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Results for “Mating Preference, Animal”

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PubMed2006

Speciation by hybridization in Heliconius butterflies.

Speciation is generally regarded to result from the splitting of a single lineage. An alternative is hybrid speciation, considered to be extremely rare, in which two distinct lineages contribute genes to a daughter species. Here we show that a hybrid trait in an animal species can directly cause reproductive isolation. The butterfly species Heliconius heurippa is known to have an intermediate morphology and a hybrid genome, and we have recreated its intermediate wing colour and pattern through laboratory crosses between H. melpomene, H. cydno and their F1 hybrids. We then used mate preference experiments to show that the phenotype of H. heurippa reproductively isolates it from both parental species. There is strong assortative mating between all three species, and in H. heurippa the wing pattern and colour elements derived from H. melpomene and H. cydno are both critical for mate recognition by males.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Maladaptive mate choice maintained by heterozygote advantage.

Common buzzards (Buteo buteo) show a plumage polymorphism that appears to be maintained by heterozygote advantage and allows a maladaptive form of mate choice to persist. The light and dark morphs have a much lower fitness than the presumed heterozygous intermediate morph, but are replenished through Mendelian segregation in intermediate-intermediate pairs. Light and dark morphs could maximize their fitness by mating light with dark to produce all intermediate offspring, but instead choose partners of their own color, thereby producing broods of minimally fit homozygotes. Such maladaptive behavior argues forcefully against mate choice based on "good genes," and its persistence is best explained by heterozygote advantage maintaining the polymorphism coupled with nongenetic mate choice based on sexual imprinting. Modeling different patterns of mate choice shows that random mating and preference for own morph fit our data poorly, whereas preference for mother's morph yields a good fit.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Animal allure and health linked by plant pigments.

Darwin introduced the idea that ornamental secondary sexual traits have evolved in response to female preferences for showy males. Among such traits, yellow and red carotenoid-based ornaments have been considered as particularly good candidates for explaining why and how females would benefit from mating with showy partners. Because carotenoids can be used for promotion of both health and appearance, colourful male ornaments should honestly reveal the vigour of the bearers. Two recent experiments with birds now show how allocation of bodily carotenoids to sexual signalling is traded off against the use of carotenoids for boosting immune function.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Processes of pair formation leading to assortative mating in biological populations: dynamic interaction model.

A model of pair formation that treats mating between two individuals as a dynamic process rather than an instant event is suggested. A number of cases corresponding to polygamous and monogamous matings of individuals are considered. The individual mating preferences are represented in the model by a set of "compatibility probabilities." It is shown that the mating pattern (the distribution of characters among mating pairs) established in a population as a result of the process of pair formation does not uniquely reflect the pattern of mating preferences. Quite different mating patterns may occur in populations with very similar mating preferences, as well as similar mating patterns may occur in populations with different individual mating preferences. The model demonstrates that not only mating preferences of individuals but also specific mechanisms of pair formation play an important role in determining the mating pattern of a population.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Infection of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) by Hesperomyces virescens (Ascomycetes: Laboulbeniales): role of mating status and aggregation behavior.

The ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens was studied on Harmonia axyridis in North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. A primary goal was to investigate transmission of the disease by examining the correlation between the pattern of fungal infection and seasonal change in host behavior. Beetles were collected as they arrived at their winter quarters at two sites; in one site they were also subsampled at mid- and late winter. Insects were sexed and weighed, fungal thalli were counted, and their location on the host body mapped; spermathecae of females were examined for sperm. Infection levels varied between sites, differed significantly between the sexes in one site but not the other, and increased by approximately 40% during winter. The distribution of thalli on the body changed seasonally, in concert with behavioral changes in the host. At fall flight, thalli were found most often on the posterior elytra of mated females, virgin females, and males. This is suggestive that the disease had been spread among both sexes via successful and failed copulation attempts; however, the relatively low incidence of infection on the male venter does not fit the sexual transmission scenario. During winter, thallus location shifts in concert with beetle aggregation behavior, with infections more often located on the head and legs. Fresh weight of beetles decreased by approx. 20% during winter, but was not affected by disease status. Prior to spring flight, uninfected females were preferred as mating partners, but the probable relationship between female age and infection status complicates interpretation of the data.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Experimental confirmation of the polygyny threshold model for red-winged blackbirds.

The polygyny threshold model assumes that polygynous mating is costly to females and proposes that females pay the cost of polygyny only when compensated by obtaining a superior territory or male. We present, to the authors' knowledge, the first experimental field test to demonstrate that females trade mating status against territory quality as proposed by this hypothesis. Previous work has shown that female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) in Ontario prefer settling with unmated males and that this preference is adaptive because polygynous mating status lowers female reproductive success. Other evidence suggests that nesting over water increases the reproductive success of female red-winged blackbirds. Here we describe an experiment in which females were given choices between two adjacent territories, one owned by an unmated male without any over-water nesting sites and the other by an already-mated male with over-water sites. Females overwhelmingly preferred the already-mated males, demonstrating that superior territory quality can reverse preferences based on mating status and supporting the polygyny threshold model as the explanation for polygyny in this population.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Simulated ecology-driven sympatric speciation.

