetized cloacae to males with spine-ablated hemipenes using a fully factorial design, we identified significant female-male copulatory trait interactions and found that females prevent sperm from entering their oviducts by contracting their vaginal pouch. Furthermore, these muscular contractions limit copulatory plug size, whereas the basal spine of the male hemipene aids in sperm and plug transfer. Our results are consistent with a role of sexual conflict in mating interactions and highlight the evolutionary importance of female resistance to reproductive outcomes. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Divergent mating preferences and nuptial coloration in sibling species of cichlid fish

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sluijs, Inke van der

2008-01-01

Mate choice by female cichlid fish from Lake Victoria plays an important role in speciation and the maintenance of species. Females are expected to select against males that are intermediate in their phenotype during the process of speciation driven by sexual selection. To test this, we hybridized

Chemical and visual communication during mate searching in rock shrimp.

Science.gov (United States)

Díaz, Eliecer R; Thiel, Martin

2004-06-01

Mate searching in crustaceans depends on different communicational cues, of which chemical and visual cues are most important. Herein we examined the role of chemical and visual communication during mate searching and assessment in the rock shrimp Rhynchocinetes typus. Adult male rock shrimp experience major ontogenetic changes. The terminal molt stages (named "robustus") are dominant and capable of monopolizing females during the mating process. Previous studies had shown that most females preferably mate with robustus males, but how these dominant males and receptive females find each other is uncertain, and is the question we examined herein. In a Y-maze designed to test for the importance of waterborne chemical cues, we observed that females approached the robustus male significantly more often than the typus male. Robustus males, however, were unable to locate receptive females via chemical signals. Using an experimental set-up that allowed testing for the importance of visual cues, we demonstrated that receptive females do not use visual cues to select robustus males, but robustus males use visual cues to find receptive females. Visual cues used by the robustus males were the tumults created by agitated aggregations of subordinate typus males around the receptive females. These results indicate a strong link between sexual communication and the mating system of rock shrimp in which dominant males monopolize receptive females. We found that females and males use different (sex-specific) communicational cues during mate searching and assessment, and that the sexual communication of rock shrimp is similar to that of the American lobster, where females are first attracted to the dominant males by chemical cues emitted by these males. A brief comparison between these two species shows that female behaviors during sexual communication contribute strongly to the outcome of mate searching and assessment.

Male chimpanzees' grooming rates vary by female age, parity, and fertility status

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Proctor, Darby P; Lambeth, Susan P; Schapiro, Steve

2011-01-01

, should show little or no preference when choosing mating partners (e.g. should mate indiscriminately). To determine if the preferences indicated by copulations appear in other contexts as well as how they interact, we examined how male chimpanzees' grooming patterns varied amongst females. We found...... that males' preferences were based on interactions among females' fertility status, age, and parity. First, grooming increased with increasing female parity. We further found an effect of the estrous cycle on grooming; when females were at the lowest point of their cycle, males preferentially groomed parous...... females at peak reproductive age, but during maximal tumescence, males preferred the oldest multiparous females. Nulliparous females received relatively little grooming regardless of age or fertility. Thus, male chimpanzees apparently chose grooming partners based on both female's experience and fertility...

Reproductive behaviour of Crocidosema (=Epinotia) aporema (Walsingham) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): temporal pattern of female calling and mating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altesor, Paula; Arcia, Maria P.; Rossini, Carmen; Gonzalez, Andres; Horas, Vanusa R; Zarbin, Paulo H.G.

2010-01-01

Crocidosema aporema (Walsingham) is a major pest of legumes in the southern cone of Latin America. The mating behaviour of two allopatric populations (Uruguay and Brazil) of C. aporema kept in captivity was studied by observing the posture of calling females, the temporal pattern of pheromone emission and mating, and the response of males to calling females in olfactometer tests. Female calling and mating was observed during the scotophase, from the fi rst to the seventh night after adult emergence. Male response was evaluated at night using a single calling female in a Y-shaped olfactometer. Females adopted a characteristic calling posture, extruding the pheromone gland from the tip of the abdomen. Most females started calling during the second scotophase, and all females called from the third, between the fifth and seventh hours after the onset of the scotophase. Most of the couples mated once throughout the experiment, between the third and sixth night and during the middle of the dark phase. Males preferentially chose the female arm in olfactometer tests, considering both the fi rst arm chosen and the number of visits during the observation period. Our results describe for the fi rst time the temporal pattern associated to the reproductive behaviour of C. aporema. We also provide evidence that this tortricid is monoandrous, and that pheromones are used in intersexual communication for mate finding. Our data will be used to optimize the collection of female sex pheromones for chemical characterization in order to develop a monitoring tool for this pest. (author)

Reproductive behaviour of Crocidosema (=Epinotia) aporema (Walsingham) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): temporal pattern of female calling and mating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Altesor, Paula; Arcia, Maria P.; Rossini, Carmen; Gonzalez, Andres, E-mail: paltesor@fq.edu.u, E-mail: mparcia@fq.edu.u, E-mail: crossini@fq.edu.u, E-mail: agonzal@fq.edu.u [Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo (Uruguay). Fac. de Quimica. Lab. de Ecologia Quimica; Horas, Vanusa R; Zarbin, Paulo H.G., E-mail: vanusa@quimica.ufpr.b, E-mail: pzarbin@quimica.ufpr.b [Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil). Dept. de Quimica. Lab. de Semioquimicos

2010-06-15

Crocidosema aporema (Walsingham) is a major pest of legumes in the southern cone of Latin America. The mating behaviour of two allopatric populations (Uruguay and Brazil) of C. aporema kept in captivity was studied by observing the posture of calling females, the temporal pattern of pheromone emission and mating, and the response of males to calling females in olfactometer tests. Female calling and mating was observed during the scotophase, from the fi rst to the seventh night after adult emergence. Male response was evaluated at night using a single calling female in a Y-shaped olfactometer. Females adopted a characteristic calling posture, extruding the pheromone gland from the tip of the abdomen. Most females started calling during the second scotophase, and all females called from the third, between the fifth and seventh hours after the onset of the scotophase. Most of the couples mated once throughout the experiment, between the third and sixth night and during the middle of the dark phase. Males preferentially chose the female arm in olfactometer tests, considering both the fi rst arm chosen and the number of visits during the observation period. Our results describe for the fi rst time the temporal pattern associated to the reproductive behaviour of C. aporema. We also provide evidence that this tortricid is monoandrous, and that pheromones are used in intersexual communication for mate finding. Our data will be used to optimize the collection of female sex pheromones for chemical characterization in order to develop a monitoring tool for this pest. (author)

Age Variation in Mating Strategies and Mate Preferences: Beliefs versus Reality

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April Bleske-Rechek

2009-04-01

Full Text Available We conducted three studies to (1 investigate individuals' beliefs about change in mating desires over the course of emerging adulthood and (2 determine whether those beliefs reflect actual variation in mating desires among emerging adults of varied ages (late teens through twenties. In Study 1, 103 men and women gave their thoughts on how college students change, if at all, in what they most desire in a relationship and relationship partner as they move from being incoming freshmen to graduating seniors. In Studies 2 and 3, using a college sample and then an internet sample (n s = 288 and 307, men and women between the ages of 18 and 26 completed mating strategies inventories and allotted a limited number of “mate dollars” to 10 mate characteristics. Findings suggest that although emerging adults believe that their peers' mating desires change systematically over time, emerging adults' self-reported mating desires vary little with age.

The effects of perceived mating opportunities on patterns of reproductive investment by male guppies.

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Luke T Barrett

Full Text Available Males pay considerable reproductive costs in acquiring mates (precopulatory sexual selection and in producing ejaculates that are effective at fertilising eggs in the presence of competing ejaculates (postcopulatory sexual selection. Given these costs, males must balance their reproductive investment in a given mating to optimise their future reproductive potential. Males are therefore expected to invest in reproduction prudently according to the likelihood of obtaining future matings. In this study we tested this prediction by determining whether male reproductive investment varies with expected future mating opportunities, which were experimentally manipulated by visually exposing male guppies (Poecilia reticulata to high or low numbers of females in the absence of competing males. Our experiment did not reveal consistent effects of perceived future mating opportunity on either precopulatory (male mate choice and mating behaviour or postcopulatory (sperm quality and quantity investment. However, we did find that male size and female availability interacted to influence mating behaviour; large males visually deprived of females during the treatment phase became more choosy and showed greater interest in their preferred female than those given continuous visual access to females. Overall, our results suggest males tailor pre- rather than postcopulatory traits according to local female availability, but critically, these effects depend on male size.

Yes, I am ready now: differential effects of paced versus unpaced mating on anxiety and central oxytocin release in female rats.

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Kewir D Nyuyki

Full Text Available Sexual activity and partner intimacy results in several positive consequences in the context of stress-coping, both in males and females, such as reduced state anxiety in male rats after successful mating. However, in female rats, mating is a rewarding experience only when the estrous female is able to control sexual interactions, i.e., under paced-mating conditions. Here, we demonstrate that sex-steroid priming required for female mating is anxiolytic; subsequent sexual activity under paced mating conditions did not disrupt this anxiolytic priming effect, whereas mating under unpaced conditions increased anxiety-related behavior. In primed females, the release of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus was found to be elevated and to further increase during paced, but not unpaced mating. Central administration of an OT receptor antagonist partly prevented priming/mating-induced anxiolysis indicating the involvement of brain OT in the anxiolysis triggered by priming and/or sexual activity.These findings reveal that the positive consequences of mating in females are dependent on her ability to control sexual interactions, and that brain OT release is at least in part the underlying neurobiological correlate.

Beyond magic traits: Multimodal mating cues in Heliconius butterflies.

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Mérot, Claire; Frérot, Brigitte; Leppik, Ene; Joron, Mathieu

2015-11-01

Species coexistence involves the evolution of reproductive barriers opposing gene flow. Heliconius butterflies display colorful patterns affecting mate choice and survival through warning signaling and mimicry. These patterns are called "magic traits" for speciation because divergent natural selection may promote mimicry shifts in pattern whose role as mating cue facilitates reproductive isolation. By contrast, between comimetic species, natural selection promotes pattern convergence. We addressed whether visual convergence interferes with reproductive isolation by testing for sexual isolation between two closely related species with similar patterns, H. timareta thelxinoe and H. melpomene amaryllis. Experiments with models confirmed visual attraction based on wing phenotype, leading to indiscriminate approach. Nevertheless, mate choice experiments showed assortative mating. Monitoring male behavior toward live females revealed asymmetry in male preference, H. melpomene males courting both species equally while H. timareta males strongly preferred conspecifics. Experiments with hybrid males suggested an important genetic component for such asymmetry. Behavioral observations support a key role for short-distance cues in determining male choice in H. timareta. Scents extracts from wings and genitalia revealed interspecific divergence in chemical signatures, and hybrid female scent composition was significantly associated with courtship intensity by H. timareta males, providing candidate chemical mating cues involved in sexual isolation. © 2015 The Author(s). Evolution © 2015 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

The effects of rearing conditions on sexual traits and preferences in zebra finches

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Holveck, Marie-Jeanne

2008-01-01

Although theory predicts that females should prefer the highest quality male, female mating preferences within populations often show pronounced variation. What causes and maintains this variation remains poorly understood. This thesis addresses the influence of rearing conditions both on female

Testing the mate-choice hypothesis of the female orgasm: disentangling traits and behaviours.

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Sherlock, James M; Sidari, Morgan J; Harris, Emily Ann; Barlow, Fiona Kate; Zietsch, Brendan P

2016-01-01

The evolution of the female orgasm in humans and its role in romantic relationships is poorly understood. Whereas the male orgasm is inherently linked to reproduction, the female orgasm is not linked to obvious reproductive or survival benefits. It also occurs less consistently during penetrative sex than does the male orgasm. Mate-choice hypotheses posit that the wide variation in female orgasm frequency reflects a discriminatory mechanism designed to select high-quality mates. We aimed to determine (1) whether women report that their orgasm frequency varies between partners, (2) whether this variation reflects mates' personal characteristics, and (3) whether this variation reflects own and partner sexual behaviour during intercourse. We collected survey data from 103 women who rated (1) the extent to which their orgasm frequency varied between partners, (2) the characteristics of previous sexual partners who induced high-orgasm frequency and those who induced low-orgasm frequency, and (3) the specific behaviours during sex with those partners. This is the first study to test within-woman variation in orgasm and partner traits. Overall, women reported variation in their orgasm rates with different partners. Partners who induced high-orgasm rates were rated as more humorous, creative, warm, faithful, and better smelling than partners who induced low-orgasm rates, and also engaged in greater efforts to induce partner orgasm. Some assumptions and predictions of mate-choice hypotheses of female orgasm were supported, while other aspects of our findings provide reasons to remain sceptical.

Physical attractiveness, attitudes toward career, and mate preferences among young Chinese women.

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Zhang, Hong; Teng, Fei; Chan, Darius K-S; Zhang, Denghao

2014-02-13

We examined young Chinese women's mate preferences as a function of their self-perceived attractiveness and career attitudes. A total of 264 young Chinese women rated their own attractiveness, reported their attitudes toward career, and rated the importance of 20 mate characteristics. The characteristics encompassed four facets that individuals typically consider when seeking a long-term mate: good-genes indicators, good investment ability indicators, good parenting indicators, and good partner indicators. We found that both self-perceived attractiveness and attitudes toward career were positively associated with the importance attached to several of the characteristics. Moreover, women who had high career focus but low self-perceived attractiveness attached more value to intelligence, ambition, and industriousness than women who had low career focus but high self-perceived attractiveness; women with low career focus but high self-perceived attractiveness attached more value to physical attractiveness in a mate than women with high career focus but low self-perceived attractiveness. We discussed the limitations of our research and directions for future research.

Physical Attractiveness, Attitudes toward Career, and Mate Preferences among Young Chinese Women

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Hong Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We examined young Chinese women's mate preferences as a function of their self-perceived attractiveness and career attitudes. A total of 264 young Chinese women rated their own attractiveness, reported their attitudes toward career, and rated the importance of 20 mate characteristics. The characteristics encompassed four facets that individuals typically consider when seeking a long-term mate: good-genes indicators, good investment ability indicators, good parenting indicators, and good partner indicators. We found that both self-perceived attractiveness and attitudes toward career were positively associated with the importance attached to several of the characteristics. Moreover, women who had high career focus but low self-perceived attractiveness attached more value to intelligence, ambition, and industriousness than women who had low career focus but high self-perceived attractiveness; women with low career focus but high self-perceived attractiveness attached more value to physical attractiveness in a mate than women with high career focus but low self-perceived attractiveness. We discussed the limitations of our research and directions for future research.

In the nose of the beholder: are olfactory influences on human mate choice driven by variation in immune system genes or sex hormone levels?

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Roberts, Thomas; Roiser, Jonathan P

2010-11-01

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the most polymorphic region of the genome, coding for proteins that mediate human immune response. This polymorphism may be maintained by balancing selection and certain populations show deviations from expected gene frequencies. Supporting this hypothesis, studies into olfactory preferences have suggested that females prefer the scent of males with dissimilar HLA to their own. However, it has also been proposed that androstenones play a role in female mate choice, and as these molecules inhibit the immune system, this has implications for the theory of HLA-driven mate preference. This review will critically analyze the findings of studies investigating olfactory preference in humans, and their implications for these two contrasting theories of mate choice.

Survey about mate preferences by university students of Universitat Pompeu Fabra (from 20 to 27 years old

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Carmen Maté

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The election about mate preferences studies, determine if the characteristics desirable and selected are universal, or if the difference sexual preferences are influenced by the culture as a modulator factor in the evolutionary preferences that could exist. So that it’s the reason we compared the results with other surveys made in different times and cultures. The main object the study goal is to verify if some more evident evolutionary predictions stay on the sexual differences in the stable mate relationships preferences differentiating the stable relations from the fleeting ones. The students answers show that, the characteristics that are valued to have a stable pair are the commitment, the amiability, sincerity and the understanding in general. When comparing the sex preferences based on sex, are observed statically significant differences with respect to the attractive physicist, more valued by the men, and the social position by the women. When they choose for a fleeting mate they selected physical attractiveness more than, later the affection and the amiability. There are statistically significant differences between which they value both sexes in the precise relations, the women, the affection and the social position and the men, the physical attractiveness and the enigmatic personality.

Preferences and Ratings of Partner Traits in Female Survivors of Childhood Abuse With PTSD and Healthy Controls.

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Lieberz, Klara A; Müller-Engelmann, Meike; Priebe, Kathlen; Friedmann, Franziska; Görg, Nora; Herzog, Julia Isabell; Steil, Regina

2017-11-01

There is growing empirical evidence for an association between childhood abuse (CA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood. We tested whether revictimized survivors of severe to extreme severities of child sexual abuse (CSA) and severe severities of child physical abuse (CPA) differed from nonvictimized healthy controls in their trait preferences in intimate partners and their current mate choice. In a sample of 52 revictimized female patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after CSA/CPA and 52 female healthy controls, the validated Intimate Partner Preferences Questionnaire (IPPQ) was used to assess (a) the desirability of tenderness, dominance, and aggression traits in potential partners, and (b) the presence of these traits in their current intimate partners. Factors potentially associated with partner preference and mate choice, for example, chronicity of traumatic events and lower self-esteem, were explored. Our results showed that, in general, revictimized PTSD patients did not have a preference for dominant or aggressive partners. However, revictimized women displayed a significantly larger discrepancy than did healthy controls between their preferences for tenderness traits and their ratings of the presence of tenderness traits in their current partners. Our results indicated that revictimized patients had lower self-esteem values; however, these values were associated with higher demands for tenderness traits. Furthermore, our results revealed that compared with patients who experienced early-onset childhood abuse (CA), those who experienced later onset CA were more accepting of dominant traits in potential partners. Women who had experienced IPV rated their current partners to be overly dominant. A higher tolerance of dominance traits might increase the risk of IPV in a specific subgroup of abused women (women with a later onset of abuse experiences and experiences of IPV).

Do Masculine Men Smell Better? An Association Between Skin Color Masculinity and Female Preferences for Body Odor.

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Carrito, Mariana L; Santos, Isabel M; Alho, Laura; Ferreira, Jacqueline; Soares, Sandra C; Bem-Haja, Pedro; Silva, Carlos F; Perrett, David I

2017-03-01

A recent study claimed face skin color as a sexually dimorphic variable that influences attractiveness preferences in mate choice. Thereby, skin color may assume the role of a mate quality signal influencing attractiveness preferences. As body odor is linked to attractiveness, this study aimed to explore whether the odors of men with more masculine facial skin color would be evaluated more positively than odors from less masculine men. Female raters were presented with body odors of 18 men and were asked to rate them in various characteristics. Multilevel modeling revealed that the odors of the donors with more masculine color were rated not only as more attractive, more pleasant, and sexier, but also healthier. This indicates that odor associated with men with more masculine skin color is attractive, just as other sexually dimorphic traits. Furthermore, we found a negative relation between skin color masculinity and perceived odor maleness. Regarding this last finding, a new discussion is introduced with respect to the influence of cognitive stereotypes in odor judgments. Altogether, the study supports the possibility that chemosensory signals may be communicating signs of mate quality associated with masculinity. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mating Frequency and Effects on Sex Ratio in Female Parasitoids of xanthopimpla Stemmator (Thunberg). Implications in biological control Programmes

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Gitau, C.W.

