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151 results for “mate preference”
Data from: MHC-dependent mate preferences in humans
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Data from: Evolution of a mating preference for a dual-utility trait used in intrasexual competition in genetically monogamous populations
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Data from: Developmental effects of visual environment on species-assortative mating preferences in Lake Victoria cichlid fish
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Data from: Beauty in the eyes of the beholders: color vision is tuned to mate preference in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
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Data from: Sex differences in developmental plasticity and canalization shape population divergence in mate preferences
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Data from: Facultative pupal mating in Heliconius erato: implications for mate choice, female preference, and speciation
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Data from: Age, experience and sex – do female bulb mites prefer young mating partners?
In species where advancing sire age is associated with decreased progeny fitness, female resistance to mating with old partners can be expected to evolve. In polyandrous species, such resistance may be contingent on female mating experience: virgins should be relatively indiscriminate to ensure egg fertility, whereas non-virgins can be expected to base their re-mating decisions on the age of their previous versus potential new partners, and 'trade up' if previously mated with old males. Here, we tested these predictions using a promiscuous and relatively long-living bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini), in which old sire age is associated with decreased fecundity of daughters. In a fully factorial design, we applied two male treatments: young and old, and three female treatments: virgin, previously mated to an old male and previously mated to a young male. Consistent with earlier studies, we observed a reduced mating success of old males. However, we found no support for attributing this result to female discrimination, as female behaviour in response to male mounting attempts was not affected by the age of the suitor, or by its interaction with the age of the female's previous mate. Interestingly, females were passive during 93% of male mounting attempts observed, suggesting that once they are located by a male, they exert little control over copulation. Old males had lower mate searching activity and were less efficient in obtaining matings (lower success rate per mounting attempt), suggesting a decreased mate securing ability due to aging. Overall, our results suggest that in bulb mites, male ability to secure mates declines with age, whereas they do not support the prediction that females actively discriminate against old partners.
Data from: Fitness costs of mating with preferred females in a scramble mating system
Little is known about the operation of male mate choice in systems with perceived high costs to male choosiness. Scramble mating systems are one type of system in which male choice is often considered too costly to be selected. However, in many scramble mating systems, there are also potentially high rewards of male choosiness, as females vary dramatically in reproductive output and males typically mate once per season and/or per lifetime. Using scramble-mating wood frogs (Rana sylvatica), we tested whether males gain fitness benefits by mating with preferred females. We conducted choice trials (one male presented simultaneously with two females) and permitted males to mate with their preferred or non-preferred female. Offspring of preferred and non-preferred females were reared in the laboratory and field, and we quantified various fitness-relevant parameters, including survivorship and growth rates. Across multiple parameters measured, matings with preferred females produced fewer and lower-quality offspring than did those with non-preferred females. Our results are inconsistent with the idea that mate choice confers benefits on the choosing sex. We instead propose that, in scramble systems, males will be more likely to amplex females that are easier to capture, which may correlate with lower quality but increases male likelihood of successfully mating. Such male choice may not favor increased fitness when the operational sex ratio is less biased toward males in scramble mating systems but is, instead, a bet-hedging tactic benefitting males when available females are limited.
Data from: Experimental swap of Anopheles gambiae's assortative mating preferences demonstrates key role of X-chromosome divergence island in incipient sympatric speciation.
Although many theoretical models of sympatric speciation propose that genes responsible for assortative mating amongst incipient species should be associated with genomic regions protected from recombination, there are few data to support this theory. The malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, is known for its sympatric cryptic species maintained by pre-mating reproductive isolation and its putative genomic islands of speciation, and is therefore an ideal model system for studying the genomic signature associated with incipient sympatric speciation. Here we selectively introgressed the island of divergence located in the pericentric region of the X chromosome of An. gambiae s.s. into its sister taxon An. coluzzii through 5 generations of backcrossing followed by two generations of crosses within the introgressed strains that resulted in An. coluzzii-like recombinant strains fixed for the M and S marker in the X chromosome island. The mating preference of recombinant strains was then tested by giving virgin recombinant individuals a choice of mates with X-islands matching and non-matching their own island type. We show through genetic analyses of transferred sperm that recombinant females consistently mated with matching island-type males thereby associating assortative mating genes with the X-island of divergence. Furthermore, full-genome sequencing confirmed that protein-coding differences between recombinant strains were limited to the experimentally swapped pericentromeric region. Finally, targeted-genome comparisons showed that a number of these unique differences were conserved in sympatric field populations, thereby revealing candidate speciation genes. The functional demonstration of a close association between speciation genes and the X-island of differentiation lends unprecedented support to island-of-speciation models of sympatric speciation facilitated by pericentric recombination suppression.