We introduce a multilocus genetically acquired phenotype, submitted to mutations and with selective value, in an age-structured model for biological aging. This phenotype describes a single-trait effect of the environment on an individual, and we study the resulting distribution of this trait among the population. In particular, our simulations show that the appearance of a double phenotypic attractor in the ecology induces the emergence of a stable polymorphism, as observed in the Galapagos finches. In the presence of this polymorphism, the simulations generate short-term speciation, when mating preferences are also allowed to suffer mutations and acquire selective value.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Speciation in the lesser galagos.

Species and their origins remain one of the outstanding enigmas of evolutionary biology. Many different views of the problem exist, but few have concrete predictions that open the problem to investigation. This study formalises predictions arising from the Recognition Concept of species (RC) and the Organization Theory of Speciation (OTS), and applies them to the pattern demonstrated by the lesser galago radiation. The RC and OTS are in agreement that one of the primary adaptive responses during animal speciation events involves the system of sexual recognition and reproduction, and indeed the lesser galago taxa show significant divergences in their communication systems relating to specific-mate recognition. On the other hand, only the RC predicts a concomitant adaptive response to the ecological conditions prevailing during speciation, and there are strong indications of shifts in habitat preference among these taxa. The predictions of the RC are supported above those of the OTS.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1998

Measuring female mating preferences.

Interest in the evolution of female mating preferences has increased greatly in recent years, and numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain how mating preferences evolve. Despite this interest, little is known about how selection acts on mating preferences in natural populations. One reason for this lack of information may be that experimental designs commonly used for testing female preferences make it difficult to quantify the preferences of individual females. Most commonly used designs share three features: they examine the preferences of populations of females, they test female responses when they are presented simultaneously with two stimuli, and they infer information on female preferences by observing female choices between alternative stimuli. Population-level choice tests, in which each female is tested only once with a set of stimuli, do not evaluate within-female variation in preference, which is necessary to document between-female variation in preference. Two-stimulus designs test only for directional preferences if female responses are tested with only a single pair of stimuli. In addition, dichotomous scoring of female responses makes detection of between-female variation in preference difficult. Simultaneous stimulus presentations can confound female preference and female sampling behaviour. An alternative method to assess female preferences is to measure repeatedly the preference functions of individual females using a single-stimulus design. The shape of a female's preference function indicates how a female's mating response varies with male trait value, and repeated measures of individual preference functions allow measurement of within- and between-female variation in preferences. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Male vocalization and female choice in the hybridogenetic Rana lessonae/Rana esculenta complex.

In many species, females can improve their fitness by preferring particular males over others. In Palaearctic water frogs of the Rana lessonae/R. esculenta complex the consequences of such mate choice are particularly pronounced. To produce viable offspring, the hybrid R. esculenta (genotype RL) must mate with the parental species R. lessonae (LL); but R. lessonae should avoid mating with R. esculenta, because the resulting hybrid offspring will eliminate the L genome from the germline (hybridogenesis). Hence, there exists a conflict between the sexual parasite (RL) and its sexual host (LL) over the best mating partner. Previous studies have shown a preference for LL males in LL and RL females; but they have also shown that females cannot usually realize their choice when in close proximity to males, because the males forcefully and indiscriminately amplex them. We tested whether females use male vocalizations as a long-distance signal to increase their chances of mating with the preferred LL males. We exposed female R. lessonae and R. esculenta to playbacks of single LL and RL mating calls (experiment 1) and to choruses with a 3:1 excess of LL and RL calls, respectively (experiment 2). In experiment 1, both female types were attracted more by the LL than by the RL calls. In experiment 2, no discrimination between LL- and RL-dominated choruses was observed. The results suggest that females do not use distant male vocalization to approach preferentially ponds or arenas within a pond that hold an excess of LL males. But once they have arrived in a chorus, mating calls from nearby males can direct them to the preferred LL mates. We discuss possible reasons for the failure to discriminate between choruses and the chances for successful choice between individuals within choruses. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Host recognition by the tobacco hornworm is mediated by a host plant compound.

It is generally believed that animals make decisions about the selection of mates, kin or food on the basis of pre-constructed recognition templates. These templates can be innate or acquired through experience. An example of an acquired template is the feeding preference exhibited by larvae of the moth, Manduca sexta. Naive hatchlings will feed and grow successfully on many different plants or artificial diets, but once they have fed on a natural host they become specialist feeders. Here we show that the induced feeding preference of M. sexta involves the formation of a template to a steroidal glycoside, indioside D, that is present in solanaceous foliage. This compound is both necessary and sufficient to maintain the induced feeding preference. The induction of host plant specificity is at least partly due to a tuning of taste receptors to indioside D. The taste receptors of larvae fed on host plants show an enhanced response to indioside D as compared with other plant compounds tested.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

The separate and combined effects of harmonic structure, phase, and FM on female preferences in the barking treefrog (Hyla gratiosa).