2002-01-01

Cereals, especially maize and sorghum are the most important field crops in Africa. classical biological Control is a management strategy that employs natural enemies against exotic pests on cereal crops. The method has been used against Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an introduced pest of maize, using the larval parasitoid cotesia flavipes (Cameron). However, C. flavipes is not able to attack all stem borer species in targeted areas. to complement its work, Xanthopimpla stemmator has successfully been established in Mauritius on Chilo sacchariphagus (Bojer). It is a common phenomenon for haplo-diploid parasitoids to give rise to male progeny when insemination does not take place. Mating becomes important to the parasitoid population since a male biased sex ratio can bring about collapse of the population. The aim of this study was to determine wether xanthopimpla stemmator females mat more than once and wether sex ratio of progeny is affected by multiple mating in female X. stemmator. The female showed a tendency to mate once. Multiple mating did not have any significant effect on either sex ratio or longevity. More males were produced in multiple mated females than once mated females.The effect of multiple mating in X. stemmator on sex ratio in relation to biocontrol programmes are discussed

Male mice song syntax depends on social contexts and influences female preferences

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Jonathan eChabout

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In 2005 Holy & Guo advanced the idea that male mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USV with some features similar to courtship songs of songbirds. Since then, studies showed that male mice emit USV songs in different contexts (sexual and other and possess a multisyllabic repertoire. Debate still exists for and against plasticity in their vocalizations. But the use of a multisyllabic repertoire can increase potential flexibility and information, in how elements are organized and recombined, namely syntax. In many bird species, modulating song syntax has ethological relevance for sexual behavior and mate preferences. In this study we exposed adult male mice to different social contexts and developed a new approach of analyzing their USVs based on songbird syntax analysis. We found that male mice modify their syntax, including specific sequences, length of sequence, repertoire composition, and spectral features, according to stimulus and social context. Males emit longer and simpler syllables and sequences when singing to females, but more complex syllables and sequences in response to fresh female urine. Playback experiments show that the females prefer the complex songs over the simpler ones. We propose the complex songs are to lure females in, whereas the directed simpler sequences are used for direct courtship. These results suggest that although mice have a much more limited ability of song modification, they could still be used as animal models for understanding some vocal communication features that songbirds are used for.

Testing the mate-choice hypothesis of the female orgasm: disentangling traits and behaviours

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James M. Sherlock

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The evolution of the female orgasm in humans and its role in romantic relationships is poorly understood. Whereas the male orgasm is inherently linked to reproduction, the female orgasm is not linked to obvious reproductive or survival benefits. It also occurs less consistently during penetrative sex than does the male orgasm. Mate-choice hypotheses posit that the wide variation in female orgasm frequency reflects a discriminatory mechanism designed to select high-quality mates. Objective: We aimed to determine (1 whether women report that their orgasm frequency varies between partners, (2 whether this variation reflects mates' personal characteristics, and (3 whether this variation reflects own and partner sexual behaviour during intercourse. Design: We collected survey data from 103 women who rated (1 the extent to which their orgasm frequency varied between partners, (2 the characteristics of previous sexual partners who induced high-orgasm frequency and those who induced low-orgasm frequency, and (3 the specific behaviours during sex with those partners. This is the first study to test within-woman variation in orgasm and partner traits. Results: Overall, women reported variation in their orgasm rates with different partners. Partners who induced high-orgasm rates were rated as more humorous, creative, warm, faithful, and better smelling than partners who induced low-orgasm rates, and also engaged in greater efforts to induce partner orgasm. Conclusions: Some assumptions and predictions of mate-choice hypotheses of female orgasm were supported, while other aspects of our findings provide reasons to remain sceptical.

Male Seminal Relaxin Contributes to Induction of the Post-mating Cytokine Response in the Female Mouse Uterus

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Danielle J. Glynn

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The hormone relaxin is important in female reproduction for embryo implantation, cardiovascular function, and during labor and lactation. Relaxin is also synthesized in males by organs of the male tract. We hypothesized that relaxin might be one component of seminal plasma responsible for eliciting the female cytokine response induced in the uterus at mating. When recombinant relaxin was injected into the uterus of wild-type (Rln+/+ mice at estrus, it evoked the production of Cxcl1 mRNA and its secreted protein product CXCL1 in four of eight animals. Mating experiments were then conducted using mice with a null mutation in the relaxin gene (Rln−/− mice. qRT-PCR analysis of mRNA expression in wild-type females showed diminished uterine expression of several cytokine and chemokine genes in the absence of male relaxin. Similar differences were also noted comparing Rln−/− and Rln+/+ females mated to wild-type males. Quantification of uterine luminal fluid cytokine content confirmed that male relaxin provokes the production of CXCL10 and CSF3 in Rln+/+ females. Differences were also seen comparing Rln−/− and Rln+/+ females mated with Rln−/− males for CXCL1, CSF3, and CCL5, implying that endogenous relaxin in females might prime the uterus to respond appropriately to seminal fluid at coitus. Finally, pan-leukocyte CD45 mRNA was increased in wild-type matings compared to other combinations, implying that male and female relaxin may trigger leukocyte expansion in the uterus. We conclude that male and/or female relaxin may be important in activating the uterine cytokine/chemokine network required to initiate maternal immune adaptation to pregnancy.

Sympatric speciation: perfume preferences of orchid bee lineages.

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Jackson, Duncan E

2008-12-09

Female attraction to an environmentally derived mating signal released by male orchid bees may be tightly linked to shared olfactory preferences of both sexes. A change in perfume preference may have led to divergence of two morphologically distinct lineages.

High costs of female choice in a lekking lizard.

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Maren N Vitousek

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Although the cost of mate choice is an essential component of the evolution and maintenance of sexual selection, the energetic cost of female choice has not previously been assessed directly. Here we report that females can incur high energetic costs as a result of discriminating among potential mates. We used heart rate biologging to quantify energetic expenditure in lek-mating female Galápagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus. Receptive females spent 78.9+/-23.2 kJ of energy on mate choice over a 30-day period, which is equivalent to approximately (3/4 of one day's energy budget. Females that spent more time on the territories of high-quality, high-activity males displayed greater energetic expenditure on mate choice, lost more mass, and showed a trend towards producing smaller follicles. Choosy females also appear to face a reduced probability of survival if El Niño conditions occur in the year following breeding. These findings indicate that female choice can carry significant costs, and suggest that the benefits that lek-mating females gain through mating with a preferred male may be higher than previously predicted.

Effect of mate size on maternal reproductive effort in the convict cichlid Amatitlania siquia

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Ashley R. ROBART

2012-01-01

The differential allocation hypothesis predicts individuals will increase their reproductive investment when mated to a high quality partner.In many species of fish with biparental care females prefer large males due to the males' greater ability to raise more offspring to independence.I examined the relationship between mate quality,parental care and number of offspring in a natural population of convict cichlids Amatitlania siquia.The frequency of frontal displays by females was positively correlated with male standard length.Additionally,as males increased in length relative to their mate,females increased the frequency of chases towards predators,while males decreased the number of displays towards brood predators.This trade-off in parental effort within a pair due to mate quality is a key prediction of differential allocation.The number of offspring was correlated with male,but not female,standard length.These results support the differential allocation hypothesis in that females offered more parental care to offspring of a larger male,while their mates decreased the amount of care they provided.Additionally,females benefited in terms of number of offspring by pairing with higher quality mates.Increased female investment may provide an incentive to ensure male care and maintain pair bonding,which could lead to greater reproductive success through increased offspring survival [Current Zoology 58 (1):66-72,2012].

Effect of mate size on maternal reproductive effort in the convict cichlid Amatitlania siquia

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Ashley R. ROBART

2012-02-01

Full Text Available The differential allocation hypothesis predicts individuals will increase their reproductive investment when mated to a high quality partner. In many species of fish with biparental care females prefer large males due to the males’ greater ability to raise more offspring to independence. I examined the relationship between mate quality, parental care and number of offspring in a natural population of convict cichlids Amatitlania siquia. The frequency of frontal displays by females was positively correlated with male standard length. Additionally, as males increased in length relative to their mate, females increased the frequency of chases towards predators, while males decreased the number of displays towards brood predators. This trade-off in parental effort within a pair due to mate quality is a key prediction of differential allocation. The number of offspring was correlated with male, but not female, standard length. These results support the differential allocation hypothesis in that females offered more parental care to offspring of a larger male, while their mates decreased the amount of care they provided. Additionally, females benefited in terms of number of offspring by pairing with higher quality mates. Increased female investment may provide an incentive to ensure male care and maintain pair bonding, which could lead to greater reproductive success through increased offspring survival [Current Zoology 58 (1: 66–72, 2012].

The vibrational signals that male fiddler crabs ( Uca lactea) use to attract females into their burrows

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Takeshita, Fumio; Murai, Minoru

2016-06-01

In some fiddler crab species, males emit vibrations from their burrows to mate-searching females after they have attracted a female to the burrow entrance using a waving display. Although the vibrations are considered acoustic signals to induce mating, it has not been demonstrated whether the vibrations attract the females into the burrow and, consequently, influence females' mating decisions. We investigated the structures and patterns of the vibrations using a dummy female and demonstrated experimentally a female preference for male vibrations in Uca lactea in the field. The acoustic signals consisted of repetitions of pulses. The dominant frequency of the pulses decreased with male carapace width. The pulse length decreased slightly with an increasing number of vibrational repetitions, and the pulse interval increased with increasing repetitions. These factors imply that the vibrations convey information on male characteristics, such as body size and stamina. In the experiment on female mate choice, the females significantly preferred males with higher pulse repetition rates when they were positioned at the entrance of the burrow, indicating that the females use the male vibrational signals to decide whether to enter the burrow. However, females showed no preference for the vibrations once they were inside a burrow, i.e., whether they decided to copulate, suggesting that the vibrations do not independently affect a female's final decision of mate choice. The vibrations inside the burrow might influence a female's decision by interaction with other male traits such as the burrow structure.

Evidence for genetic variation in human mate preferences for sexually dimorphic physical traits

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Verweij, K.J.H.; Burri, A.V.; Zietsch, B.P.

2012-01-01

Intersexual selection has been proposed as an important force in shaping a number of morphological traits that differ between human populations and/or between the sexes. Important to these accounts is the source of mate preferences for such traits, but this has not been investigated. In a large

No evidence for the effect of MHC on male mating success in the brown bear.

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Kuduk, Katarzyna; Babik, Wieslaw; Bellemain, Eva; Valentini, Alice; Zedrosser, Andreas; Taberlet, Pierre; Kindberg, Jonas; Swenson, Jon E; Radwan, Jacek

2014-01-01

Mate choice is thought to contribute to the maintenance of the spectacularly high polymorphism of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes, along with balancing selection from parasites, but the relative contribution of the former mechanism is debated. Here, we investigated the association between male MHC genotype and mating success in the brown bear. We analysed fragments of sequences coding for the peptide-binding region of the highly polymorphic MHC class I and class II DRB genes, while controlling for genome-wide effects using a panel of 18 microsatellite markers. Male mating success did not depend on the number of alleles shared with the female or amino-acid distance between potential mates at either locus. Furthermore, we found no indication of female mating preferences for MHC similarity being contingent on the number of alleles the females carried. Finally, we found no significant association between the number of MHC alleles a male carried and his mating success. Thus, our results provided no support for the role of mate choice in shaping MHC polymorphism in the brown bear.

Worthless donations: male deception and female counter play in a nuptial gift-giving spider.

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Albo, Maria J; Winther, Gudrun; Tuni, Cristina; Toft, Søren; Bilde, Trine

2011-11-14

In nuptial gift-giving species, benefits of acquiring a mate may select for male deception by donation of worthless gifts. We investigated the effect of worthless gifts on mating success in the spider Pisaura mirabilis. Males usually offer an insect prey wrapped in silk; however, worthless gifts containing inedible items are reported. We tested male mating success in the following experimental groups: protein enriched fly gift (PG), regular fly gift (FG), worthless gift (WG), or no gift (NG). Males that offered worthless gifts acquired similar mating success as males offering nutritional gifts, while males with no gift experienced reduced mating success. The results suggest that strong selection on the nuptial gift-giving trait facilitates male deception by donation of worthless gifts. Females terminated matings faster when males offered worthless donations; this demonstrate a cost of deception for the males as shorter matings lead to reduced sperm transfer and thus give the deceiving males a disadvantage in sperm competition. We propose that the gift wrapping trait allows males to exploit female foraging preference by disguising the gift content thus deceiving females into mating without acquiring direct benefits. Female preference for a genuine prey gift combined with control over mating duration, however, counteracts the male deception.

Dual control by a single gene of secondary sexual characters and mating preferences in medaka

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Oda Shoji

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Animals utilize a wide variety of tactics to attract reproductive partners. Behavioral experiments often indicate an important role for visual cues in fish, but their molecular basis remains almost entirely unknown. Studies on model species (such as zebrafish and medaka allow investigations into this fundamental question in behavioral and evolutionary biology. Results Through mate-choice experiences using several laboratory strains of various body colors, we successfully identified one medaka mutant (color interfere; ci that is distinctly unattractive to reproductive partners. This unattractiveness seems to be due to reduced orange pigment cells (xanthophores in the skin. The ci strain carries a mutation on the somatolactin alpha (SLa gene, therefore we expected over-expression of SLa to make medaka hyper-attractive. Indeed, extremely strong mating preferences were detected in a choice between the ci and SLa-transgenic (Actb-SLa:GFP medaka. Intriguingly, however, the strains showed opposite biases; that is, the mutant and transgenic medaka liked to mate with partners from their own strain, similar to becoming sexually isolated. Conclusion This study spotlighted SLa as a novel mate-choice gene in fish. In addition, these results are the first demonstration of a single gene that can pleiotropically and harmoniously change both secondary sexual characters and mating preferences. Although theoretical models have long suggested joint evolution of linked genes on a chromosome, a mutation on a gene-regulatory region (that is, switching on/off of a single gene might be sufficient to trigger two 'runaway' processes in different directions to promote (sympatric speciation.

Sensory Biology: How Female Treefrogs Pick Mates at a Noisy Party.

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Taylor, Ryan C

2017-03-06

A recent study has found that, despite strong acoustic masking from background noise, female treefrogs are able to select among individual males advertising for mates by taking advantage of small, periodic decreases in the overall noise structure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Central oxytocin receptors mediate mating-induced partner preferences and enhance correlated activation across forebrain nuclei in male prairie voles

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Johnson, Zachary V.; Walum, Hasse; Jamal, Yaseen A.; Xiao, Yao; Keebaugh, Alaine C.; Inoue, Kiyoshi; Young, Larry J.

2016-01-01

Oxytocin (OT) is a deeply conserved nonapeptide that acts both peripherally and centrally to modulate reproductive physiology and sociosexual behavior across divergent taxa, including humans. In vertebrates, the distribution of the oxytocin receptor (OTR) in the brain is variable within and across species, and OTR signaling is critical for a variety of species-typical social and reproductive behaviors, including affiliative and pair bonding behaviors in multiple socially monogamous lineages of fishes, birds, and mammals. Early work in prairie voles suggested that the endogenous OT system modulates mating-induced partner preference formation in females but not males; however, there is significant evidence that central OTRs may modulate pair bonding behavior in both sexes. In addition, it remains unclear how transient windows of central OTR signaling during sociosexual interaction modulate neural activity to produce enduring shifts in sociobehavioral phenotypes, including the formation of selective social bonds. Here we re-examine the role of the central OT system in partner preference formation in male prairie voles using a selective OTR antagonist delivered intracranially. We then use the same antagonist to examine how central OTRs modulate behavior and immediate early gene (Fos) expression, a metric of neuronal activation, in males during brief sociosexual interaction with a female. Our results suggest that, as in females, OTR signaling is critical for partner preference formation in males and enhances correlated activation across sensory and reward processing brain areas during sociosexual interaction. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that central OTR signaling facilitates social bond formation by coordinating activity across a pair bonding neural network. PMID:26643557

Female preference for male color is necessary and sufficient for assortative mating in 2 cichlid sister species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Selz, Oliver M.; Pierotti, Michele E. R.; Maan, Martine E.; Schmid, Corinne; Seehausen, Ole

2014-01-01

A critical step for speciation in the face of gene flow is the origination of reproductive isolation. The evolution of assortative mating greatly facilitates this process. Assortative mating can be mediated by one or multiple cues across an array of sensory modalities. We here explore possible cues

Cryptic forcible insemination: male snakes exploit female physiology, anatomy, and behavior to obtain coercive matings.

Science.gov (United States)

Shine, Richard; Langkilde, Tracy; Mason, Robert T

2003-11-01

Whether males can inseminate uncooperative females is a central determinant of mating system evolution that profoundly affects the interpretation of phenomena such as multiple mating by females, mate choice, reproductive seasonality, and courtship tactics. Forcible insemination is usually inferred from direct physical battles between the sexes and has been dismissed on intuitive grounds for many kinds of animals. For example, snakes have elongate flexible bodies (making it difficult for a male to restrain a female physically), males are typically smaller than females, and copulation requires female cloacal gaping to enable intromission. Male garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) do not display any overt aggression during courtship and simply lie over the female and exhibit rhythmic pulsating caudocephalic waves of muscular contraction; previous studies have interpreted this behavior as a mechanism for eliciting female receptivity. In contrast, we show that male garter snakes forcibly inseminate females. They do so by taking advantage of specific features of snake physiology, respiratory anatomy, and antipredator behavior. The snake lung extends along most of the body, with the large posterior section (the saccular lung) lacking any respiratory exchange surface. Rhythmic caudocephalic waves by courting male garter snakes push anoxic air from the saccular lung forward and across the respiratory surfaces such that females cannot obtain oxygen. Their stress response involves cloacal gaping, which functions in other contexts to repel predators by extruding feces and musk but in this situation permits male intromission. Thus, superficially benign courtship behaviors may involve cryptic coercion even in species for which intuition dismisses any possibility of forcible insemination.

When the difference is in the details: a critique of Zentner and Mitura (2012) "Stepping out of the caveman's shadow: Nations' gender gap predicts degree of sex differentiation in mate preferences".

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, David P

2012-10-29

In a recent 10-nation study, Zentner and Mitura (2012) reported observing smaller sex differences in mate preferences within nations that have higher gender parity. As noted in previous research, and in a re-analysis of Zentner and Mitura's own data, sex differences in some mate preferences (e.g., long-term mate preferences for physical attractiveness) are either unrelated to or actually get larger with higher national gender parity. It is critically important to distinguish among mate preference domains when looking for patterns of sexual differentiation across nations. Indeed, for many psychological domains (e.g., attachment styles, Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self-esteem, personal values, depression, emotional expression, crying behavior, intimate partner violence, tested mental abilities, health indicators; see Schmitt, 2012), sex differences are demonstrably larger in nations with higher sociopolitical gender parity. By not distinguishing among mate preferences, Zentner and Mitura committed a form of the ecological fallacy-making false conclusions about individual mate preferences when looking only at associations among groups of mate preferences.

Sexually selected females in the monogamous Western Australian seahorse.