Data from: Does divergent selection predict the evolution of mate preference and reproductive isolation in the tropical butterfly genus Melinaea (Nymphalidae: Ithomiini)?
Many studies have shown that speciation can be facilitated when a trait under divergent selection also causes assortative mating. In Müllerian mimetic butterflies, a change in wing colour pattern can cause reproductive isolation. However, colour pattern divergence does not always lead to reproductive isolation. Understanding how divergent selection affects speciation requires identifying the mechanisms that promote mate preference and/or choosiness. This study addresses whether shifts in wing colour pattern drives mate preference and reproductive isolation in the tropical butterfly genus Melinaea (Nymphalidae: Ithomiini), and focuses on five taxa that form a speciation continuum, from subspecies to fully recognized species. Using genetic markers, wing colour pattern quantification, male pheromone characterization and behavioural assays of mating preference, we characterize the extent of genetic and phenotypic differentiation between taxa and compare it to the level of reproductive isolation. We show strong premating isolation between the closely related species M. satevis and M. marsaeus, in addition to genetic and phenotypic (colour pattern and pheromones) differentiation. By contrast, M. menophilus and M. marsaeus consist of pairs of subspecies that differ for colour pattern but that cannot be differentiated genetically. Pheromonal differentiation of subspecies was significant only for M. marsaeus, although most individuals were indistinguishable. Melinaea menophilus and M. marsaeus also differ in the strength of assortative mating, suggesting that mate preference has evolved only in M. marsaeus, consistent with selection against maladaptive offspring, as subspecific "hybrids" of M. marsaeus have intermediate, non‐mimetic colour patterns, unlike those of M. menophilus which display either parental phenotypes. We conclude that a shift in colour pattern per se is not sufficient for reproductive isolation, but rather, the evolution of assortative mating may be caused by selection against maladaptive intermediate phenotypes. This study suggests that mate preference and assortative mating evolve when adaptive, and that even in the early stages of divergence, reproductive isolation can be nearly complete due to mating preferences.
Data from: Mating preferences do not maintain the tailspot polymorphism in the platyfish, Xiphophorus variatus
Negative assortative, or disassortative, mating describes the scenario when individuals tend to mate with dissimilar phenotypes more often than by random chance alone. This form of nonrandom mating has the power to select for the maintenance of polymorphism in conspicuous traits, for example, when females prefer mates that have a different trait value than their own. The livebearing variable platyfish, Xiphophorus variatus, exhibits high polymorphism for a melanic pigmentation trait called tailspots, which results in variation in a conspicuous visual cue. Livebearers often exhibit female mating preferences based on morphological traits and disassortative mating has been suggested in a related species. Whether mating choice contributes to the maintenance of tailspot variation has never been tested. Here, we examined mating preferences of wild-caught females for pairs of male stimuli differing in their tailspot pattern. Females showed no evidence for either assortative or disassortative association preferences, spending equal time with males of different patterns. These results corroborate data on natural mating patterns in X. variatus, suggesting that mate choice for tailspots is either nonexistent or at least insufficient to account for the maintenance of tailspot variation.
Data from: Seeing-good-gene-based mate choice: from genes to behavioural preferences
1. Although vertebrates have been reported to gain higher reproductive outputs by choosing mates, few studies have been conducted on threatened species. However, species recovery should benefit if natural mate choice could improve reproductive output (i.e., pair performance related to offspring number, such as increased clutch size, numbers of fertilized egg and fledglings). We assessed the evidence for major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-based mate preference in the endangered crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), and quantified the impacts of such choice on reproductive output. 2. We tested the hypothesis that crested ibis advertise "good genes" through external traits, by testing whether nuptial plumage characteristics and body morphology mediate mate choice for underlying genetic MHC variation. 3. We found differences between males and females in preferred MHC genotypes, external traits used in mate choice, and contributions to reproductive outputs. Females preferred MHC-heterozygous males, which had darker [i.e., lower total reflectance and ultraviolet (UV) reflectance] nuptial plumage. Males preferred females lacking the DABd allele at the MHC classⅡDAB locus, which had higher average body mass. DABd-free females yielded heavier eggs and more fledglings, while MHC-heterozygous males contributed to more fertilized eggs and fledglings. Fledging rate was highest when both parents had the preferred MHC genotypes (i.e., MHC-heterozygous father and DABd-free mother). Comparisons showed that free-mating wild and seminatural pairs yielded more fertilized eggs and more fledglings, with a higher fledging rate, than captive pairs matched artificially based on pedigree. 4. Conservation programs seldom apply modern research results to population management, which could hinder recovery of threatened species. Our results show that mate choice can play an important role in improving reproductive output, with an example in which an endangered bird selects mates using UV visual capability. Despite the undoubted importance of pedigree-based matching of mates in conservation programs, we show that free-mating can be a better alternative strategy.