In natural advertisement calls of the barking treefrog, Hyla gratiosa, a small amount of incoherent frequency modulation (FM) is present. Incoherency in the FM of a call creates inharmonicity and phase changes between its frequency components. In this study, the combined and separate effects of the harmonic structure, phase spectrum, and FM of an advertisement call on female choice were tested. The harmonic structure of a call can have a direct effect on female preference; females showed a significant preference for static-inharmonic calls over the static-harmonic calls. Neither differences in phase or FM alone conferred a preference in two choice tests. However, when FM is present in both calls it does influence female preference for harmonic structure--namely harmonic calls become preferable to inharmonic calls. This reversal of female preference for inharmonicity in a call by the presence of FM suggests that call parameters may interact, and thereby effect mate choice.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Social behavior: how do fish find their shoal mate?

Fish form social aggregations called shoals which often consist of fish with similar morphologies. Experiments using zebrafish pigment variants demonstrate that fish can select shoal mates solely on the basis of their color patterns, and that early experience plays a key role in determining these shoaling preferences.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

New perspectives on mate choice and the MHC.

A long series of studies on mice have shown that mate choice decisions can be made on the basis of individual genotype at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which accords well with the importance of immunocompetence in some theories of sexual selection. Recent work on other vertebrate species, including humans, indicates that MHC-based mate choice is not restricted to the genus Mus. However, its importance may vary among species as a result of differences in social and mating system structure, and perhaps genome structure. There appears to be a general preference expressed for MHC-dissimilar mates, and such MHC-disassortative mating may be involved in maintaining MHC and/or genome-wide diversity in natural populations. The strength and direction of MHC-based mating preference can vary, and may be modulated by factors such as genetic background, sex, and early life experience.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

New perspectives on mate choice and the MHC.

A long series of studies on mice has shown that mate choice decisions can be made on the basis of individual genotype at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which accords well with the importance of immunocompetence in some theories of sexual selection. Recent work on other vertebrate species, including humans, indicates that MHC-based mate choice is not restricted to the genus Mus. However, its importance may vary among species as a result of differences in social and mating system structure, and perhaps genome structure. There appears to be a general preference expressed for MHC-dissimilar mates, and such MHC-disassortative mating may be involved in maintaining MHC and/or genome-wide diversity in natural populations. The strength and direction of MHC-based mating preference can vary, and may be modulated by factors such as genetic background, sex, and early life experience.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Costs influence male mate choice in a freshwater fish.

It is well known that female mate choice decisions depend on the direct costs of choosing (either because of search costs or male-imposed costs). Far less is known about how direct fitness costs affect male mate choice. We conducted an experiment to investigate male mate choice in a fish, the Pacific blue-eye (Pseudomugil signifer). Preferred females were larger, probably because larger females are also more fecund. Males, however, were consistent in their choice of female only when the costs of associating with prospective mates were equal. By contrast, males were far less consistent in their choice when made to swim against a current to remain with their initially preferred mate. Our results suggest that males may also respond adaptively to changes in the costs of choosing.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Familial imprinting determines H-2 selective mating preferences.

Inbred male mice typically prefer to mate with females of a different, non-self H-2 haplotype. To determine whether this natural preference is irrevocable or results from familial imprinting, a test system was used which relied on previous observations that B6 males (H-2b) mate preferentially with congenic B6-H-2k rather than B6 females, and B6-H-2k males with B6 females. This preference was reversed in B6 males fostered by B6-H-2k parents and in B6-H-2k males fostered by B6 parents, preference in these cases favoring the same H-2 type. Thus, H-2 selective mating preference is acquired by imprinting on familial H-2 types.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Local heterozygosity-fitness correlations with global positive effects on fitness in threespine stickleback.

The complex interactions between genetic diversity and evolution have important implications in many biological areas including conservation, speciation, and mate choice. A common way to study these interactions is to look at heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs). Until recently, HFCs based on noncoding markers were believed to result primarily from global inbreeding effects. However, accumulating theoretical and empirical evidence shows that HFCs may often result from genes being linked to the markers used (local effect). Moreover, local effect HFCs could differ from global inbreeding effects in their direction and occurrence. Consequently, the investigation of the structure and consequences of local HFCs is emerging as a new important goal in evolutionary biology. In this study of a wild threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) population, we first tested the presence of significant positive or negative local effects of heterozygosity at 30 microsatellites loci on five fitness components: survival, mating success, territoriality, length, and body condition. Then, we evaluated the direction and shape of total impact of local HFCs, and estimated the magnitude of the impacts on fitness using regression coefficients and selection differentials. We found that multilocus heterozygosity was not a reliable estimator of individual inbreeding coefficient, which supported the relevance of single-locus based analyses. Highly significant and temporally stable local HFCs were observed. These were mainly positive, but negative effects of heterozygosity were also found. Strong and opposite effects of heterozygosity are probably present in many populations, but may be blurred in HFC analyses looking for global effects only. In this population, both negative and positive HFCs are apparently driving mate preference by females, which is likely to contribute to the maintenance of both additive and nonadditive genetic variance.

Animals↗