Science.gov (United States)

Kvarnemo, Charlotta; Moore, Glenn I; Jones, Adam G

2007-02-22

Studies of sexual selection in monogamous species have hitherto focused on sexual selection among males. Here, we provide empirical documentation that sexual selection can also act strongly on females in a natural population with a monogamous mating system. In our field-based genetic study of the monogamous Western Australian seahorse, Hippocampus subelongatus, sexual selection differentials and gradients show that females are under stronger sexual selection than males: mated females are larger than unmated ones, whereas mated and unmated males do not differ in size. In addition, the opportunity for sexual selection (variance in mating success divided by its mean squared) for females is almost three times that for males. These results, which seem to be generated by a combination of a male preference for larger females and a female-biased adult sex ratio, indicate that substantial sexual selection on females is a potentially important but under-appreciated evolutionary phenomenon in monogamous species.

Allochronic separation versus mate choice: nonrandom patterns of mating between fall armyworm host strains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schöfl, G.; Dill, A.; Heckel, D.G.; Groot, A.T.

2011-01-01

Assortative mating may result from intrinsic individual mating preferences or from assortment traits not requiring expression of preferences. Assortment traits are phenotypes expressed in both sexes that enhance the probability of encountering individuals possessing similar trait values. In the

Adolescents' Age Preferences for Dating Partners: Support for an Evolutionary Model of Life-History Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kenrick, Douglas T.; And Others

1996-01-01

Explored sex differences in adolescent preference for older versus younger mates. Found that teenage males were willing to date females of a wide age range, whereas teenage females prefer dating males from their own age to several years older. Data suggested viewing development of sex differences in dating partner preference from the perspective…

Analysis of the Mediterranean fruit fly [Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)] spatio-temporal distribution in relation to sex and female mating status for precision IPM.

Science.gov (United States)

Sciarretta, Andrea; Tabilio, Maria Rosaria; Lampazzi, Elena; Ceccaroli, Claudio; Colacci, Marco; Trematerra, Pasquale

2018-01-01

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), is a key pest of fruit crops in many tropical, subtropical and mild temperate areas worldwide. The economic importance of this fruit fly is increasing due to its invasion of new geographical areas. Efficient control and eradication efforts require adequate information regarding C. capitata adults in relation to environmental and physiological cues. This would allow effective characterisation of the population spatio-temporal dynamic of the C. capitata population at both the orchard level and the area-wide landscape. The aim of this study was to analyse population patterns of adult medflies caught using two trapping systems in a peach orchard located in central Italy. They were differentiated by adult sex (males or females) and mating status of females (unmated or mated females) to determine the spatio-temporal dynamic and evaluate the effect of cultivar and chemical treatments on trap catches. Female mating status was assessed by spermathecal dissection and a blind test was carried out to evaluate the reliability of the technique. Geostatistical methods, variogram and kriging, were used to produce distributional maps. Results showed a strong correlation between the distribution of males and unmated females, whereas males versus mated females and unmated females versus mated females showed a lower correlation. Both cultivar and chemical treatments had significant effects on trap catches, showing associations with sex and female mating status. Medfly adults showed aggregated distributions in the experimental field, but hot spots locations varied. The spatial pattern of unmated females reflected that of males, whereas mated females were largely distributed around ripening or ripe fruit. The results give relevant insights into pest management. Mated females may be distributed differently to unmated females and the identification of male hot spots through monitoring would allow localisation of virgin

Sociosexuality predicts women's preferences for symmetry in men's faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Quist, Michelle C; Watkins, Christopher D; Smith, Finlay G; Little, Anthony C; Debruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2012-12-01

Although men displaying cues of good physical condition possess traits that are desirable in a mate (e.g., good health), these men are also more likely to possess antisocial characteristics that are undesirable in a long-term partner (e.g., aggression and tendency to infidelity). How women resolve this trade-off between the costs and benefits associated with choosing a mate in good physical condition may lead to strategic variation in women's mate preferences. Because the costs of choosing a mate with antisocial personality characteristics are greater in long- than short-term relationships, women's sociosexuality (i.e., the extent to which they are interested in uncommitted sexual relationships) may predict individual differences in their mate preferences. Here we investigated variation in 99 heterosexual women's preferences for facial symmetry, a characteristic that is thought to be an important cue of physical condition. Symmetry preferences were assessed using pairs of symmetrized and original (i.e., relatively asymmetric) versions of 10 male and 10 female faces. Analyses showed that women's sociosexuality, and their sociosexual attitude in particular, predicted their preferences for symmetry in men's, but not women's, faces; women who reported being more interested in short-term, uncommitted relationships demonstrated stronger attraction to symmetric men. Our findings present new evidence for potentially adaptive variation in women's symmetry preferences that is consistent with trade-off theories of attraction.

Paternal Effort in Relation to Acoustically Mediated Mate Choice in a Neotropical Frog

Science.gov (United States)

Pettitt, Beth Ann

One aspect of communication not normally considered in studies of anuran amphibians involves the extent to which acoustic signals indicate the quality of parental care a male provides. My research examined this question in the golden rocket frog (Anomaloglossus beebei), a Neotropical dendrobatid that exhibits acoustically mediated mate choice and biparental care. I investigated the function of the male advertisement call of A. beebei in the context of female mate choice by testing the predictions of four hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the relationship between mate signals and male parental care quality. In addition, I conducted a series of studies on acoustic variability, female preferences for advertisement call traits and the importance of male parental care on offspring survival.

The relevance of age and nutritional status on the mating competitiveness of medfly males (Diptera: Teprhitidae

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Alzira Kelly Passos Roriz

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Results of previous investigations trying to ascertain which physiological factors are more important to the mating success of medfly males are controversial. In part, this controversy owes to the fact that each factor was evaluated by an independent study using different experimental designs and populations. In the present study we compare the roles of age and nutritional status (immature and adult phases on the mating competitiveness of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824 males. Three parameters were used to evaluate the male mating success: calling behavior (pheromone emission, lek participation and copulation (ability to be chosen by a female. Females gave preference to the males that were given a high protein diet in the larval phase. By contrast, females did not give preference to males that had been well-nourished in the adult phase only. The other parameters evaluated followed the same pattern: young males and males that had been fed a high protein diet during their immature phase had a greater participation in leks and called more often than older males and males that had been fed a diet poor in protein during their larval phase. Therefore, we conclude that the mating success of C. capitata males is determined both by age and nourishment during the immature stage.

Mating choice of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae): influence of male ageing on mating success; Escolha de parceiro para acasalamento em Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)(Diptera: Tephritidae): influencia do envelhecimento dos machos no sucesso de copula

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva Neto, Alberto M. da; Dias, Vanessa S.; Joachim-Bravo, Iara S. [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, BA (Brazil). Inst. de Biologia. Dept. de Biologia Geral], e-mail: bio.alberto@gmail.com, e-mail: vanessasidias@hotmail.com, e-mail: ibravo@ufba.br

2009-09-15

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of male ageing on male pheromone release and mating success of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The effects of male ageing on mating were evaluated on fi ve and 21 d-old males by assessing their mating success (males chosen by a female for copulation) and the amount of males releasing the sex pheromone. The mating success was evaluated by using several ratios of young to older males by increasing the number of older males:young males from 1:1 to 5:1. The mating success of the 1:1 ratio was also evaluated in fi eld cages. The evaluation of the mating success (in the 1:1 ratio) showed a clear preference of the females for young males. Sex pheromone emission was much more common on young than older males. Even in cases were older males were more abundant (ratios 2:1 and 3:1), females still chose the young males. However, females could not distinguish young from older males in ratios of 4:1 or 5:1. Our data indicate that the ageing of C. capitata males has a considerable negative effect on their reproductive success, especially if they are found in a proportion any lower than 3:1. (author)

Central oxytocin receptors mediate mating-induced partner preferences and enhance correlated activation across forebrain nuclei in male prairie voles.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Zachary V; Walum, Hasse; Jamal, Yaseen A; Xiao, Yao; Keebaugh, Alaine C; Inoue, Kiyoshi; Young, Larry J

2016-03-01

Oxytocin (OT) is a deeply conserved nonapeptide that acts both peripherally and centrally to modulate reproductive physiology and sociosexual behavior across divergent taxa, including humans. In vertebrates, the distribution of the oxytocin receptor (OTR) in the brain is variable within and across species, and OTR signaling is critical for a variety of species-typical social and reproductive behaviors, including affiliative and pair bonding behaviors in multiple socially monogamous lineages of fishes, birds, and mammals. Early work in prairie voles suggested that the endogenous OT system modulates mating-induced partner preference formation in females but not males; however, there is significant evidence that central OTRs may modulate pair bonding behavior in both sexes. In addition, it remains unclear how transient windows of central OTR signaling during sociosexual interaction modulate neural activity to produce enduring shifts in sociobehavioral phenotypes, including the formation of selective social bonds. Here we re-examine the role of the central OT system in partner preference formation in male prairie voles using a selective OTR antagonist delivered intracranially. We then use the same antagonist to examine how central OTRs modulate behavior and immediate early gene (Fos) expression, a metric of neuronal activation, in males during brief sociosexual interaction with a female. Our results suggest that, as in females, OTR signaling is critical for partner preference formation in males and enhances correlated activation across sensory and reward processing brain areas during sociosexual interaction. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that central OTR signaling facilitates social bond formation by coordinating activity across a pair bonding neural network. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Female choice in the red mason bee, Osmia rufa (L.) (Megachilidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Conrad, Taina; Paxton, Robert J; Barth, Friedrich G; Francke, Wittko; Ayasse, Manfred

2010-12-01

Females are often thought to use several cues and more than one modality in selection of a mate, possibly because they offer complementary information on a mate's suitability. In the red mason bee, Osmia rufa, we investigated the criteria a female uses to choose a mating partner. We hypothesized that the female uses male thorax vibrations and size as signs of male viability and male odor for kin discrimination and assessment of genetic relatedness. We therefore compared males that had been accepted by a female for copulation with those rejected, in terms of their size, their immediate precopulatory vibrations (using laser vibrometry), the genetic relatedness of unmated and mated pairs (using microsatellite markers) and emitted volatiles (using chemical analyses). Females showed a preference for intermediate-sized males that were slightly larger than the modal male size. Furthermore, male precopulatory vibration burst duration was significantly longer in males accepted for copulation compared with rejected males. Vibrations may indicate vigor and assure that males selected by females are metabolically active and healthy. Females preferentially copulated with males that were genetically more closely related, possibly to avoid outbreeding depression. Volatiles of the cuticular surface differed significantly between accepted and rejected males in the relative amounts of certain hydrocarbons, although the relationship between male odor and female preference was complex. Females may therefore also use differences in odor bouquet to select among males. Our investigations show that O. rufa females appear to use multiple cues in selecting a male. Future investigations are needed to demonstrate whether odor plays a role in kin recognition and how the multiple cues are integrated in mate choice by females.

Neural activity patterns in response to interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating calls in the túngara frog.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mukta Chakraborty

2010-09-01

Full Text Available During mate choice, individuals must classify potential mates according to species identity and relative attractiveness. In many species, females do so by evaluating variation in the signals produced by males. Male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus can produce single note calls (whines and multi-note calls (whine-chucks. While the whine alone is sufficient for species recognition, females greatly prefer the whine-chuck when given a choice.To better understand how the brain responds to variation in male mating signals, we mapped neural activity patterns evoked by interspecific and intraspecific variation in mating calls in túngara frogs by measuring expression of egr-1. We predicted that egr-1 responses to conspecific calls would identify brain regions that are potentially important for species recognition and that at least some of those brain regions would vary in their egr-1 responses to mating calls that vary in attractiveness. We measured egr-1 in the auditory brainstem and its forebrain targets and found that conspecific whine-chucks elicited greater egr-1 expression than heterospecific whines in all but three regions. We found no evidence that preferred whine-chuck calls elicited greater egr-1 expression than conspecific whines in any of eleven brain regions examined, in contrast to predictions that mating preferences in túngara frogs emerge from greater responses in the auditory system.Although selectivity for species-specific signals is apparent throughout the túngara frog brain, further studies are necessary to elucidate how neural activity patterns vary with the attractiveness of conspecific mating calls.

Reproductive behavior and physiology of Dacus oleae: egg hatch in females mated successively with normal and gamma sterilized males and vice versa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Economopoulos, A.P.; Giannakakis, A.; Voyadjoglou, A.V.

1976-01-01

In Dacus oleae (Gmelin), a 2nd mating by an 8-krad gamma ray-sterilized male reduced egg hatch immediately to zero or near-zero in ca. 40-55 percent of individually-tested females. In another 50 percent of females, egg hatch was reduced to between 5 to 70 percent, while in fewer than 10 percent of females, egg hatch showed no change. The above was true for females reared on artificial diet for more than 50 generations and mated with same type males, as well as females reared on olives for 6 to 8 generations and mated first with same type males and 2nd with artificially-reared sterilized males. When the 2nd males were treated at 15 krad the effect on egg hatch was smaller. When the 2nd males were treated at 8 krad and had depleted their sperm, by repeated matings, they produced small or no-effect on egg hatch. When artificially-reared females mated first with a sterilized and second with a normal same type male, egg hatch increased from 0 to 5 percent to 70 to 100 percent in 50 to 55 percent of the cases. In another 43 percent of cases, egg hatch increased to levels between 5 to 70 percent. The combined findings from the 2 mating sequence types are as follows. After females mated first with normal males, egg hatch was above 80 percent in the population; a 2nd mating with 8-krad-sterilized males produced an immediate decrease of egg hatch to ca. 25 percent, decreasing slowly thereafter. When the 1st male was sterilized and the 2nd normal, egg hatch increased to ca. 70 percent, decreasing slowly thereafter

Differences in Mating Propensity Between Immature Female Color Morphs in the Damselfly Ischnura elegans (Insecta : Odonata)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hammers, Martijn; Ana Sanchez-Guillen, Rosa; Van Gossum, Hans

Female-limited color polymorphisms occur in a variety of animal taxa where excessive male sexual harassment may explain the coexistence of multiple female color morphs. In the color polymorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans, mature and immature female color morphs coexist at the mating site where males

Male mate recognition via cuticular hydrocarbons facilitates sexual isolation between sympatric leaf beetle sister species.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Bin; Xue, Huai-Jun; Song, Ke-Qing; Liu, Jie; Li, Wen-Zhu; Nie, Rui-E; Yang, Xing-Ke

2014-11-01

Chemical signals in insects have been documented to play an important role in mate recognition, and divergence in chemical signals can often cause sexual isolation between closely related species or populations within species. We investigated the role of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), short distance chemical signals, in male mate recognition between the two sympatric elm leaf beetles, Pyrrhalta maculicollis and Pyrrhaltaaenescens. Mating experiments demonstrated that strong sexual isolation between the two species was driven by CHCs divergence. Males preferred to mate with conspecific females with intact conspecific CHCs or conspecific CHCs reapplied after removal. Males also preferred heterospecific females that were treated with conspecific CHCs. Chemical analysis showed that the CHC profiles differ significantly between species. In P. maculicollis dimethyl-branched alkanes between C29 and C35 account for the majority of the saturated alkanes while the CHC profile of P. aenescens mostly consisted of monomethyl-branched alkanes between C22 and C29. Additionally, some compounds, such as 12,18-diMeC32, 12,18-diMeC34, are unique to P. maculicollis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drosophila male sex peptide inhibits siesta sleep and promotes locomotor activity in the post-mated female.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac, R Elwyn; Li, Chenxi; Leedale, Amy E; Shirras, Alan D

2010-01-07

Quiescence, or a sleep-like state, is a common and important feature of the daily lives of animals from both invertebrate and vertebrate taxa, suggesting that sleep appeared early in animal evolution. Recently, Drosophila melanogaster has been shown to be a relevant and powerful model for the genetic analysis of sleep behaviour. The sleep architecture of D. melanogaster is sexually dimorphic, with females sleeping much less than males during day-time, presumably because reproductive success requires greater foraging activity by the female as well as the search for egg-laying sites. However, this loss of sleep and increase in locomotor activity will heighten the risk for the female from environmental and predator hazards. In this study, we show that virgin females can minimize this risk by behaving like males, with an extended afternoon 'siesta'. Copulation results in the female losing 70 per cent of day-time sleep and becoming more active. This behaviour lasts for at least 8 days after copulation and is abolished if the mating males lack sex peptide (SP), normally present in the seminal fluid. Our results suggest that SP is the molecular switch that promotes wakefulness in the post-mated female, a change of behaviour compatible with increased foraging and egg-laying activity. The stress resulting from SP-dependent sleep deprivation might be an important contribution to the toxic side-effects of male accessory gland products that are known to reduce lifespan in post-mated females.

Genetic dissimilarity between mates, but not male heterozygosity, influences divorce in schistosomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Beltran

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Correlational studies strongly suggest that both genetic similarity and heterozygosity can influence female mate choice. However, the influence of each variable has usually been tested independently, although similarity and heterozygosity might be correlated. We experimentally determined the relative influence of genetic similarity and heterozygosity in divorce and re-mating in the monogamous endoparasite Schistosoma mansoni. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed sequential infections of vertebrate hosts with controlled larval populations of parasites, where sex and individual genetic diversity and similarity were predetermined before infection. Divorce rate increased significantly when females were given the opportunity to increase genetic dissimilarity through re-mating with a new partner, independently of the intensity of male-male competition. We found however no evidence for females attempting to maximize the level of heterozygosity of their reproductive partner through divorce. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Female preference for genetically dissimilar males should result in more heterozygous offspring. Because genetic heterozygosity might partly determine the ability of parasites to counter host resistance, adaptive divorce could be an important factor in the evolutionary arms race between schistosomes and their hosts.

Strategies of Human Mating

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David M. Buss

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Modern humans have inherited the mating strategies that led to the success of their ancestors. These strategies include long-term mating, short-term mating, extra-pair mating, mate poaching, and mate guarding. This article presents empirical evidence supporting evolution-based hypotheses about the complexities of these mating strategies. Since men and women historically confronted different adaptive problems in the mating domain, the sexes differ profoundly in evolved strategic solutions. These differences include possessing different mate preferences, different desires for short-term mating, and differences in the triggers that evoke sexual jealousy. The study of human mating is one of the “success stories” of evolutionary psychology.

Mixed Support for Sexual Selection Theories of Mate Preferences in the Swedish Population

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Linda Gustavsson

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary theory predicts the existence of relatively stable sex differences in partner preferences with, for example, males being more concerned with traits predicting high fertility and females with traits predicting high resource availability. We tested three predictions using personal advertisements from both traditional newspapers and internet dating services. In accordance with predictions, men offered resources more often than did women, and women requested resources more often than did men. Males in all age-categories preferred younger partners. Young females preferred older males, but the pattern was reversed for the majority of females past their fertile period. In contrast to predictions, there was no difference between males and females in the degree to which they offered, or asked for, physical attractiveness. Based on our results and a review of previous studies, we suggest that sex differences in factual or advertised preference for physical attractiveness may be more labile than sex differences in preference for resources and status across societies.

Female detection of the synthetic sex pheromone contributes to the efficacy of mating disruption of the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana.