Data from: A novel method for estimating the strength of positive mating preference by similarity in the wild
Mating preference can be a driver of sexual selection and assortative mating and is, therefore, a key element in evolutionary dynamics. Positive mating preference by similarity is the tendency for the choosy individual to select a mate which possesses a similar variant of a trait. Such preference can be modelled using Gaussian-like mathematical functions that describe the strength of preference, but such functions cannot be applied to empirical data collected from the field. As a result, traditionally, mating preference is indirectly estimated by the degree of assortative mating (using Pearson's correlation coefficient, r) in wild captured mating pairs. Unfortunately, r and similar coefficients are often biased due to the fact that different variants of a given trait are nonrandomly distributed in the wild, and pooling of mating pairs from such heterogeneous samples may lead to "false–positive" results, termed "the scale-of-choice effect" (SCE). Here we provide two new estimators of mating preference (Crough and Cscaled) derived from Gaussian-like functions which can be applied to empirical data. Computer simulations demonstrated that r coefficient showed robust estimations properties of mating preference but it was severely affected by SCE, Crough showed reasonable estimation properties and it was little affected by SCE, while Cscaled showed the best properties at infinite sample sizes and it was not affected by SCE but failed at biological sample sizes. We recommend using Crough combined with the r coefficient to infer mating preference in future empirical studies.
Data from: Learning to speciate: the biased learning of mate preferences promotes adaptive radiation
Bursts of rapid repeated speciation called adaptive radiations have generated much of Earth's biodiversity and fascinated biologists since Darwin, but we still do not know why some lineages radiate and others do not. Understanding what causes assortative mating to evolve rapidly and repeatedly in the same lineage is key to understanding adaptive radiation. Many species that have undergone adaptive radiations exhibit mate preference learning, where individuals acquire mate preferences by observing the phenotypes of other members of their populations. Mate preference learning can be biased if individuals also learn phenotypes to avoid in mates, and shift their preferences away from these avoided phenotypes. We used individual-based computational simulations to study whether biased and unbiased mate preference learning promote ecological speciation and adaptive radiation. We found that ecological speciation can be rapid and repeated when mate preferences are biased, but is inhibited when mate preferences are learned without bias. Our results suggest that biased mate preference learning may play an important role in generating animal biodiversity through adaptive radiation.
Data from: Experimental confirmation that body size determines mate preference via phenotype matching in a stickleback species pair
Mate choice by phenotype matching, whereby individuals prefer a mate whose phenotype is similar to their own, should facilitate speciation with gene flow. This is because the genes that control mate signal (the phenotype being matched) also determine the preferred mate signal ('mate preference'). Speciation is made even easier if phenotype matching is based on a trait under divergent natural selection. In this case, assortative mating should readily evolve as a by-product of divergent selection on the trait. Previous observational studies of assortative mating between sympatric, hybridizing threespine stickleback species (Gasterosteus aculeatus complex) suggested that phenotype matching might occur by body size, a trait under divergent natural selection. To test this we used experimental manipulation of body size to rule out the effects of confounding variables. We found that size-manipulated benthic and limnetic stickleback females prefer mates whose body size more closely matches their own. It is thus likely that assortative mating by phenotype matching has facilitated the origin and persistence of benthic and limnetic threespine sticklebacks in the face of gene flow.
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.
