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58 results for “male mate choice”

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Data from: Male mate choice via cuticular hydrocarbon pheromones drives reproductive isolation between Drosophila species

Mate discrimination is a key mechanism restricting gene flow between species. While studied extensively with respect to female mate choice, mechanisms of male mate choice between species are far less studied. Thus, we have little knowledge of the relative frequency, importance, or overall contribution of male mate discrimination to reproductive isolation. In the present study, we estimated the relative contributions of male and female choice to reproductive isolation between Drosophila simulans and D. sechellia, and show that male mate discrimination accounts for the majority of the current isolation between these species. We further demonstrate that males discriminate based on female cuticular hydrocarbon pheromones, and collect evidence supporting the hypothesis that male mate discrimination may alleviate the costs associated with heterospecific courtship and mating. Our findings highlight the potentially significant contribution of male mate choice to the formation of reproductive isolating barriers, and thus the speciation process.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

dryad28/100

Data from: Female assortative mate choice functionally validates synthesized male odors of evolving river-lake stickleback ecotypes

During mate choice decisions, females of many vertebrates use male olfactory cues to achieve immunogenetic optimality of their offspring. Three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populating habitats that differ in their parasite communities evolve locally adapted combinations of genetic variants encoded at the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). Such adaptation confers optimal resistance to the local parasite fauna. Immunogenetic signatures co-evolved with local parasites favor population-specific assortative mate choice behaviour. Previous studies have shown that female sticklebacks evaluate male MHC-associated olfactory cues during the process of mate choice, but how habitat-specific information is exchanged between males and females has remained elusive. Here, we directly demonstrate the molecular nature of the olfactory cue providing habitat-specific information. Under controlled laboratory conditions females that are ready to mate prefer mixtures of synthetic MHC peptide ligands mimicking the optimal allele number of their original population. These results imply that female sticklebacks can determine the number of MHC alleles of their prospective mates, compare it to their own immunogenetic status, and, if optimal with respect to the immunogenetic complementarity, accept the male as mate. Our results suggest a potentially common mechanism of ecological speciation in vertebrates that is based on the olfactory assessment of habitat-specific immunogenetic diversity.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

dryad28/100

Data from: Measuring the fitness benefits of male mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster

It is increasingly realised that the potential for male mate choice is widespread across many taxa. However, measurements of the relative magnitude of the fitness benefits that such choice can confer are lacking. Here we directly measured, in a comprehensive set of tests that manipulated key variables, the fitness benefits of male mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster, by measuring egg production in females that were chosen or rejected by males. The results provided significant evidence for male mate choice. In absolute terms, the observed degree of choice increased male fitness by an average of only 1.59 eggs. However, using a novel technique we show that this benefit of choice represented 14.5% of the maximum potential fitness benefit of choice. The magnitude of mate choice was not significantly altered by variation in (i) mate compatibility, (ii) phenotypic plasticity in male mate choice, or (iii) whether choosing males were preferred or non-preferred by females. Overall, we show that male mate choice represents a subtle but significant opportunity for sexual selection, and we offer a novel and widely applicable method for quantifying mate choice.

opencc-zeroDec 2011View details →

dryad28/100

Data from: Female preference for male courtship effort can drive the evolution of male mate choice

The evolution of male mate choice is constrained by costs of choice in species with a male-biased operational sex ratio. Previous theoretical studies have shown that significant benefits of male choice are required, e.g., by mating with more fecund females, in order for these costs to be offset and a male preference to spread. In a series of population genetic models we show the novel effect that male mating preference, expressed as a bias in courtship, can spread when females prefer, and thus are more likely to mate with, males who court more. We explore two female preference functions for levels of male courtship, one representing a threshold and the other a weighted female preference. The basic finding generally holds for both preference functions. However, the preference function greatly affects the spread of a male preference allele after the addition of competing males who can court more in total. Our results thus stress that a thorough understanding of the response of females to male courtship is a critical component to understanding male preference evolution in polygynous species.

opencc-zeroDec 2011View details →

dryad28/100

Data from: Male phenotypic diversity experienced during ontogeny mediates female mate choice in guppies

Early social experience can be important in shaping female mate choice. Previous work has shown that females adjust their decisions based on the distribution of male sexual trait values encountered during development. However, other phenotypic features could be important in the formation of mate preferences if, for example, they provide additional information about the males available. Here, we examined how the level of overall phenotypic variance (independent of trait values) experienced during ontogeny, mediated female choice in guppies, Poecilia reticulata. Developing females were reared with males either all different in colouration or all similar in colouration or with adult females representing high variance, low variance and no experience of male variance respectively. We found that females were more sexually responsive when reared with females only than in either of the male treatments. When reared with males, responsiveness was greater in the low-variance compared to the high variance treatment. Moreover, females had stronger sexual preferences following rearing in the high variance compared to the low variance condition. In turn, males switched mating tactics, increasing the rate of coerced copulation attempts when facing choosier females, possibly to balance the loss in mating opportunities. Taken together, these results demonstrate the adaptive plasticity of female mating decisions and the dynamic selection pressures they might impose on the evolution of male sexual traits, potentially contributing to the maintenance of the extreme polymorphism found in male colour patterns.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

dryad28/100