Science.gov (United States)

Harari, Ally R; Zahavi, Tirtza; Steinitz, Hadass

2015-02-01

Studies of the mechanisms by which mating-disruption techniques control insect pest populations have traditionally focused on the effects of the species-specific sex pheromone on the male moths, while neglecting possible direct effects of the pheromone on females. Here, the effects of exposure to synthetic species-specific sex-pheromone on Lobesia botrana (European grapevine moth) females were tested. Females in vineyards that were treated with mating-disruption pheromone burst into short bouts of flying more frequently, but called significantly less frequently than females in untreated plots. Reduced calling caused by exposure to the species-specific sex-pheromone may increase the age at which females mate and thereby reduce female fecundity. Females that called in a pheromone-saturated environment experienced a decrease in number of oviposited eggs. A further decrease in reproductive success may occur if females delay oviposition when exposed to access of the synthetic pheromone. In addition to reducing the ability of males to locate females, the mating-disruption technique can suppress pest numbers as a consequence of its direct effects on females. The two mechanisms probably act synergistically. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Why men matter: mating patterns drive evolution of human lifespan.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shripad D Tuljapurkar

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary theory predicts that senescence, a decline in survival rates with age, is the consequence of stronger selection on alleles that affect fertility or mortality earlier rather than later in life. Hamilton quantified this argument by showing that a rare mutation reducing survival is opposed by a selective force that declines with age over reproductive life. He used a female-only demographic model, predicting that female menopause at age ca. 50 yrs should be followed by a sharp increase in mortality, a "wall of death." Human lives obviously do not display such a wall. Explanations of the evolution of lifespan beyond the age of female menopause have proven difficult to describe as explicit genetic models. Here we argue that the inclusion of males and mating patterns extends Hamilton's theory and predicts the pattern of human senescence. We analyze a general two-sex model to show that selection favors survival for as long as men reproduce. Male fertility can only result from matings with fertile females, and we present a range of data showing that males much older than 50 yrs have substantial realized fertility through matings with younger females, a pattern that was likely typical among early humans. Thus old-age male fertility provides a selective force against autosomal deleterious mutations at ages far past female menopause with no sharp upper age limit, eliminating the wall of death. Our findings illustrate the evolutionary importance of males and mating preferences, and show that one-sex demographic models are insufficient to describe the forces that shape human senescence.

Testing the prediction from sexual selection of a positive genetic correlation between human mate preferences and corresponding traits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verweij, K.J.H.; Burri, A.V.; Zietsch, B.P.

2014-01-01

Sexual selection can cause evolution in traits that affect mating success, and it has thus been implicated in the evolution of human physical and behavioural traits that influence attractiveness. We use a large sample of identical and nonidentical female twins to test the prediction from mate choice

Female choice for male cuticular hydrocarbon profile in decorated crickets is not based on similarity to their own profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Steiger, S; Capodeanu-Nägler, A; Gershman, S N; Weddle, C B; Rapkin, J; Sakaluk, S K; Hunt, J

2015-12-01

Indirect genetic benefits derived from female mate choice comprise additive (good genes) and nonadditive genetic benefits (genetic compatibility). Although good genes can be revealed by condition-dependent display traits, the mechanism by which compatibility alleles are detected is unclear because evaluation of the genetic similarity of a prospective mate requires the female to assess the genotype of the male and compare it to her own. Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), lipids coating the exoskeleton of most insects, influence female mate choice in a number of species and offer a way for females to assess genetic similarity of prospective mates. Here, we determine whether female mate choice in decorated crickets is based on male CHCs and whether it is influenced by females' own CHC profiles. We used multivariate selection analysis to estimate the strength and form of selection acting on male CHCs through female mate choice, and employed different measures of multivariate dissimilarity to determine whether a female's preference for male CHCs is based on similarity to her own CHC profile. Female mating preferences were significantly influenced by CHC profiles of males. Male CHC attractiveness was not, however, contingent on the CHC profile of the choosing female, as certain male CHC phenotypes were equally attractive to most females, evidenced by significant linear and stabilizing selection gradients. These results suggest that additive genetic benefits, rather than nonadditive genetic benefits, accrue to female mate choice, in support of earlier work showing that CHC expression of males, but not females, is condition dependent. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Provision or Good Genes? Menstrual Cycle Shifts in Women's Preferences for Short-Term and Long-Term Mates' Altruistic Behavior

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Ryo Oda

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Men's altruism may have evolved, via female choice, as a signal of either their genetic quality or their willingness to allocate resources to offspring. The possibility that men display altruism to signal their genetic quality may be tested by examining women's preference for men's altruism across the stages of the menstrual cycle. Because women can maximize reproductive benefits by mating with men who have “good genes” on high-fertility versus low-fertility days, women should show a heightened preference for male altruism on high-fertility days compared to low-fertility days, and this heightened preference should be more apparent when women evaluate men for short-term sexual relationships than for long-term committed relationships. The possibility that men display altruism to signal their willingness to provision, as opposed to their genetic quality, may be tested by examining women's preference for men's altruism toward different recipients. More specifically, altruistic behavior toward family members may reflect a willingness to provide resources for kin and, hence, willingness to provision, whereas altruistic behavior toward strangers may function as an honest signal of genetic quality. In two samples of young women (TVs = 131 and 481, we found no differences between high- and low-fertility participants in preference for men's altruism, and women preferred men's altruism more in long-term than short-term relationships. The findings suggest that men's altruistic behavior functions as a signal of willingness to provide resources rather than genetic quality.

Parent-Offspring Conflict over Mating: The Case of Beauty

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Menelaos Apostolou

2008-04-01

Full Text Available In pre-industrial societies parents exercise a strong influence over the mating decisions of their offspring. As modern pre-industrial societies approximate the way of life in ancestral human societies, human mating behavior should be seen as the outcome of a co-evolutionary process between parental and offspring's mating choice. Both parents and offspring have evolved mating preferences, which enable them to select those mates and in-laws who maximize their inclusive fitness. Following Trivers' (1974 theory of parent-offspring conflict, it is hypothesized that in-law and mating preferences substantially overlap, but also differ with respect to the beauty trait of a mating candidate. This hypothesis is tested on a sample of 292 parents. It is found that the two sets of preferences are strongly correlated, while beauty is preferred significantly more in a mating partner than in an in-law.

Homogamy and imprinting-like effect on mate choice preference for body height in the current Japanese population.

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Seki, Motohide; Ihara, Yasuo; Aoki, Kenichi

2012-01-01

Homogamy for body height has been repeatedly documented in Western societies. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism is unclear and the reasons for its apparent absence in non-Western societies remain unexplained. This study investigates spousal correlation and mate preference for height in the Japanese population. This study analyses self-reported data on the height of individuals, their parents and their ideal marriage partners, collected by a series of questionnaires on university students. In contrast to a previous study, this study found a significant positive correlation between the heights of Japanese spouses, after controlling for age. It also found a positive correlation between the heights of subjects and of their ideal partners, suggesting that an individual's self-referent preference may contribute to the observed homogamy for height. However, a subject's preference is also influenced by the height of his/her opposite-sex--but not same-sex--parent, where this effect is more prominent in male subjects. This study shows that homogamy for body height is present in the current Japanese population and that it may in part result from an individual's preference. It also indicates a possible role of a sexual imprinting-like mechanism in human mate choice.

Social learning and human mate preferences: a potential mechanism for generating and maintaining between-population diversity in attraction

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Little, Anthony C.; Jones, Benedict C.; DeBruine, Lisa M.; Caldwell, Christine A.

2011-01-01

Inspired by studies demonstrating mate-choice copying effects in non-human species, recent studies of attractiveness judgements suggest that social learning also influences human preferences. In the first part of our article, we review evidence for social learning effects on preferences in humans and other animals. In the second part, we present new empirical evidence that social learning not only influences the attractiveness of specific individuals, but can also generalize to judgements of previously unseen individuals possessing similar physical traits. The different conditions represent different populations and, once a preference arises in a population, social learning can lead to the spread of preferences within that population. In the final part of our article, we discuss the theoretical basis for, and possible impact of, biases in social learning whereby individuals may preferentially copy the choices of those with high status or better access to critical information about potential mates. Such biases could mean that the choices of a select few individuals carry the greatest weight, rapidly generating agreement in preferences within a population. Collectively, these issues suggest that social learning mechanisms encourage the spread of preferences for certain traits once they arise within a population and so may explain certain cross-cultural differences. PMID:21199841

Age-dependent male mating investment in Drosophila pseudoobscura.

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Sumit Dhole

Full Text Available Male mating investment can strongly influence fitness gained from a mating. Yet, male mating investment often changes with age. Life history theory predicts that mating investment should increase with age, and males should become less discriminatory about their mate as they age. Understanding age-dependent changes in male behavior and their effects on fitness is important for understanding how selection acts in age-structured populations. Although the independent effects of male or female age have been studied in many species, how these interact to influence male mating investment and fitness is less well understood. We mated Drosophila pseudoobscura males of five different age classes (4-, 8-, 11-, 15-, 19-day old to either young (4-day or old (11-day females, and measured copulation duration and early post-mating fecundity. Along with their independent effects, we found a strong interaction between the effects of male and female ages on male mating investment and fitness from individual matings. Male mating investment increased with male age, but this increase was more prominent in matings with young females. Male D. pseudoobscura made smaller investments when mating with old females. The level of such discrimination based on female age, however, also changed with male age. Intermediate aged males were most discriminatory, while the youngest and the oldest males did not discriminate between females of different ages. We also found that larger male mating investments resulted in higher fitness payoffs. Our results show that male and female ages interact to form a complex pattern of age-specific male mating investment and fitness.

Real estate ads in Emei music frog vocalizations: female preference for calls emanating from burrows.

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Cui, Jianguo; Tang, Yezhong; Narins, Peter M

2012-06-23

During female mate choice, both the male's phenotype and resources (e.g. his nest) contribute to the chooser's fitness. Animals other than humans are not known to advertise resource characteristics to potential mates through vocal communication; although in some species of anurans and birds, females do evaluate male qualities through vocal communication. Here, we demonstrate that calls of the male Emei music frog (Babina dauchina), vocalizing from male-built nests, reflect nest structure information that can be recognized by females. Inside-nest calls consisted of notes with energy concentrated at lower frequency ranges and longer note durations when compared with outside-nest calls. Centre frequencies and note durations of the inside calls positively correlate with the area of the burrow entrance and the depth of the burrow, respectively. When given a choice between outside and inside calls played back alternately, more than 70 per cent of the females (33/47) chose inside calls. These results demonstrate that males of this species faithfully advertise whether or not they possess a nest to potential mates by vocal communication, which probably facilitates optimal mate selection by females. These results revealed a novel function of advertisement calls, which is consistent with the wide variation in both call complexity and social behaviour within amphibians.

Strong reproductive skew among males in the multiply mated swordtail Xiphophorus multilineatus (Teleostei).

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Luo, J; Sanetra, M; Schartl, M; Meyer, A

2005-01-01

Male swordtails in the genus Xiphophorus display a conspicuous ventral elongation of the caudal fin, the sword, which arose through sexual selection due to female preference. Females mate regularly and are able to store sperm for at least 6 months. If multiple mating is frequent, this would raise the intriguing question about the role of female choice and male-male competition in shaping the mating system of these fishes. Size-dependent alternate mating strategies occur in Xiphophorus; one such strategy is courtship with a sigmoid display by large dominant males, while the other is gonopodial thrusting, in which small subordinate males sneak copulations. Using microsatellite markers, we observed a frequency of multiple paternity in wild-caught Xiphophorus multilineatus in 28% of families analyzed, but the actual frequency of multiple mating suggested by the correction factor PrDM was 33%. The number of fathers contributing genetically to the brood ranged from one to three. Compared to other species in the family Poeciliidae, both frequency and degree of multiple paternity were low. Paternity was found to be highly skewed, with one male on average contributing more than 70% to the offspring. Hence in this Xiphophorus mating system, typically one male dominates and sneaker males do not appear to be particularly effective. Postcopulatory mechanisms, however, such as sperm competition, are also indicated by our data, using sex-linked phenotypes among the offspring.

A noninvasive method for in situ determination of mating success in female American lobsters (Homarus americanus).

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Goldstein, Jason S; Pugh, Tracy L; Dubofsky, Elizabeth A; Lavalli, Kari L; Clancy, Michael; Watson, Winsor H

2014-02-07

Despite being one of the most productive fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic, much remains unknown about the natural reproductive dynamics of American lobsters. Recent work in exploited crustacean populations (crabs and lobsters) suggests that there are circumstances where mature females are unable to achieve their full reproductive potential due to sperm limitation. To examine this possibility in different regions of the American lobster fishery, a reliable and noninvasive method was developed for sampling large numbers of female lobsters at sea. This method involves inserting a blunt-tipped needle into the female's seminal receptacle to determine the presence or absence of a sperm plug and to withdraw a sample that can be examined for the presence of sperm. A series of control studies were conducted at the dock and in the laboratory to test the reliability of this technique. These efforts entailed sampling 294 female lobsters to confirm that the presence of a sperm plug was a reliable indicator of sperm within the receptacle and thus, mating. This paper details the methodology and the results obtained from a subset of the total females sampled. Of the 230 female lobsters sampled from George's Bank and Cape Ann, MA (size range = 71-145 mm in carapace length), 90.3% were positive for sperm. Potential explanations for the absence of sperm in some females include: immaturity (lack of physiological maturity), breakdown of the sperm plug after being used to fertilize a clutch of eggs, and lack of mating activity. The surveys indicate that this technique for examining the mating success of female lobsters is a reliable proxy that can be used in the field to document reproductive activity in natural populations.

Evasive mating behaviour by female nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788, in an equatorial insular breeding ground

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André S. Afonso

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Mating events and aggregations of vulnerable nurse sharks Ginglymostoma cirratum were recorded in the insular protected area of Fernando de Noronha (FEN, Brazil, between April and August 2015. Female sharks were observed clustering in groups of up to 14 individuals in shallow water adjacent to the shore. Several evasive mating behaviours in the presence of males were noticed, including shoreward movement, positioning ventral side up at the sea surface with emerged pectoral and pelvic fins, body rolling and caudal fin thrashing. Fresh bite marks indicative of male courtship and coupling attempts were visible in female's pectoral and caudal fins. Altogether, the observed behaviours match previous reports of non-cooperative female nurse sharks during mating opportunities. An extended mating season coupled with a persistent use of inshore habitats result in nurse sharks being particularly vulnerable to human pressure during a most sensitive stage of their life cycle. The effective conservation of nurse shark populations from the western South Atlantic may thus depend on the protection of critical habitats where this species aggregates to reproduce. Explicitly addressing environmental requirements by vulnerable species in local management strategies is indispensable to ensure that human pressure, including ecotourism development, does not collide with stipulated conservation aims.

Divorce in the barn owl: securing a compatible or better mate entails the cost of re-pairing with a less ornamented female mate.

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Dreiss, A N; Roulin, A

2014-06-01

Two nonmutually exclusive hypotheses can explain why divorce is an adaptive strategy to improve reproductive success. Under the 'better option hypothesis', only one of the two partners initiates divorce to secure a higher-quality partner and increases reproductive success after divorce. Under the 'incompatibility hypothesis', partners are incompatible and hence they may both increase reproductive success after divorce. In a long-term study of the barn owl (Tyto alba), we address the question of whether one or the two partners derive fitness benefits by divorcing. Our results support the hypothesis that divorce is adaptive: after a poor reproductive season, at least one of the two divorcees increase breeding success up to the level of faithful pairs. By breeding more often together, faithful pairs improve coordination and thereby gain in their efficiency to produce successful fledglings. Males would divorce to obtain a compatible mate rather than a mate of higher quality: a heritable melanin-based signal of female quality did not predict divorce (indicating that female absolute quality may not be the cause of divorce), but the new mate of divorced males was less melanic than their previous mate. This suggests that, at least for males, a cost of divorce may be to secure a lower-quality but compatible mate. The better option hypothesis could not be formally rejected, as only one of the two divorcing partners commonly succeeded in obtaining a higher reproductive success after divorce. In conclusion, incompatible partners divorce to restore reproductive success, and by breeding more often together, faithful partners improve coordination. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Complex Mhc-based mate choice in a wild passerine

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Bonneaud, Camille; Chastel, Olivier; Federici, Pierre; Westerdahl, Helena; Sorci, Gabriele

2006-01-01

The extreme polymorphism of the vertebrate major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) is famous for protecting hosts against constantly evolving pathogens. Mate choice is often evoked as a means of maintaining Mhc variability through avoidance of partners with similar Mhc alleles or preference for heterozygotes. Evidence for these two hypotheses mostly comes from studies on humans and laboratory mice. Here, we tested these hypotheses in a wild outbred population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Females were not more or less closely related to the males they paired with when considering neutral genetic variation. However, males failed to form breeding pairs when they had too few Mhc alleles and when they were too dissimilar from females at Mhc loci (i.e. had no common alleles). Furthermore, pairs did not form at random as Mhc diversity positively correlated in mating pairs. These results suggest that mate choice evolves in response to (i) benefits in terms of parasite resistance acquired from allelic diversity, and (ii) costs associated with the disruption of co-adapted genes. PMID:16600889

The Possible Role of the Uropygial Gland on Mate Choice in Domestic Chicken

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Atsushi Hirao

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In avian mating systems, male domestic fowls are polygamous and mate with a number of selected members of the opposite sex. The factors that influence mating preference are considered to be visual cues. However, several studies have indicated that chemosensory cues also affect socio-sexual behavior, including mate choice and individual recognition. The female uropygial gland appears to provide odor for mate choice, as uropygial gland secretions are specific to individual body odor. Chicken olfactory bulbs possess efferent projections to the nucleus taeniae that are involved in copulatory behavior. From various reports, it appears that the uropygial gland has the potential to act as the source of social odor cues that dictate mate choice. In this review, evidence for the possible role of the uropygial gland on mate choice in domestic chickens is presented. However, it remains unclear whether a relationship exists between the uropygial gland and major histocompatibility complex-dependent mate choice.

Mate choice in the face of costly competition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fawcett, TW; Johnstone, RA

2003-01-01

Studies of mate choice commonly ignore variation in preferences and assume that all individuals should favor the highest-quality mate available. However, individuals may differ in their mate preferences according to their own age, experience, size, or genotype. In the present study, we highlight

Sampling and assessment accuracy in mate choice: a random-walk model of information processing in mating decision.

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Castellano, Sergio; Cermelli, Paolo

2011-04-07

Mate choice depends on mating preferences and on the manner in which mate-quality information is acquired and used to make decisions. We present a model that describes how these two components of mating decision interact with each other during a comparative evaluation of prospective mates. The model, with its well-explored precedents in psychology and neurophysiology, assumes that decisions are made by the integration over time of noisy information until a stopping-rule criterion is reached. Due to this informational approach, the model builds a coherent theoretical framework for developing an integrated view of functions and mechanisms of mating decisions. From a functional point of view, the model allows us to investigate speed-accuracy tradeoffs in mating decision at both population and individual levels. It shows that, under strong time constraints, decision makers are expected to make fast and frugal decisions and to optimally trade off population-sampling accuracy (i.e. the number of sampled males) against individual-assessment accuracy (i.e. the time spent for evaluating each mate). From the proximate-mechanism point of view, the model makes testable predictions on the interactions of mating preferences and choosiness in different contexts and it might be of compelling empirical utility for a context-independent description of mating preference strength. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mate-Choice Copying in Single and Coupled Women: The Influence of Mate Acceptance and Mate Rejection Decisions of other Women

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Yan Deng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Studies of humans and non-human animals indicate that females tend to change the likelihood of choosing a potential mate based on the decisions of other females; this is known as mate-choice copying. In a sample of both single and coupled women, we examined the influence of other women's (model mate-choice decisions, including mate acceptance and mate rejection, on participants' attractiveness ratings of men (target and willingness of mate selection. We also examined whether different types of relationships between the target men and the model women affected mate-choice copying. We found that both the single and coupled women showed mate-choice copying, but their response patterns differed. The significant effects for single women were dependent on a decrease in attractiveness ratings when they perceived the models' mate rejection. However, the significant findings for coupled women relied on an increase in attractiveness ratings when they observed the models' mate acceptance. Furthermore, the relationship status between the target men and the model women affected the magnitude of mate-choice copying effects for the single women. Specifically, they showed less mate-choice copying when the targets and models were in a committed romantic relationship than when in a temporary relationship.