Data from: Insect mating signal and mate preference phenotypes covary among host plant genotypes
Sexual selection acting on small initial differences in mating signals and mate preferences can enhance signal-preference co-divergence and reproductive isolation during speciation. However, the origin of initial differences in sexual traits remains unclear. We asked whether biotic environments, a source of variation in sexual traits, may provide a general solution to this problem. Specifically, we asked whether genetic variation in biotic environments provided by host plants can result in signal-preference phenotypic covariance in a host-specific, plant-feeding insect. We used a member of the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) to assess patterns of variation in male mating signals and female mate preferences induced by genetic variation in host plants. We employed a novel implementation of a quantitative genetics method, rearing field-collected treehoppers on a sample of naturally-occurring replicated host plant clone lines. We found remarkably high signal-preference covariance among host plant genotypes. Thus, genetic variation in biotic environments influences the sexual phenotypes of organisms living on those environment in a way that promotes assortative mating among environments. This consequence arises from conditions likely to be common in nature (phenotypic plasticity and variation in biotic environments). It therefore offers a general answer to how divergent sexual selection may begin.
Data from: Variation in female mate preference in response to eavesdropping "interloper" males
Eavesdropping by conspecific males that are competing for mates has been demonstrated across a variety of taxa. However, few studies have investigated how eavesdropping may actually impact female mating decisions. Specifically, females may change their mating preferences based on whether the eavesdropping male varies in its phenotype (e.g., expression of condition-indicating secondary sexual characters or courtship vigor) relative to the male that initiated courtship. We examined variation in female preferences in the context of eavesdropping in the brush-legged wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata. Female S. ocreata typically prefer males with large tufts and males that court at higher rates. In live mating trials, however, females preferentially mated with the males that courted first. It has yet to be investigated whether female preferences change when males of varying phenotypes are encountered sequentially, as might be expected in an eavesdropping context. We used video playback experiments to introduce females to a virtual courting male (initial male), followed by a second virtual courting male thirty seconds later (interloper male). We separately manipulated 2 aspects of male courtship (tuft size and courtship vigor) to measure female responses to an interloper male of lower, higher, or equal phenotypic expression. For both traits, females had an overall preference for the initial males. However, when the interloper male had large tufts or had high courtship vigor, female S. ocreata shifted the relative number of their receptivity displays. These results suggest that eavesdropping could be beneficial for interloper males, but the benefits may vary depending on the male's phenotype.
Data from: Frequently mated males have higher protein preference in German cockroaches
Protein is an abundant nutrient in sperm, and males therefore expend protein every time they mate. In addition, many males provide the female with a nitrogen-rich nuptial gift during mating, which often increases female fertility by supplementing her pool of limiting nutrients. However, it is unknown whether males compensate for the nitrogen cost of mating by increasing their preference for protein, which would facilitate the production of new sperm and nuptial gift material. Using artificial diets, we investigated whether male German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) would compensate for nitrogen expenses of mating by increasing protein preference when given the opportunity to self-select their diet from complementary foods differing only in protein- and carbohydrate content. We distributed adult males across four mating regimes differing in the frequency of mating opportunities with receptive females, and measured protein- and carbohydrate consumption as well as reproductive output over the lifespan of each male. Receptive females were either never available (no mating opportunity), or they were available overnight at a frequency of each 28 days (rare mating opportunities), each 14 days (occasional mating opportunities), or each seven days (frequent mating opportunities). Males selected highly carbohydrate-biased diets. However, males that mated more frequently had higher consumption and reproduction, and self-selected higher lifetime protein to carbohydrate ratios. Our study demonstrates that male German cockroaches actively select a more protein-biased diet that compensates for their nutritional requirements following mating. The study shows that male mating significantly affects foraging decisions for specific nutrients to compensate for the expenses of mating.
Data from: Quantitative genetics of female mate preferences in an ancestral and a novel environment
A female's mate preference is a potentially complex function relating variation in multiple male phenotypes with her probability of accepting individual males as a mate. Estimating the quantitative genetic basis of preference functions within a population is empirically challenging yet key to understanding preference evolution. We employed a recently described approach that uses random-coefficient mixed models in the analysis of function-valued traits. Using a half-sibling breeding design in a laboratory-adapted Drosophila serrata population, we estimated the genetic (co)variance function of female preference for male sexual displays composed of nine contact pheromones. The breeding design was performed across two environments: the food to which the population was well adapted and a novel food that reduced average female productivity by 35%. Significant genetic variance in female preference was detected and the majority (64.2%) was attributable to a single genetic dimension (eigenfunction), suggesting that preferences for different pheromones are not genetically independent. The second eigenfunction, accounting for 24% of the total genetic variance, approached significance in a conservative test, suggesting the existence of a second, independent genetic dimension. There was no evidence that the genetic basis of female preference differed between the two environments, suggesting the absence of genotype-by-environment interactions and hence a lack of condition-dependent preference expression.
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