Mate choice for genetic quality when environments vary: suggestions for empirical progress.

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Bussière, Luc F; Hunt, John; Stölting, Kai N; Jennions, Michael D; Brooks, Robert

2008-09-01

Mate choice for good-genes remains one of the most controversial evolutionary processes ever proposed. This is partly because strong directional choice should theoretically deplete the genetic variation that explains the evolution of this type of female mating preference (the so-called lek paradox). Moreover, good-genes benefits are generally assumed to be too small to outweigh opposing direct selection on females. Here, we review recent progress in the study of mate choice for genetic quality, focussing particularly on the potential for genotype by environment interactions (GEIs) to rescue additive genetic variation for quality, and thereby resolve the lek paradox. We raise five questions that we think will stimulate empirical progress in this field, and suggest directions for research in each area: (1) How is condition-dependence affected by environmental variation? (2) How important are GEIs for maintaining additive genetic variance in condition? (3) How much do GEIs reduce the signalling value of male condition? (4) How does GEI affect the multivariate version of the lek paradox? (5) Have mating biases for high-condition males evolved because of indirect benefits?

The Neurobiology of Sexual Partner Preferences in Rams

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Roselli, Charles E.; Stormshak, Fred

2009-01-01

The question of what causes a male animal to seek out and choose a female as opposed to another male mating partner is unresolved and remains an issue of considerable debate. The most developed biologic theory is the perinatal organizational hypothesis, which states that perinatal hormone exposure mediates sexual differentiation of the brain. Numerous animal experiments have assessed the contribution of perinatal testosterone and/or estradiol exposure to the development of a male-typical mate preference, but almost all have used hormonally manipulated animals. In contrast, variations in sexual partner preferences occur spontaneously in domestic rams, with as many as 8% of the population exhibiting a preference for same-sex mating partners (male-oriented rams). Thus, the domestic ram is an excellent experimental model to study possible links between fetal neuroendocrine programming of neural mechanisms and adult sexual partner preferences. In this review, we present an overview of sexual differentiation in relation to sexual partner preferences. We then summarize results that test the relevance of the organizational hypothesis to expression of same-sex sexual partner preferences in rams. Finally, we demonstrate that the sexual differentiation of brain and behavior in sheep do not depend critically on aromatization of testosterone to estradiol. PMID:19446078

The neurobiology of sexual partner preferences in rams.

Science.gov (United States)

Roselli, Charles E; Stormshak, Fred

2009-05-01

The question of what causes a male animal to seek out and choose a female as opposed to another male mating partner is unresolved and remains an issue of considerable debate. The most developed biologic theory is the perinatal organizational hypothesis, which states that perinatal hormone exposure mediates sexual differentiation of the brain. Numerous animal experiments have assessed the contribution of perinatal testosterone and/or estradiol exposure to the development of a male-typical mate preference, but almost all have used hormonally manipulated animals. In contrast, variations in sexual partner preferences occur spontaneously in domestic rams, with as many as 8% of the population exhibiting a preference for same-sex mating partners (male-oriented rams). Thus, the domestic ram is an excellent experimental model to study possible links between fetal neuroendocrine programming of neural mechanisms and adult sexual partner preferences. In this review, we present an overview of sexual differentiation in relation to sexual partner preferences. We then summarize results that test the relevance of the organizational hypothesis to expression of same-sex sexual partner preferences in rams. Finally, we demonstrate that the sexual differentiation of brain and behavior in sheep does not depend critically on aromatization of testosterone to estradiol.

Morphology and ornamentation in male frigatebirds: variation with age-class and mating status

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Vinni; Dabelsteen, Torben; Osorio, Daniel

2007-01-01

of white in the plumage identifies three age classes of nonjuvenile male. Here we investigate how morphological and secondary sexual traits correlate with age class and mating status. Even though several age class-related differences in morphology and visual appearance can be identified, the only features...... with age class, reflecting an increase in gular pouch size. This implies that females prefer older or possibly more experienced or viable males. Drumming cadence speed and stability might reflect male stamina. Apart from the acoustic differences with mating status, there is a nonsignificant tendency...... for back-feather iridescence to be of shorter reflectance wavelength spectra in mated than in unmated males, which, when combined with acoustic variables, improves prediction of age class and mating status....

No pain, no gain: Male plasticity in burrow digging according to female rejection in a sand-dwelling wolf spider.

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Carballo, Matilde; Baldenegro, Fabiana; Bollatti, Fedra; Peretti, Alfredo V; Aisenberg, Anita

2017-07-01

Behavioral plasticity allows individuals to reversibly respond to short-term variations in their ecological and social environment in order to maximize their fitness. Allocosa senex is a burrow-digging spider that inhabits the sandy coasts of South America. This species shows a reversal in typical sex roles expected in spiders: females are wanderers that visit males at their burrows and initiate courtship. They prefer males with long burrows for mating, and males prefer virgin over mated females. We tested whether female sexual rejection induced males to enlarge their burrows and if female reproductive status affected males' responses. We exposed males who had constructed burrows to: a) virgin females or b) mated females, (n=16 for each category). If female rejection occurred, we repeated the trial 48h later with the same female. As control, we maintained a group of males without female exposure (unexposed group, n=32). Rejected males enlarged their burrows more frequently and burrows were longer compared to unexposed males. However, frequency and length of enlargement did not differ according to female reproductive status. Males of A. senex showed plasticity in digging behavior in response to the availability of females, as a way to maximize the possibilities of future mating. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Red Effect on Attractiveness and Sexual Receptivity: No effect of the color red on human mate preferences

OpenAIRE

Peperkoorn, Leonard; Roberts, S. Craig; Pollet, Thomas

2016-01-01

Color-in-context theory is the first theoretical framework for understanding color effects in human mate preferences, arguing that red clothing enhances attractiveness ratings. Here we present three empirical studies failing to support this prediction. We aimed to extend the current literature by differentiating color effects by temporal context (short-term vs. long-term mating). Experiment 1 involved Dutch participants rating a woman in red, white, and black on (sexual) attractiveness. Exper...

Reproductive traits and number of matings in males and females of Cerambyx welensii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) an emergent pest of oaks.

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Torres-Vila, L M; Mendiola-Diaz, F J; Conejo-Rodríguez, Y; Sánchez-González, Á

2016-06-01

The longhorn beetle Cerambyx welensii is an emerging pest involved in oak decline episodes, whose damage is increasingly reported in dehesa open woodlands. Knowledge of the reproductive biology of C. welensii is a crucial goal due to its new pest status. In this study, we assess the reproductive traits of both sexes in the laboratory (25°C and 60% relative humidity ). In females, body length was 44.9 ± 0.9 mm (mean ± SE), fecundity 132 ± 12 eggs, fertility 70 ± 1 %, longevity 70 ± 3 days, preoviposition period 2 ± 0.2 days, oviposition period 44 ± 3 days and postoviposition period 19 ± 3 days. Fecundity was positively correlated with female size, longevity and oviposition period. Daily fecundity was 3.0 ± 0.2 eggs/day and showed a fluctuating synovigenic pattern with a slight decreasing trend over time. Egg length was 4.24 ± 0.01 mm and egg volume 8.14 ± 0.04 mm3. Egg size was correlated with female size but the relative size of eggs was larger in smaller females. Incubation time was 13.9 ± 0.1 days and hatching did not depend on egg size. Neonate size was positively correlated with egg length. Females were polyandrous (more than 20 lifetime matings) but multiple mating did not increase fecundity, fertility or longevity. In males, body length was 43.7 ± 0.6 mm and longevity 52 ± 3 days. Unlike with females, longevity was positively correlated with male size. Males were polygynous (up to 30 lifetime matings) but mating history did not affect male longevity. Rather to the contrary, long-lived males mated more times because they had more mating chances. Lastly, C. welensii reproductive traits were compared with those other Cerambycidae species and discussed from an adaptive perspective. Our data will be useful to improve management of C. welensii in order to prevent or mitigate its impact in dehesa woodlands and other oak forests.

Genetic analysis of female mating recognition between Drosophila ananassae and Drosophila pallidosa: application of interspecific mosaic genome lines.

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Sawamura, Kyoichi; Zhi, Hua; Setoguchi, Koji; Yamada, Hirokazu; Miyo, Takahiro; Matsuda, Muneo; Oguma, Yuzuru

2008-06-01

Drosophila ananassae and Drosophila pallidosa are closely related species that can produce viable and fertile hybrids of both sexes, although strong sexual isolation exists between the two species. Females are thought to discriminate conspecific from heterospecific males based on their courtship songs. The genetic basis of female discrimination behavior was analyzed using isogenic females from interspecific mosaic genome lines that carry homozygous recombinant chromosomes. Multiple regression analysis indicated a highly significant effect of the left arm of chromosome 2 (2L) on the willingness of females to mate with D. ananassae males. Not only 2L but also the left arm of chromosome X (XL) and the right arm of chromosome 3 (3R) had significant effects on the females' willingness to mate with D. pallidosa males. All regions with strong effects on mate choice have chromosome arrangements characterized by species-specific inversions. Heterospecific combinations of 2L and 3R have previously been suggested to cause postzygotic reproductive isolation. Thus, genes involved in premating as well as postmating isolation are located in or near chromosomal inversions. This conclusion is consistent with the recently proposed hypothesis that "speciation genes" accumulate at a higher rate in non-recombining genome regions when species divergence occurs in the presence of gene flow.

Honey bee queens do not count mates to assess their mating success

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The mating system of honey bees (genus Apis) is extremely polyandrous, where reproductive females (queens) typically mate with 12 or more males (drones) during their mating flight(s). The evolutionary implications for hyperpolyandry have been subject to considerable debate and empirical testing beca...

Newborn Interneurons in the Accessory Olfactory Bulb Promote Mate Recognition in Female Mice

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Livio eOboti

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In the olfactory bulb of adult rodents, local interneurons are constantly replaced by immature precursors derived from the subventricular zone. Whether any olfactory sensory process specifically relies on this cell renewal remains largely unclear. By using the well-known model of mating-induced imprinting, we demonstrate that this olfactory memory formation critically depends on the presence of newborn granule neurons in the accessory olfactory bulb. Accordingly, we show that, in adult female mice, exposure to male pheromones increases the number of new granule cells surviving in the accessory olfactory bulb. This neuronal addition depends on the detection of sensory cues by the vomeronasal organ and requires centrifugal feedback activity from the amygdala. The stimuli affecting neuronal survival are contained in the low molecular weight fraction of urine and are implied in pheromonal recognition during mating. By chemical depletion of newly generated bulbar interneurons, we show a direct role of renewed granule cells in the accessory olfactory bulb in preventing pregnancy block by mating male odours. Taken together, our results indicate that adult neurogenesis is essential for specific brain functions such as persistent odour learning and mate recognition.

Visual exposure to obesity: Experimental effects on attraction toward overweight men and mate choice in females.

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Robinson, E; Christiansen, P

2015-09-01

Cultural differences in ideal body weight are well established, but less research has examined attraction toward potential mates of heavier body weights. We examined whether exposure to obesity increases physical attraction toward overweight men. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined the effect that exposure to obese vs healthy weight men had on female attraction toward an overweight man. Study 3 examined whether females who are regularly exposed to males of heavier body weights reported a greater attraction toward overweight men. Study 4 tested whether females in an online dating study were more likely to choose to date an overweight man, after having been exposed to obesity. Exposure to obesity altered visual perceptions of what normal and therefore healthy body weights were and this resulted in greater attraction toward an overweight man (Studies 1 and 2). Females regularly exposed to men of heavier body weight reported a greater attraction toward overweight men (Study 3). After exposure to obesity, females in an online dating study were more likely to choose to date an overweight man ahead of a healthy weight man (Study 4). Exposure to male obesity increases female attraction toward overweight men and may affect mate choice.

Why do the Karo Batak prefer women with big feet? Flexible mate preferences and the notion that one size fits all.

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Kushnick, Geoff

2013-09-01

Men may find women with small feet relative to body size more attractive because foot size reliably indexes nubility-i.e., age and parity. I collected judgments of attractiveness in response to drawings of women with varying foot sizes from a sample of 159 Karo Batak respondents from North Sumatra, Indonesia, as part of a collaborative project on foot size and attractiveness. The data revealed a contrarian preference among the Karo Batak for women with big feet. The judgments were compared with the results of an existing cross-cultural study that found a preference for women with small feet in aggregate, but a mix of small- and large-foot preferences in the societies taken individually. Using contingency table analysis, I found that ecology and less exposure to Western media were associated with a preference for women with big feet; patriarchal values were not. The findings suggest that human mating preferences may arise in response to local ecological conditions, and may persist and spread via cultural transmission. This has implications for the concept of universality espoused in some versions of evolutionary psychology.

Do masculine men smell better? An association between skin color masculinity and female preferences for body odor

OpenAIRE

Carrito, Mariana L.; Santos, Isabel M.; Alho, Laura; Ferreira, Jacqueline; Soares, Sandra C.; Bem-Haja, Pedro; Silva, Carlos F.; Perrett, David I.

2017-01-01

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and Programa Operacional de Potencial Humano/Fundo Social Europeu (SFRH/BD/77592/2011 to M.L.C.). A recent study claimed face skin color as a sexually dimorphic variable that influences attractiveness preferences in mate choice. Thereby, skin color may assume the role of a mate quality signal influencing attractiveness preferences. As body odor is linked to attractiveness, this study aimed to explore whether the odors of men...

Sexual selection and physical attractiveness : Implications for mating dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gangestad, S W

1993-09-01

Sexual selection processes have received much attention in recent years, attention reflected in interest in human mate preferences. Among these mate preferences are preferences for physical attractiveness. Preferences in and of themselves, however, do not fully explain the nature of the relationships that individuals attain. A tacit negotiation process underlies relationship formation and maintenance. The notion that preferences for physical attractiveness evolved under parasite-driven "good genes" sexual selection leads to predictions about the nature of trade-offs that individuals make between mates' physical attractiveness and investment potential. These predictions and relevant data are explored, with a primary emphasis on women's preferences for men's qualities. In addition, further implications of trade-offs are examined, most notably (a) the impact of environmental variations on the nature of mating and (b) some effects of trade-offs on infidelity and male attempts to control women.

Hot or not: the effects of exogenous testosterone on female attractiveness to male conspecifics in the budgerigar.

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Stefanie E P Lahaye

Full Text Available An increasing number of studies indicate that not only females but also males can be selective when choosing a mate. In species exhibiting male or mutual mate choice, females may benefit from being attractive. While male attractiveness is often positively influenced by higher plasma levels of the androgenic hormone testosterone, it has been shown that testosterone can masculinise female behavior and morphology in several bird species, potentially rendering them less attractive. In this study, we investigated whether female budgerigars, Melopsittacusundulatus, suffer from increased plasma testosterone levels through a negative effect on their attractiveness to males. We experimentally increased plasma testosterone levels in testosterone-treated females (T-females compared to controls (C-females and allowed males to choose between a T- and a C-female in a two-way choice situation. Although testosterone treatment significantly affected female behavioral and morphological characteristics, males did not show a significant difference in preference between T- and C-females. These results suggest that experimentally increasing testosterone levels in females does not appear to influence male preference during initial mate choice. Our findings indicate that selection for higher levels of testosterone in male budgerigars is probably not constrained by a correlated response to selection causing negative effects on female attractiveness during initial mate choice. Evaluating whether or not a potential constraint may arise from negative testosterone-induced effects on other fitness related traits in females requires further work.

Identifying cognitive preferences for attractive female faces: an event-related potential experiment using a study-test paradigm.

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Zhang, Yan; Kong, Fanchang; Chen, Hong; Jackson, Todd; Han, Li; Meng, Jing; Yang, Zhou; Gao, Jianguo; Najam ul Hasan, Abbasi

2011-11-01

In this experiment, sensitivity to female facial attractiveness was examined by comparing event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to attractive and unattractive female faces within a study-test paradigm. Fourteen heterosexual participants (age range 18-24 years, mean age 21.67 years) were required to judge 84 attractive and 84 unattractive face images as either "attractive" or "unattractive." They were then asked whether they had previously viewed each face in a recognition task in which 50% of the images were novel. Analyses indicated that attractive faces elicited more enhanced ERP amplitudes than did unattractive faces in judgment (N300 and P350-550 msec) and recognition (P160 and N250-400 msec and P400-700 msec) tasks on anterior locations. Moreover, longer reaction times and higher accuracy rate were observed in identifying attractive faces than unattractive faces. In sum, this research identified neural and behavioral bases related to cognitive preferences for judging and recognizing attractive female faces. Explanations for the results are that attractive female faces arouse more intense positive emotions in participants than do unattractive faces, and they also represent reproductive fitness and mating value from the evolutionary perspective. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Evolution of novel signal traits in the absence of female preferences in Neoconocephalus katydids (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae.

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Sarah L Bush

2010-08-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND SIGNIFICANCE: Communication signals that function to bring together the sexes are important for maintaining reproductive isolation in many taxa. Changes in male calls are often attributed to sexual selection, in which female preferences initiate signal divergence. Natural selection can also influence signal traits if calls attract predators or parasitoids, or if calling is energetically costly. Neutral evolution is often neglected in the context of acoustic communication.We describe a signal trait that appears to have evolved in the absence of either sexual or natural selection. In the katydid genus Neoconocephalus, calls with a derived pattern in which pulses are grouped into pairs have evolved five times independently. We have previously shown that in three of these species, females require the double pulse pattern for call recognition, and hence the recognition system of the females is also in a derived state. Here we describe the remaining two species and find that although males produce the derived call pattern, females use the ancestral recognition mechanism in which no pulse pattern is required. Females respond equally well to the single and double pulse calls, indicating that the derived trait is selectively neutral in the context of mate recognition.These results suggest that 1 neutral changes in signal traits could be important in the diversification of communication systems, and 2 males rather than females may be responsible for initiating signal divergence.

Olfactory conditioned same-sex partner preference in female rats: Role of ovarian hormones.

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Tecamachaltzi-Silvaran, M B; Barradas-Moctezuma, M; Herrera-Covarrubias, D; Carrillo, P; Corona-Morales, A A; Perez, C A; García, L I; Manzo, J; Coria-Avila, Genaro A

2017-11-01

The dopamine D2-type receptor agonist quinpirole (QNP) facilitates the development of conditioned same-sex partner preference in males during cohabitation, but not in ovariectomized (OVX) females, primed with estradiol benzoate (EB) and progesterone (P). Herein we tested the effects of QNP on OVX, EB-only primed females. Females received a systemic injection (every four days) of either saline (Saline-conditioned) or QNP (QNP-conditioned) and then cohabited for 24h with lemon-scented stimulus females (CS+), during three trials. In test 1 (female-female) preference was QNP-free, and females chose between the CS+ female and a novel female. In test 2 (male-female) they chose between the CS+ female and a sexually experienced male. In test 1 Saline-conditioned females displayed more hops & darts towards the novel female, but QNP-conditioned females displayed more sexual solicitations towards the CS+ female. In test 2 Saline-conditioned females displayed a clear preference for the male, whereas QNP-conditioned females displayed what we considered a bisexual preference. We discuss the effect of dopamine and ovarian hormones on the development of olfactory conditioned same-sex preference in females. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Feederism: an exaggeration of a normative mate selection preference?

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Terry, Lesley L; Suschinsky, Kelly D; Lalumière, Martin L; Vasey, Paul L

2012-02-01

Quinsey and Lalumière (1995) suggested that some, if not most, paraphilias are exaggerated manifestations of more normative and functional mate selection preferences. The present study tested whether Feederism, a fat fetish focused on erotic eating, feeding, and gaining weight, is an exaggeration of a sexual arousal pattern commonly seen in the general population. Thirty participants (15 men and 15 women) recruited from the general population were assessed using penile plethysmography and vaginal photoplethysmography, respectively. None of the participants were self-identified Feeders or Feedees. Participants were shown sexual, neutral, and feeding still images while listening to audio recordings of sexual, neutral, and feeding stories. Participants did not genitally respond to feeding stimuli. However, both men and women subjectively rated feeding stimuli as more sexually arousing than neutral stimuli. We discuss the discordance between physiological and self-reported sexual arousal in the context of sex differences in sexual concordance and implications for future research.

Revisiting the Red Effect on Attractiveness and Sexual Receptivity : No Effect of the Color Red on Human Mate Preferences

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Peperkoorn, L.S.; Roberts, S. Craig; Pollet, Thomas V.

2016-01-01

Color-in-context theory is the first theoretical framework for understanding color effects in human mate preferences, arguing that red clothing enhances attractiveness ratings. Here we present three empirical studies failing to support this prediction. We aimed to extend the current literature by

Lightweight males of Podisus nigrispinus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae neglect lightweight females due low reproductive fitness

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A. I. A. Pereira

Full Text Available Abstract Sexual choice by male stink bugs is important because females that experience food shortages lay fewer eggs with lower viability compared with well-fed females. In this study, we investigated whether Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae males fed with a low-quality diet during its nymphal stage show selectivity for sexual partners resulting in high-quality progeny. Lightweight males and females were obtained from nymphs fed weekly with Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae pupae. By contrast, heavyweight males and females were fed three times a week and received an extra nutritional source: cotton leaves, Gossypium hirsutum L. (Malvaceae. Lightweight males preferred to mate with heavy females (77.78 ± 14.69%, whereas heavyweight males did not discriminated between light or heavyweight females. Females mated with lightweight males showed similar levels of reproduction to those mated with heavyweight males. The results provide an indication of the importance of male and female body weight for sexual selection in Asopinae stink bugs.

No discrimination against previous mates in a sexually cannibalistic spider

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Fromhage, Lutz; Schneider, Jutta M.

2005-09-01

In several animal species, females discriminate against previous mates in subsequent mating decisions, increasing the potential for multiple paternity. In spiders, female choice may take the form of selective sexual cannibalism, which has been shown to bias paternity in favor of particular males. If cannibalistic attacks function to restrict a male's paternity, females may have little interest to remate with males having survived such an attack. We therefore studied the possibility of female discrimination against previous mates in sexually cannibalistic Argiope bruennichi, where females almost always attack their mate at the onset of copulation. We compared mating latency and copulation duration of males having experienced a previous copulation either with the same or with a different female, but found no evidence for discrimination against previous mates. However, males copulated significantly shorter when inserting into a used, compared to a previously unused, genital pore of the female.

Responses of female rock lizards to multiple scent marks of males: effects of male age, male density and scent over-marking.

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Martín, José; López, Pilar

2013-03-01

Scent-marked substrates may inform conspecifics on the characteristics of territorial males. Scent-marks of male Carpetan rock lizards (Iberolacerta cyreni) affect space use of females, which by selecting an area may increase the probability of mating with the male that has scent-marked that area. However, males do not hold exclusive territories, and scent-marks of different individual males are often together. This may provide complex information from multiple sources on the social structure. Here, we examined female preference in response to scent marks of various males and combinations in a laboratory experiment. Females preferred areas scent-marked by territorial old males against those scent-marked by young satellite-sneaker males. This reflected the known preference of females for mating with old males. In a second experiment, females preferred areas scent-marked by two males to areas of similar size marked by a single male. This may increase the probability of obtaining multiple copulations with different males, which may favour sperm competition and cryptic female choice, or may be a way to avoid infertile males. Finally, when we experimentally over-marked the scent-marks of an old male with scent-marks of a young male, females did not avoid, nor prefer, the over-marked area, suggesting that the quality of the old male may override the presence of a satellite male. We suggest that, irrespective of the causes underlying why a female selects a scent-marked area, this strategy may affect her reproductive success, which may have the same evolutionary consequences that "direct" mate choice decisions of other animals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Female preference and predation risk models can explain the maintenance of a fallow deer (Dama dama lek and its 'handy' location.

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Marco Apollonio

Full Text Available We tested the predictions of three models (female preference; hotspot; predator avoidance on lek formation in the fallow deer population of San Rossore, Tuscany. We collected behavioural observations in two leks and radiotracking data on 67 deer over 7 years. Two deer sub-populations were present in the northern and southern sides of the area, respectively, the two sectors being delimited by a river and including one lek each. Predictions were tested for one lek (SG, located in the south-side where we set up our 7-year radiotracking program. Data from a second lek (FO, north-side were used to test those predictions which imply the occurrence of multiple leks in the same population. We showed that the majority of females made one single visit to one lek, only during the rut. The lek was located outside areas of higher female traffic and home range overlap, and females increased home range sizes during the rut to reach it. Twilight routes of females never crossed the lek; instead, females walked atypical routes and at a faster pace to reach the lek and mate. The distance between the two leks was higher than the average diameter of female home ranges, and only one lek was present within female home ranges. Males reached the lek one month before the arrival of females, corroborating that lekking is a female-initiated process (females moving towards large clumped male aggregations rather than a male-initiated process (males moving towards female hotspots. Our results supported the female preference model, and rejected the predictions of the hotspot model. Also, leks were located far from areas with higher predation risk, supporting the predator avoidance model. The position of lek SG resulted 'handy' at the sub-population level because of the optimal trade-off between travel costs for females to reach it and avoidance of human predators.

No evidence for female discrimination against male house mice carrying a selfish genetic element.

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Sutter, Andreas; Lindholm, Anna K

2016-12-01

Meiotic drivers distort transmission to the next generation in their favor, with detrimental effects on the fitness of their homologues and the rest of the genome. Male carriers of meiotic drivers commonly inflict costs on their mates through genetic incompatibility, reduced fecundity, or biased brood sex ratios. Given these costs, evidence for female discrimination against male carriers is surprisingly rare. One of few examples is the t haplotype in house mice, a meiotic driver that shows strong transmission distortion in males and is typically homozygote lethal. As a consequence, mating between 2 t heterozygous (+/ t ) mice leads to high embryo mortality. Previous experiments showing that +/ t females avoid this incompatibility cost by preferring +/+ versus +/ t males have inferred preference based on olfactory cues or brief social interactions. Evidence from mating contexts in laboratory settings and semi-natural populations has been inconclusive. Here, we investigated female choice from a large number of no-choice mating trials. We found no evidence for discrimination against +/ t males based on mating, remating, and copulatory behavior. Further, we found no evidence for avoidance of incompatibility through selective interactions between gametes. The likelihood of mating showed significant effects of female weight and genotype, suggesting that our test paradigm enabled females to exhibit mate choice. We discuss the strengths and limitations of our approach. By explicitly considering selection at both the individual and gene level, we argue why precopulatory female discrimination by +/ t females may be less evolutionarily stable than discrimination by all females based on postcopulatory mechanisms.

Divergence in male cricket song and female preference functions in three allopatric sister species.

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Hennig, Ralf Matthias; Blankers, Thomas; Gray, David A

2016-05-01

Multivariate female preference functions for male sexual signals have rarely been investigated, especially in a comparative context among sister species. Here we examined male signal and female preference co-variation in three closely related, but allopatric species of Gryllus crickets and quantified male song traits as well as female preferences. We show that males differ conspicuously in either one of two relatively static song traits, carrier frequency or pulse rate; female preference functions for these traits also differed, and would in combination enhance species discrimination. In contrast, the relatively dynamic song traits, chirp rate and chirp duty cycle, show minimal divergence among species and relatively greater conservation of female preference functions. Notably, among species we demonstrate similar mechanistic rules for the integration of pulse and chirp time scales, despite divergence in pulse rate preferences. As these are allopatric taxa, selection for species recognition per se is unlikely. More likely sexual selection combined with conserved properties of preference filters enabled divergent coevolution of male song and female preferences.

Preferred Leadership Behaviours of Male and Female Badminton Players

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Rajkumar S HARMA

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Pr eferences for specific coaching behaviours of male and female Badminton players were measured by the modified and revised Leadership Scale for Sport. Eighty two (Males=61, Females=21 badminton players were selected from amongst the players representing th eir respective university teams in East - zone Inter - university Badminton (Men/Women tournaments held at Bilaspur (CG. The present investigation noted the statistically significant differences among East - zone Inter - university level male as well as female B adminton player’s preferences for specific coaching behaviour. Differences were not observed between male and female badminton players in all the dimensions together of specific coaching behaviours of preferred leadership. It is recommended that coaches a lign their coaching style to meet the needs of their teams.

The height of choosiness : Mutual mate choice for stature results in suboptimal pair formation for both sexes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stulp, Gert; Buunk, Abraham P.; Kurzban, Robert; Verhulst, Simon

Mutual mate choice is prevalent in humans, where both males and females have a say in their choice of partner. How the choices made by one sex constrain the choice of the other remains poorly understood, however, because human studies have mostly limited themselves to measuring preferences. We used

Preferred leadership prototypes of male and female leaders in 27 countries

OpenAIRE

Lori D Paris; Jon P Howell; Peter W Dorfman; Paul J Hanges

2009-01-01

Our study shows that preferred leadership prototypes held by female leaders differ from the prototypes held by male leaders, and that these prototype differences vary across countries, cultures, and especially industries. In general, female managers prefer participative, team oriented, and charismatic leadership prototype dimensions more than males. Contrary to popular belief, both males and females valued humane-oriented leadership equally. Gender egalitarianism and industry type were import...

Polygyny, mate-guarding, and posthumous fertilization as alternative male mating strategies.

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Zamudio, K R; Sinervo, B

2000-12-19

Alternative male mating strategies within populations are thought to be evolutionarily stable because different behaviors allow each male type to successfully gain access to females. Although alternative male strategies are widespread among animals, quantitative evidence for the success of discrete male strategies is available for only a few systems. We use nuclear microsatellites to estimate the paternity rates of three male lizard strategies previously modeled as a rock-paper-scissors game. Each strategy has strengths that allow it to outcompete one morph, and weaknesses that leave it vulnerable to the strategy of another. Blue-throated males mate-guard their females and avoid cuckoldry by yellow-throated "sneaker" males, but mate-guarding is ineffective against aggressive orange-throated neighbors. The ultradominant orange-throated males are highly polygynous and maintain large territories; they overpower blue-throated neighbors and cosire offspring with their females, but are often cuckolded by yellow-throated males. Finally, yellow-throated sneaker males sire offspring via secretive copulations and often share paternity of offspring within a female's clutch. Sneaker males sire more offspring posthumously, indicating that sperm competition may be an important component of their strategy.

Evaluation of mating behaviour and mating compatibility methods for the Old World screwworm fly, Chrysomya bezziana.

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April H. Wardhana

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The effectiveness of the Sterile Insect Technique program (SIT to eradicate pest insects relies on the success of mating competitiveness between irradiated male flies and wild type males for the wild type females. It has been successfully applied for the New World screwworm fly (NWSF, Cochliomyia hominivorax but remains unproven for the Old World screwworm fly (OWSF, Chrysomya bezziana. The aim of the study was to develop methods for investigating mating behaviour and mating compatibility of C. bezziana under laboratory conditions. Two methods were used for studying mating: individual mating (method 1 and group mating (method 2. The flies used in this study were 5-7 days old. Twenty four hours after emergence, adult flies were sexed and placed into different cages until studied. The female : male ratio in the group mating was 1 : 5 and the males were marked by painting a dot on the thorax using different oil colours. Observation of mating behaviour was investigated every 30 minutes through 10-20 replications for all methods depending on the availability of flies. Data were analysed using ANOVA and the Student’s t-test, with significance demonstrated at the 95% confidence level. The results demonstrated that the frequency of contacts between males and females at different ages was a significantly different (p 0.05 and method 2 (p > 0.05. Copulation was only initiated following longer periods of contact, mainly in the range of 270-449 seconds. The highest frequency of copulation occurred between 7-8 days, but the duration of mating was similar between 5-8 days old. The study demonstrated that the methods developed were suitable for a mating compatibility study of C. bezziana.

Male courtship preferences demonstrate discrimination against allopatric colour morphs in a cichlid fish.

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Zoppoth, P; Koblmüller, S; Sefc, K M

2013-03-01

Whether premating isolation is achieved by male-specific, female-specific or sex-independent assortative preferences often depends on the underlying evolutionary processes. Here we test mate preferences of males presented with females of different allopatric colour variants of the cichlid fish Tropheus sp., a Lake Tanganyika endemic with rich geographical colour pattern variation, in which the strength of sexual isolation varies between populations. We conducted two-way mate choice experiments to compare behaviour of males of a red-bodied morph (population Moliro) towards females from their own population with behaviour towards females from four allopatric populations at different stages of phylogenetic and phenotypic divergence. Males courted same-population females significantly more intensely than females of other populations, and reduced their heteromorphic courtship efforts both with increasing genetic and increasing phenotypic distinctness of the females. In particular, females of a closely related red-bodied population received significantly more courtship than either genetically distinct, similarly coloured females ('Kirschfleck' morph) or genetically related, differently coloured females ('yellow-blotch' morph), both of which were courted similarly. Genetically and phenotypically distinct females (Tropheus polli) were not courted at all. Consistent with previous female-choice experiments, female courtship activity also decreased with increasing genetic distance from the males' population. Given successful experimental and natural introgression between colour morphs and the pervasive allopatry of related variants, we consider it unlikely that assortative preferences of both sexes were driven by direct selection during periods of secondary contact or, in turn, drove colour pattern differentiation in allopatry. Rather, we suggest that sexual isolation evolved as by-product of allopatric divergence. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012

Males and females contribute unequally to offspring genetic diversity in the polygynandrous mating system of wild boar.

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Javier Pérez-González

Full Text Available The maintenance of genetic diversity across generations depends on both the number of reproducing males and females. Variance in reproductive success, multiple paternity and litter size can all affect the relative contributions of male and female parents to genetic variation of progeny. The mating system of the wild boar (Sus scrofa has been described as polygynous, although evidence of multiple paternity in litters has been found. Using 14 microsatellite markers, we evaluated the contribution of males and females to genetic variation in the next generation in independent wild boar populations from the Iberian Peninsula and Hungary. Genetic contributions of males and females were obtained by distinguishing the paternal and maternal genetic component inherited by the progeny. We found that the paternally inherited genetic component of progeny was more diverse than the maternally inherited component. Simulations showed that this finding might be due to a sampling bias. However, after controlling for the bias by fitting both the genetic diversity in the adult population and the number of reproductive individuals in the models, paternally inherited genotypes remained more diverse than those inherited maternally. Our results suggest new insights into how promiscuous mating systems can help maintain genetic variation.

Mate loss affects survival but not breeding in black brant geese

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Nicolai, Christopher A.; Sedinger, James S.; Ward, David H.; Boyd, W. Sean

2012-01-01

For birds maintaining long-term monogamous relationships, mate loss might be expected to reduce fitness, either through reduced survival or reduced future reproductive investment. We used harvest of male brant during regular sport hunting seasons as an experimental removal to examine effects of mate loss on fitness of female black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans; hereafter brant). We used the Barker model in program MARK to examine effects of mate loss on annual survival, reporting rate, and permanent emigration. Survival rates decreased from 0.847 ± 0.004 for females who did not lose their mates to 0.690 ± 0.072 for birds who lost mates. Seber ring reporting rate for females that lost their mates were 2 times higher than those that did not lose mates, 0.12 ± 0.086 and 0.06 ± 0.006, respectively, indicating that mate loss increased vulnerability to harvest and possibly other forms of predation. We found little support for effects of mate loss on fidelity to breeding site and consequently on breeding. Our results indicate substantial fitness costs to females associated with mate loss, but that females who survived and were able to form new pair bonds may have been higher quality than the average female in the population.

Female Preference and Predation Risk Models Can Explain the Maintenance of a Fallow Deer (Dama dama) Lek and Its ‘Handy’ Location

Science.gov (United States)

Apollonio, Marco; De Cena, Fabio; Bongi, Paolo; Ciuti, Simone

2014-01-01

We tested the predictions of three models (female preference; hotspot; predator avoidance) on lek formation in the fallow deer population of San Rossore, Tuscany. We collected behavioural observations in two leks and radiotracking data on 67 deer over 7 years. Two deer sub-populations were present in the northern and southern sides of the area, respectively, the two sectors being delimited by a river and including one lek each. Predictions were tested for one lek (SG), located in the south-side where we set up our 7-year radiotracking program. Data from a second lek (FO, north-side) were used to test those predictions which imply the occurrence of multiple leks in the same population. We showed that the majority of females made one single visit to one lek, only during the rut. The lek was located outside areas of higher female traffic and home range overlap, and females increased home range sizes during the rut to reach it. Twilight routes of females never crossed the lek; instead, females walked atypical routes and at a faster pace to reach the lek and mate. The distance between the two leks was higher than the average diameter of female home ranges, and only one lek was present within female home ranges. Males reached the lek one month before the arrival of females, corroborating that lekking is a female-initiated process (females moving towards large clumped male aggregations) rather than a male-initiated process (males moving towards female hotspots). Our results supported the female preference model, and rejected the predictions of the hotspot model. Also, leks were located far from areas with higher predation risk, supporting the predator avoidance model. The position of lek SG resulted ‘handy’ at the sub-population level because of the optimal trade-off between travel costs for females to reach it and avoidance of human predators. PMID:24599036

Self-reported impulsivity, rather than sociosexuality, predicts women's preferences for masculine features in male faces.

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Boothroyd, Lynda G; Brewer, Gayle

2014-07-01

Previous research has suggested that an individual's sociosexual orientation (i.e., their willingness to engage in sexual behavior outside of long-term relationships) may influence the qualities they find attractive in a potential mate. Results, however, have not been consistent and, moreover, studies have tended to draw from specific social groups. Here, we tested the relationship between sociosexuality and female's preferences for masculinity in male faces, using a diverse population. We furthermore investigated impulsivity alongside sociosexuality, as this trait has been suggested as a "root" cause of variation in sexual behavior (Cross, 2010) and thus may better explain variation in mate choice. Results showed a significant association between increases in both sociosexuality and two subcomponents of impulsivity and greater preferences for masculine male features. Regression analysis suggested that a subcomponent of impulsivity, namely lack of planning, was the primary determinant of preferences. We discuss the implications these results have for our understanding of female attraction to masculine features.

Influence of mating on ovarian follicle development in Triatoma infestans (Klug, 1834

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S. Asin

1992-09-01

Full Text Available This works examines the influence of mating on ovarian follicle development in Triatoma infestans. The observations were carried out on both virgin and mated females, wich were killed at various times after their emergence. There was no difference in the ovarian development of both experimental groups during the first gonadotrofic cycle. By the 7th day mated females as well as virgn females showed vitellogenic oocytes. The coriogenesis and ovulation process began on the 13th day after imaginal moulting. However we could observe that egg-laying was dependent on mating. Mated females laid eggs whereas virgin females did not lay eggs. However ovarian production was significantly greater in the mated females. It is suggested that in T. infestans mating stimulates egg-laying but it does not influence the oogenesis and ovulation process.

Mate choice screening in captive solitary carnivores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Noer, Christina Lehmkuhl; Balsby, Thorsten Johannes Skovbjerg; Anistoroaei, Razvan

2017-01-01

Mate choice studies suggest that choosy females benefit from increased fecundity, litter size, and offspring survival. Thus, providing females with the opportunity to choose among potential mates, deemed genetically suitable based on studbook data, might improve breeding management in production ...

Discriminating males and unpredictable females: males differentiate self-similar facial cues more than females in the judgment of opposite-sex attractiveness.

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Jin-Ying Zhuang

Full Text Available Attractiveness judgment in the context of mate preferences is thought to reflect an assessment of mate quality in relation to an absolute scale of genetic fitness and a relative scale of self-similarity. In this study, subjects judged the attractiveness and trustworthiness of faces in composite images that were manipulated to produce self-similar (self-resemblance and dissimilar (other-resemblance images. Males differentiated between self- and other-resemblance as well as among different degrees of self-resemblance in their attractiveness ratings; females did not. Specifically, in Experiment 1, using a morphing technique, we created previously unseen face images possessing different degrees (0%, 30%, 40%, or 50% of incorporation of the subject's images (different degrees of self-resemblance and found that males preferred images that were closer to average (0% rather than more self-similar, whereas females showed no preference for any degree of self-similarity. In Experiment 2, we added a pro-social question about trustworthiness. We replicated the Experiment 1 attractiveness rating results and further found that males differentiated between self- and other-resemblance for the same degree of composites; women did not. Both males and females showed a similar preference for self-resemblances when judging trustworthiness. In conclusion, only males factored self-resemblance into their attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex individuals in a manner consistent with cues of reproductive fitness, although both sexes favored self-resemblance when judging trustworthiness.

Stress responsiveness predicts individual variation in mate selectivity.

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Vitousek, Maren N; Romero, L Michael

2013-06-15

Steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids, mediate a variety of behavioral and physiological processes. Circulating hormone concentrations vary substantially within populations, and although hormone titers predict reproductive success in several species, little is known about how individual variation in circulating hormone concentrations is linked with most reproductive behaviors in free-living organisms. Mate choice is an important and often costly component of reproduction that also varies substantially within populations. We examined whether energetically costly mate selection behavior in female Galápagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) was associated with individual variation in the concentrations of hormones previously shown to differ between reproductive and non-reproductive females during the breeding season (corticosterone and testosterone). Stress-induced corticosterone levels - which are suppressed in female marine iguanas during reproduction - were individually repeatable throughout the seven-week breeding period. Mate selectivity was strongly predicted by individual variation in stress-induced corticosterone: reproductive females that secreted less corticosterone in response to a standardized stressor assessed more displaying males. Neither baseline corticosterone nor testosterone predicted variation in mate selectivity. Scaled body mass was not significantly associated with mate selectivity, but females that began the breeding period in lower body condition showed a trend towards being less selective about potential mates. These results provide the first evidence that individual variation in the corticosterone stress response is associated with how selective females are in their choice of a mate, an important contributor to fitness in many species. Future research is needed to determine the functional basis of this association, and whether transient acute increases in circulating corticosterone directly mediate mate choice behaviors

Mate choice trade-offs and women's preference for physically attractive men.

Science.gov (United States)

Waynforth, D

2001-09-01

Researchers studying human sexuality have repeatedly concluded that men place more emphasis on the physical attractiveness of potential mates than women do, particularly in long-term sexual relationships. Evolutionary theorists have suggested that this is the case because male mate value (the total value of the characteristics that an individual possesses in terms of the potential contribution to his or her mate's reproductive success) is better predicted by social status and economic resources, whereas women's mate value hinges on signals conveyed by their physical appearance. This pattern may imply that women trade off attractiveness for resources in mate choice. Here I test whether a trade-off between resources and attractiveness seems to be occurring in the mate choice decisions of women in the United States. In addition, the possibility that the risk of mate desertion drives women to choose less attractive men as long-term mates is tested. The results were that women rated physically attractive men as more likely to cheat or desert a long-term relationship, whereas men did not consider attractive women to be more likely to cheat. However, women showed no aversion to the idea of forming long-term relationships with attractive men. Evidence for a trade-off between resources and attractiveness was found for women, who traded off attractiveness, but not other traits, for resources. The potential meaning of these findings, as well as how they relate to broader issues in the study of sex differences in the evolution of human mate choice for physical traits, is discussed.

Firefly Mating Algorithm for Continuous Optimization Problems

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Amarita Ritthipakdee

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a swarm intelligence algorithm, called firefly mating algorithm (FMA, for solving continuous optimization problems. FMA uses genetic algorithm as the core of the algorithm. The main feature of the algorithm is a novel mating pair selection method which is inspired by the following 2 mating behaviors of fireflies in nature: (i the mutual attraction between males and females causes them to mate and (ii fireflies of both sexes are of the multiple-mating type, mating with multiple opposite sex partners. A female continues mating until her spermatheca becomes full, and, in the same vein, a male can provide sperms for several females until his sperm reservoir is depleted. This new feature enhances the global convergence capability of the algorithm. The performance of FMA was tested with 20 benchmark functions (sixteen 30-dimensional functions and four 2-dimensional ones against FA, ALC-PSO, COA, MCPSO, LWGSODE, MPSODDS, DFOA, SHPSOS, LSA, MPDPGA, DE, and GABC algorithms. The experimental results showed that the success rates of our proposed algorithm with these functions were higher than those of other algorithms and the proposed algorithm also required fewer numbers of iterations to reach the global optima.

Mate Choice and Copulation Frequency in the Burying Beetle Nicrophorus quadripunctatus (Coleoptera: Silphidae: Effect of Male Body Size and Presence of a Rival

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Seizi Suzuki

2009-01-01

Full Text Available It is widely assumed that there exists a competition between males for mating and that females prefer males with elaborate male traits. Further, such traits are considered to be synonymous with high quality in terms of benefits to females. The number and duration of copulations and the frequency of mate refusal between large and small Nicrophorus quadripunctatus males were examined both for single males and for two males competing. The number of copulations was not affected by the size of the male or by the presence of a rival, but there was a significant interaction such that large males increased their number of copulations when a small rival was present. Copulation duration was not affected by male size but was shortened by a rival male. Females rejected copulation attempts of small males more often than of large males, whether the males were alone or paired with a rival. These results suggest that large males have two advantages: they win contests between males and are preferred by females.

Mating Competitiveness of Agrotis ipsilon (Hufn.) Irradiated as Parental Pupae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Naggar, S.E.M.; Ibrahim, S.M.; El-Shall, S.S.A.

1999-01-01

Laboratory studied were carried out to evaluate the mating competitiveness of P 1 and F 1 generations of Agrotis ipsilon when irradiated as full grown pupae with 75 and 150 Gy of gamma irradiation. The mating competitiveness values showed that either males or females of P 1 or F 1 generation were full competitive after treatment with 75 or 150 Gy at all released ratios. Mating competitiveness of both irradiated males and females was also studied to avoid problems concerning mass sexing. The results revealed that confining both sexes together gave an excellent results for population suppression in both P 1 and F 1 in both tested doses and ratios. The addition of irradiated females to the release ratio make these females encountered in mating with untreated females, and possessed 78% of all matings occurred in parent generation in the two tested doses at 5:5:1 ratio and increased to reach 88% by F 1 females 75 Gy while it was reduced to only 31% at 150 Gy, but still act in mating

Mate call as reward: Acoustic communication signals can acquire positive reinforcing values during adulthood in female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Alexandra M; Perez, Emilie C; Mulard, Hervé; Mathevon, Nicolas; Vignal, Clémentine

2016-02-01

Social stimuli can have rewarding properties and promote learning. In birds, conspecific vocalizations like song can act as a reinforcer, and specific song variants can acquire particular rewarding values during early life exposure. Here we ask if, during adulthood, an acoustic signal simpler and shorter than song can become a reward for a female songbird because of its particular social value. Using an operant choice apparatus, we showed that female zebra finches display a preferential response toward their mate's calls. This reinforcing value of mate's calls could be involved in the maintenance of the monogamous pair-bond of the zebra finch. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Context and Relative Rank on Mate Choice and Affiliation Ratings

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P. Lynne Honey

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Female dominance has not often been studied as a factor in mate choice and other social interactions. When it has been examined, there have been a number of conflicting findings. The present study was designed to clarify interpretations of a study conducted by Brown and Lewis (2004 that found that men prefer subordinate women in a workplace context. We presented participants with information about the relative rank of physically attractive targets, in two very different contexts (work-related and recreational. We found that the context in which rank cues are presented has an impact on affiliation ratings, but that cues of rank do not affect mate choice ratings. Future studies of effects of dominance must take into account the context in which they are presented, and recognize that rank may not be a sufficient indicator of dominance for the purpose of mate choice by both men and women.

Z linkage of female promiscuity genes in the moth Utetheisa ornatrix: support for the sexy-sperm hypothesis?

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Iyengar, Vikram K; Reeve, Hudson K

2010-05-01

Female preference genes for large males in the highly promiscuous moth Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) have previously been shown to be mostly Z-linked, in accordance with the hypothesis that ZZ-ZW sex chromosome systems should facilitate Fisherian sexual selection. We determined the heritability of both female and male promiscuity in the highly promiscuous moth U. ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) through parent-offspring and grandparent-offspring regression analyses. Our data show that male promiscuity is not sex-limited and either autosomal or sex-linked whereas female promiscuity is primarily determined by sex-limited, Z-linked genes. These data are consistent with the "sexy-sperm hypothesis," which posits that multiple-mating and sperm competitiveness coevolve through a Fisherian-like process in which female promiscuity is a kind of mate choice in which sperm-competitiveness is the trait favored in males. Such a Fisherian process should also be more potent when female preferences are Z-linked and sex-limited than when autosomal or not limited.

Neuropeptides affecting the transfer of juvenile hormones from males to females during mating in Spodoptera frugiperda.

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Hassanien, Intisar T E; Grötzner, Manuela; Meyering-Vos, Martina; Hoffmann, Klaus H

2014-07-01

In the polyandric moth, Spodopterafrugiperda, juvenile hormone (JH) is transferred from the male accessory reproductive glands (AG) to the female bursa copulatrix (BC) during copulation (see Hassanien et al., 2014). Here we used the RNA interference technique to study the role of allatoregulating neuropeptides in controlling the synthesis and transfer of JH during mating. Knockdown of S. frugiperda allatostatin C (Spofr-AS type C) in freshly emerged males leads to an accumulation of JH in the AG beyond that in the control and mating results in a higher transport of JH I and JH II into the female BC. Knockdown of S. frugiperda allatotropin 2 (Spofr-AT2) significantly reduces the amount of JH in the AG as well as its transfer into the female BC during copulation. Knockdown of S. frugiperda allatostatin A (Spofr-AS type A) and S. frugiperda allatotropin (Spofr-AT; Hassanien et al., 2014) only slightly affects the accumulation of JH in the AG and its transfer from the male to the female. We conclude that Spofr-AS type C and Spofr-AT2 act as true allatostatin and true allatotropin, respectively, on the synthesis of JH I and JH II in the male AG. Moreover, both peptides seem to control the synthesis of JH III in the corpora allata of adult males and its release into the hemolymph. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nest-mate recognition in Manuelia postica (Apidae: Xylocopinae): an eusocial trait is present in a solitary bee.

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Flores-Prado, Luis; Aguilera-Olivares, Daniel; Niemeyer, Hermann M

2008-02-07

In eusocial Hymenoptera, females are more tolerant towards nest-mate than towards non-nest-mate females. In solitary Hymenoptera, females are generally aggressive towards any conspecific female. Field observations of the nest biology of Manuelia postica suggested nest-mate recognition. Experiments were performed involving two live interacting females or one live female interacting with a dead female. Live females from different nests were more intolerant to each other than females from the same nest. Females were more intolerant towards non-nest-mate than towards nest-mate dead females. When dead females were washed with pentane, no differences in tolerant and intolerant behaviours were detected between non-nest-mate and nest-mate females. Females were more intolerant towards nest-mate female carcasses coated with the cuticular extract from a non-nest-mate than towards non-nest-mate female carcasses coated with the cuticular extract from a nest-mate. The compositions of the cuticular extracts was more similar between females from the same nest than between females from different nests. The results demonstrate for the first time nest-mate recognition mediated by cuticular chemicals in a largely solitary species of Apidae. The position of Manuelia at the base of the Apidae phylogeny suggests that nest-mate recognition in eusocial species apical to Manuelia represents the retention of a primitive capacity in Apidae.

Social context-induced song variation affects female behavior and gene expression.

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Sarah C Woolley

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Social cues modulate the performance of communicative behaviors in a range of species, including humans, and such changes can make the communication signal more salient. In songbirds, males use song to attract females, and song organization can differ depending on the audience to which a male sings. For example, male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata change their songs in subtle ways when singing to a female (directed song compared with when they sing in isolation (undirected song, and some of these changes depend on altered neural activity from a specialized forebrain-basal ganglia circuit, the anterior forebrain pathway (AFP. In particular, variable activity in the AFP during undirected song is thought to actively enable syllable variability, whereas the lower and less-variable AFP firing during directed singing is associated with more stereotyped song. Consequently, directed song has been suggested to reflect a "performance" state, and undirected song a form of vocal motor "exploration." However, this hypothesis predicts that directed-undirected song differences, despite their subtlety, should matter to female zebra finches, which is a question that has not been investigated. We tested female preferences for this natural variation in song in a behavioral approach assay, and we found that both mated and socially naive females could discriminate between directed and undirected song-and strongly preferred directed song. These preferences, which appeared to reflect attention especially to aspects of song variability controlled by the AFP, were enhanced by experience, as they were strongest for mated females responding to their mate's directed songs. We then measured neural activity using expression of the immediate early gene product ZENK, and found that social context and song familiarity differentially modulated the number of ZENK-expressing cells in telencephalic auditory areas. Specifically, the number of ZENK-expressing cells in the

How females of chirping and trilling field crickets integrate the 'what' and 'where' of male acoustic signals during decision making.

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Gabel, Eileen; Gray, David A; Matthias Hennig, R

2016-11-01

In crickets acoustic communication serves mate selection. Female crickets have to perceive and integrate male cues relevant for mate choice while confronted with several different signals in an acoustically diverse background. Overall female decisions are based on the attractiveness of the temporal pattern (informative about the 'what') and on signal intensity (informative about the 'where') of male calling songs. Here, we investigated how the relevant cues for mate choice are integrated during the decision process by females of five different species of chirping and trilling field crickets. Using a behavioral design, female preferences in no-choice and choice situations for male calling songs differing in pulse rate, modulation depth, intensities, chirp/trill arrangements and temporal shifts were examined. Sensory processing underlying decisions in female field crickets is rather similar as combined evidence suggested that incoming song patterns were analyzed separately by bilaterally paired networks for pattern attractiveness and pattern intensity. A downstream gain control mechanism leads to a weighting of the intensity cue by pattern attractiveness. While remarkable differences between species were observed with respect to specific processing steps, closely related species exhibited more similar preferences than did more distantly related species.

Preferred and actual relative height among homosexual male partners vary with preferred dominance and sex role

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Varella Valentova, Jaroslava; Stulp, Gert; Třebický, Vít; Havlíček, Jan

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown repeatedly that human stature influences mate preferences and mate choice in heterosexuals. In general, it has been shown that tall men and average height women are most preferred by the opposite sex, and that both sexes prefer to be in a relationship where the man is

Disrupting Mating Behavior of Diaphorina citri (Liviidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Lujo, S; Hartman, E; Norton, K; Pregmon, E A; Rohde, B B; Mankin, R W

2016-12-01

Severe economic damage from citrus greening disease, caused by 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' bacteria, has stimulated development of methods to reduce mating and reproduction in populations of its insect vector, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae). Male D. citri find mating partners by walking on host plants, intermittently producing vibrational calls that stimulate duetting replies by receptive females. The replies provide orientational feedback, assisting the search process. To test a hypothesis that D. citri mating can be disrupted using vibrational signals that compete with and/or mask female replies, courtship bioassays were conducted in citrus trees with or without interference from female reply mimics produced by a vibrating buzzer. Statistically significant reductions occurred in the rates and proportions of mating when the buzzer produced reply mimics within 0.4 s after male courtship calls compared with undisturbed controls. Observations of courtship behaviors in the two bioassays revealed activity patterns that likely contributed to the reductions. In both disruption and control tests, males reciprocated frequently between structural bifurcations and other transition points where signal amplitudes changed. Males in the disruption bioassay had to select among vibrational signals combined from the buzzer and the female at each transition point. They often turned towards the buzzer instead of the female. There was a statistically significant reduction in the proportion of males mating if they contacted the buzzer, possibly due to its higher vibration amplitude and duration in comparison with female replies. Potential applications of D. citri mating disruption technology in citrus groves are discussed. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2016. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Fitness cost of pheromone production in signaling female moths.

Science.gov (United States)

Harari, Ally R; Zahavi, Tirtza; Thiéry, Denis

2011-06-01

A secondary sexual character may act as an honest signal of the quality of the individual if the trait bears a cost and if its expression is phenotypically condition dependent. The cost of increasing the trait should be tolerable for individuals in good condition but not for those in a poor condition. The trait thus provides an honest signal of quality that enables the receiver to choose higher quality mates. Evidence for sex pheromones, which play a major role in shaping sexual evolution, inflicting a signaling cost is scarce. Here, we demonstrate that the amount of the major component of the pheromone in glands of Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera) females at signaling time was significantly greater in large than in small females, that male moths preferred larger females as mates when responding to volatile signals, and small virgin females, but not large ones, exposed to conspecific pheromone, produced, when mated, significantly fewer eggs than nonexposed females. The latter indicates a condition-dependent cost of signaling. These results are in accordance with the predictions of condition-dependent honest signals. We therefore suggest that female signaling for males using sex pheromones bears a cost and thus calling may serve as honest advertisement for female quality. © 2011 The Author(s). Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Attractiveness of the female body: Preference for the average or the supernormal?

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Marković Slobodan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of the present study was to contrast the two hypotheses of female body attractiveness. The first is the “preference-for-the average” hypothesis: the most attractive female body is the one that represents the average body proportions for a given population. The second is the “preference-for-the supernormal” hypothesis: according to the so-called “peak shift effect”, the most attractive female body is more feminine than the average. We investigated the preference for three female body characteristics: waist to hip ratio (WHR, buttocks and breasts. There were 456 participants of both genders. Using a program for computer animation (DAZ 3D three sets of stimuli were generated (WHR, buttocks and breasts. Each set included six stimuli ranked from the lowest to the highest femininity level. Participants were asked to choose the stimulus within each set which they found most attractive (task 1 and average (task 2. One group of participants judged the body parts that were presented in the global context (whole body, while the other group judged the stimuli in the local context (isolated body parts only. Analyses have shown that the most attractive WHR, buttocks and breasts are more feminine (meaning smaller for WHR and larger for breasts and buttocks than average ones, for both genders and in both presentation contexts. The effect of gender was obtained only for the most attractive breasts: males prefer larger breasts than females. Finally, most attractive and average WHR and breasts were less feminine in the local than in the global context. These results support the preference-for the supernormal hypothesis: all analyses have shown that both male and female participants preferred female body parts which are more feminine than those judged average. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 179033

Habitat change influences mate search behaviour in three-spined sticklebacks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heuschele, Jan; Salminen, Tiina; Candolin, Ulrika

2012-01-01

Mate choice is one of the main mechanisms of sexual selection, with profound implications for individual fitness. Changes in environmental conditions can cause individuals to alter their mate search behaviour, with consequences for mate choice. Human-induced eutrophication of water bodies...... is a global problem that alters habitat structure and visibility in aquatic ecosystems. We investigated whether changes in habitat complexity and male cue modality, visual or olfactory, influence mate search behaviour of female three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus. We allowed gravid females...... evaluation in the absence of visual stimulation. This reduced the rate of mate encounters and probably also the opportunity for choice. Our results show that changes in habitat structure and visibility can alter female mate searching, with potential consequences for the opportunity for sexual selection....

No detectable fertility benefit from a single additional mating in wild stalk-eyed flies.

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Elisabeth Harley

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Multiple mating by female insects is widespread, and the explanation(s for repeated mating by females has been the subject of much discussion. Females may profit from mating multiply through direct material benefits that increase their own reproductive output, or indirect genetic benefits that increase offspring fitness. One particular direct benefit that has attracted significant attention is that of fertility assurance, as females often need to mate multiply to achieve high fertility. This hypothesis has never been tested in a wild insect population.Female Malaysian stalk-eyed flies (Teleopsis dalmanni mate repeatedly during their lifetime, and have been shown to be sperm limited under both laboratory and field conditions. Here we ask whether receiving an additional mating alleviates sperm limitation in wild females. In our experiment one group of females received a single additional mating, while a control group received an interrupted, and therefore unsuccessful, mating. Females that received an additional mating did not lay more fertilised eggs in total, nor did they lay proportionately more fertilised eggs. Female fertility declined significantly through time, demonstrating that females were sperm limited. However, receipt of an additional mating did not significantly alter the rate of this decline.Our data suggest that the fertility consequences of a single additional mating were small. We discuss this effect (or lack thereof, and suggest that it is likely to be attributed to small ejaculate size, a high proportion of failed copulations, and the presence of X-linked meiotic drive in this species.

Size and competitive mating success in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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Smith, Carl; Pomiankowski, Andrew; Greig, Duncan

2014-03-01

In unicellular organisms like yeast, mating with the right partner is critical to future fitness because each individual can only mate once. Because cell size is important for viability, mating with a partner of the right size could be a significant advantage. To investigate this idea, we manipulated the size of unmated yeast cells and showed that their viability depended on environmental conditions; large cells do better on rich medium and small cells do better on poor medium. We also found that the fitness of offspring is determined by the size of their parents. Finally, we demonstrated that when a focal cell of one mating type was placed with a large and a small cell of the opposite mating type, it was more likely to mate with the cell that was closer to the optimum size for growth in a given environment. This pattern was not generated by differences in passive mating efficiency of large and small cells across environments but by competitive mating behavior, mate preference, or both. We conclude that the most likely mechanism underlying this interesting behavior is that yeast cells compete for mates by producing pheromone signals advertising their viability, and cells with the opportunity to choose prefer to mate with stronger signalers because such matings produce more viable offspring.

The Long and the Short of Mate Attraction in a Psylloid: do Semiochemicals Mediate Mating in Aacanthocnema dobsoni Froggatt?

Science.gov (United States)

Lubanga, Umar K; Drijfhout, Falko P; Farnier, Kevin; Steinbauer, Martin J

2016-02-01

Mating is preceded by a series of interdependent events that can be broadly categorized into searching and courtship. Long-range signals convey species- and sex-specific information during searching, while short-range signals provide information specific to individuals during courtship. Studies have shown that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can be used for mate recognition in addition to protecting insects from desiccation. In Psylloidea, four species rely on semiochemicals for long-range mate attraction. Psyllid mating research has focused on long-range mate attraction and has largely ignored the potential use of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) as mate recognition cues. This study investigated whether CHCs of Aacanthocnema dobsoni have semiochemical activity for long- and short-range communication prior to mating. Using a solid sampler for solvent-less injection of whole psyllids into coupled gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we found quantitative, sex- and age-related differences in CHC profiles. Males had higher proportions of 2-MeC28, 11,15-diMeC29, and n-C33 alkanes, while females had higher proportions of 5-MeC27, 3-MeC27, 5,15-diMeC27, n-C29 and n-C30 alkanes. In males and females, 84 and 68 % of CHCs varied with age, respectively. Y-tube olfactometer bioassays provided no evidence that males or females responded to odors emanating from groups of conspecifics of the opposite sex. Tests of male and female psyllids for attraction to branchlets previously occupied by conspecifics showed no evidence of attraction to possible semiochemical residues. Our short-range chemoreception bioassay showed that males were as indifferent to freshly killed individuals of either sex with intact CHC profiles as to those treated with hexane (to remove CHCs). Aacanthocnema dobsoni utilizes substrate-borne vibrations (SBVs) for communication. Therefore, our results indicate that SBVs are probably more important than semiochemicals for long-range mate attraction. Furthermore

Trichostatin A (TSA) facilitates formation of partner preference in male prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster).

Science.gov (United States)

Duclot, F; Wang, H; Youssef, C; Liu, Y; Wang, Z; Kabbaj, M

2016-05-01

In the socially monogamous prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), the development of a social bonding is indicated by the formation of partner preference, which involves a variety of environmental and neurochemical factors and brain structures. In a most recent study in female prairie voles, we found that treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) facilitates the formation of partner preference through up-regulation of oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR) genes expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that TSA treatment also facilitates partner preference formation and alters OTR and V1aR genes expression in the NAcc in male prairie voles. We thus observed that central injection of TSA dose-dependently promoted the formation of partner preference in the absence of mating in male prairie voles. Interestingly, TSA treatment up-regulated OTR, but not V1aR, gene expression in the NAcc similarly as they were affected by mating - an essential process for naturally occurring partner preference. These data, together with others, not only indicate the involvement of epigenetic events but also the potential role of NAcc oxytocin in the regulation of partner preference in both male and female prairie voles. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studies on mating competition of irradiated melon flies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Limohpasmanee, W.

1994-01-01

Mating competition is the key factor for fruit flies control by using sterile insect technique project. Mass rearing and irradiation can reduce the mating competition of fruit flies. This experiment has purpose to evaluate the mating competition of the irradiated melon fly. The results show that mating competition values of irradiated melon flies were 0.36 and 0.24 when they mated with normal and irradiated females. Both normal male and female can mate more frequency than irradiated flies. (Z=1.322, P<0.05; Z=1.851, P<0.05). The results show that quality of mass rearing and irradiated melon fly was lower than the normal flies. So that quality of irradiated fly must be improved and the number of released flies as less must be higher than natural flies 6 time

The evolution of sex roles in mate searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Fromhage, Lutz; Jennions, Michael; Kokko, Hanna

2016-03-01

Searching for mates is a critical stage in the life cycle of most internally, and many externally, fertilizing species. Males usually invest more in this costly activity than females, but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Previous models have shown that female-biased parental investment, including anisogamy, does not by itself select for male-biased mate searching, so it requires additional explanations. Here, we correct and expand upon earlier models, and present two novel hypotheses that might explain the evolution of male-biased mate searching. The "carry-over hypothesis" states that females benefit less from searching if the associated costs affect other stages of the life cycle, rather than arising only while searching. It is relevant to the evolution of morphological traits that improve searching efficiency but are also expressed in other contexts. The "mating window hypothesis" states that females benefit less from searching if their life cycle includes intervals during which the exact timing of mating does not matter for the appropriate timing of reproduction (e.g., due to sperm storage or delayed embryo implantation). Such intervals are more likely to exist for females given the general pattern of greater female parental investment. Our models shed new light on classic arguments about sex role evolution. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Inbreeding affects sexual signalling in males but not females of Tenebrio molitor.

Science.gov (United States)

Pölkki, Mari; Krams, Indrikis; Kangassalo, Katariina; Rantala, Markus J

2012-06-23

In many species of animals, individuals advertise their quality with sexual signals to obtain mates. Chemical signals such as volatile pheromones are species specific, and their primary purpose is to influence mate choice by carrying information about the phenotypic and genetic quality of the sender. The deleterious effects of consanguineous mating on individual quality are generally known, whereas the effect of inbreeding on sexual signalling is poorly understood. Here, we tested whether inbreeding reduces the attractiveness of sexual signalling in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, by testing the preferences for odours of inbred and outbred (control) individuals of the opposite sex. Females were more attracted to the odours produced by outbred males than the odours produced by inbred males, suggesting that inbreeding reduces the attractiveness of male sexual signalling. However, we did not find any difference between the attractiveness of inbred and outbred female odours, which may indicate that the quality of females is either irrelevant for T. molitor males or quality is not revealed through female odours.

Hormones of choice: the neuroendocrinology of partner preference in animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Henley, C L; Nunez, A A; Clemens, L G

2011-04-01

Partner preference behavior can be viewed as the outcome of a set of hierarchical choices made by an individual in anticipation of mating. The first choice involves approaching a conspecific verses an individual of another species. As a rule, a conspecific is picked as a mating partner, but early life experiences can alter that outcome. Within a species, an animal then has the choice between a member of the same sex or the opposite sex. The final choice is for a specific individual. This review will focus on the middle choice, the decision to mate with either a male or a female. Available data from rats, mice, and ferrets point to the importance of perinatal exposure to steroid hormones in the development of partner preferences, as well as the importance of activational effects in adulthood. However, the particular effects of this hormone exposure show species differences in both the specific steroid hormone responsible for the organization of behavior and the developmental period when it has its effect. Where these hormones have an effect in the brain is mostly unknown, but regions involved in olfaction and sexual behavior, as well as sexually dimorphic regions, seem to play a role. One limitation of the literature base is that many mate or 'partner preference studies' rely on preference for a specific stimulus (usually olfaction) but do not include an analysis of the relation, if any, that stimulus has to the choice of a particular sexual partner. A second limitation has been the almost total lack of attention to the type of behavior that is shown by the choosing animal once a 'partner' has been chosen, specifically, if the individual plays a mating role typical of its own sex or the opposite sex. Additional paradigms that address these questions are needed for better understanding of partner preferences in rodents. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Body Height Preferences and Actual Dimorphism in Stature between Partners in Two Non-Western Societies (Hadza and Tsimane')

OpenAIRE

Piotr Sorokowski; Agnieszka Sorokowska; Marina Butovskaya; Gert Stulp; Tomas Huanca; Bernhard Fink

2015-01-01

Body height influences human mate preferences and choice. A typical finding in Western societies is that women prefer men who are taller than themselves and, equivalently, men prefer women who are shorter than themselves. However, recent reports in non-Western societies (e.g., the Himba in Namibia) challenge the view on the universality of such preferences. Here we report on male and female height preferences in two non-Western populations—the Hadza (Tanzania) and the Tsimane' (Bolivia)—and t...

Receptive females mitigate costs of sexual conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Harano, T

2015-02-01

Males typically gain fitness from multiple mating, whereas females often lose fitness from numerous mating, potentially leading to sexual conflict over mating. This conflict is expected to favour the evolution of female resistance to mating. However, females may incur male harassment if they refuse to copulate; thus, greater female resistance may increase costs imposed by males. Here, I show that the evolution of resistance to mating raises fitness disadvantages of interacting with males when mating is harmful in female adzuki bean beetles, Callosobruchus chinensis. Females that were artificially selected for higher and lower remating propensity evolved to accept and resist remating, respectively. Compared with females that evolved to accept remating, females that evolved to resist it suffered higher fitness costs from continuous exposure to males. The costs of a single mating measured by the effect on longevity did not differ among selection line females. This study indicates that receptive rather than resistant females mitigate the fitness loss resulting from sexual conflict, suggesting that even though mating is harmful, females can evolve to accept additional mating. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Mating behaviour in a slave-making ant, Rossomyrmex minuchae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Ruano, Francisca; Tinaut, Alberto

2005-07-01

The mating behaviour of the ant Rossomyrmex minuchae, a rare, protected slave-making species in Spain, seems to be significantly affected by its particular life history and patchy habitat. The mating behaviour of the entire genus Rossomyrmex is virtually unknown. We present here the results of a 3-year study of mating behaviour in R. minuchae.Behavioural observations and limited nest excavations revealed that R. minuchae does not produce sexuals every year, the number of sexuals is low, and the sex ratio tends to be female biased. Females typically exhibit two distinct activity periods. The first, the mating period, takes place in early afternoon: the ants "call" near the natal nest, mate and then return to their nest. The second, the dispersal period takes place in late afternoon: the mated females exit their nest and fly in search of a new, non-parasitized Proformica longiseta host nest. Males are highly active during the mating period, but will remain inactive in the dispersal period even if experimentally presented with virgin females. It appears that females are monogamous, while males are polygamous. When males are late arriving at the female calling site, the females will frequently congregate presumably calling in chorus. The low reproductive efficiency exhibited by R. minuchae, coupled with the postulated low genetic variation in the population, as sisters may mate with the same male, could result in a low survival rate and risk of eventual extinction. The observed decrease in nest density we observed during the 2004 season may be indicative of such a process.

Sexual Experience Enhances Drosophila melanogaster Male Mating Behavior and Success

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Saleem, Sehresh; Ruggles, Patrick H.; Abbott, Wiley K.; Carney, Ginger E.

2014-01-01

Competition for mates is a wide-spread phenomenon affecting individual reproductive success. The ability of animals to adjust their behaviors in response to changing social environment is important and well documented. Drosophila melanogaster males compete with one another for matings with females and modify their reproductive behaviors based on prior social interactions. However, it remains to be determined how male social experience that culminates in mating with a female impacts subsequent male reproductive behaviors and mating success. Here we show that sexual experience enhances future mating success. Previously mated D. melanogaster males adjust their courtship behaviors and out-compete sexually inexperienced males for copulations. Interestingly, courtship experience alone is not sufficient in providing this competitive advantage, indicating that copulation plays a role in reinforcing this social learning. We also show that females use their sense of hearing to preferentially mate with experienced males when given a choice. Our results demonstrate the ability of previously mated males to learn from their positive sexual experiences and adjust their behaviors to gain a mating advantage. These experienced-based changes in behavior reveal strategies that animals likely use to increase their fecundity in natural competitive environments. PMID:24805129

Sexual experience enhances Drosophila melanogaster male mating behavior and success.

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Sehresh Saleem

Full Text Available Competition for mates is a wide-spread phenomenon affecting individual reproductive success. The ability of animals to adjust their behaviors in response to changing social environment is important and well documented. Drosophila melanogaster males compete with one another for matings with females and modify their reproductive behaviors based on prior social interactions. However, it remains to be determined how male social experience that culminates in mating with a female impacts subsequent male reproductive behaviors and mating success. Here we show that sexual experience enhances future mating success. Previously mated D. melanogaster males adjust their courtship behaviors and out-compete sexually inexperienced males for copulations. Interestingly, courtship experience alone is not sufficient in providing this competitive advantage, indicating that copulation plays a role in reinforcing this social learning. We also show that females use their sense of hearing to preferentially mate with experienced males when given a choice. Our results demonstrate the ability of previously mated males to learn from their positive sexual experiences and adjust their behaviors to gain a mating advantage. These experienced-based changes in behavior reveal strategies that animals likely use to increase their fecundity in natural competitive environments.

Mate attraction, retention and expulsion.

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Miner, Emily J; Shackelford, Todd K

2010-02-01

Sexual selection theory and parental investment theory have guided much of the evolutionary psychological research on human mating. Based on these theories, researchers have predicted and found sex differences in mating preferences and behaviors. Men generally prefer that their long-term partners are youthful and physically attractive. Women generally prefer that their long-term partners have existing resources or clear potential for securing resources and display a willingness to invest those resources in children the relationship might produce. Both men and women, however, desire long-term partners who are kind and intelligent. Once a partner is obtained, men and women act in sex-specific ways to ensure the continuation and exclusivity of the relationship. Men, in particular, engage in behaviors designed to prevent, correct, and anticipate their partner's sexual infidelity. Relationships dissolve for evolutionarily-relevant reasons: infidelity, childlessness, and infertility. The discussion addresses directions for future research.

Social bonds in the dispersing sex: partner preferences among adult female chimpanzees.

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Foerster, Steffen; McLellan, Karen; Schroepfer-Walker, Kara; Murray, Carson M; Krupenye, Christopher; Gilby, Ian C; Pusey, Anne E

2015-07-01

In most primate societies, strong and enduring social bonds form preferentially among kin, who benefit from cooperation through direct and indirect fitness gains. Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes , differ from most species by showing consistent female-biased dispersal and strict male philopatry. In most East African populations, females tend to forage alone in small core areas and were long thought to have weak social bonds of little biological significance. Recent work in some populations is challenging this view. However, challenges remain in quantifying the influence of shared space use on association patterns, and in identifying the drivers of partner preferences and social bonds. Here, we use the largest data set on wild chimpanzee behaviour currently available to assess potential determinants of female association patterns. We quantify pairwise similarities in ranging, dyadic association and grooming for 624 unique dyads over 38 years, including 17 adult female kin dyads. To search for social preferences that could not be explained by spatial overlap alone, we controlled for expected association based on pairwise kernel volume intersections of core areas. We found that association frequencies among females with above-average overlap correlated positively with grooming rates, suggesting that associations reflected social preferences in these dyads. Furthermore, when available, females preferred kin over nonkin partners for association and grooming, and variability was high among nonkin dyads. While variability in association above and below expected values was high, on average, nonkin associated more frequently if they had immature male offspring, while having female offspring had the opposite effect. Dominance rank, an important determinant of reproductive success at Gombe, influenced associations primarily for low-ranking females, who associated preferentially with each other. Our findings support the hypothesis that female chimpanzees form well

Negative-assortative mating for color in wolves.