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FIGURE 1 in Description of female genitalia, additional morphological variations, and courtship behavior and copulation of Macrostemum brasiliense (Fischer 1970) (Trichoptera Hydropsychidae)
FIGURE 1. Macrostemum brasiliense (Fischer 1970), aspects of natural history. 1A, occurrence records; 1B, 1C, habitat; 1D, in copula.
FIGURE 4 in Description of female genitalia, additional morphological variations, and courtship behavior and copulation of Macrostemum brasiliense (Fischer 1970) (Trichoptera Hydropsychidae)
FIGURE 4. Macrostemum brasiliense (Fischer 1970), male and female variations. 4A, male habitus, right lateral; 4B, female habitus, right lateral; 4C, head of male morphotype1, dorsal; 4D, head of male morphotype 2, dorsal; 4E, head of female morphotype 1, dorsal; 4F, head of female morphotype 2 dorsal.
FIGURE 3 in Description of female genitalia, additional morphological variations, and courtship behavior and copulation of Macrostemum brasiliense (Fischer 1970) (Trichoptera Hydropsychidae)
FIGURE 3. Macrostemum brasiliense (Fischer 1970), female wings and male variations. 3A, right female forewing, dorsal; 3B, right female hind wing, dorsal; 3C, genitalia of male morphotype 1, left lateral and dorsal; 3D, genitalia of male morphotype 2, left lateral and dorsal.
Data from: Heterospecific courtship, minority effects and niche separation between cryptic butterfly species.
Species interacting in varied ecological conditions often evolve in different directions in different local populations. The butterflies of the cryptic Leptidea complex are sympatrically distributed in different combinations across their Eurasian range. Interestingly, the same species is a habitat generalist in some regions and a habitat specialist in others, where a sibling species has the habitat generalist role. Previous studies suggest that this geographically variable niche divergence is generated by local processes in different contact zones. By varying the absolute and relative densities of Leptidea sinapis and Leptidea juvernica in large outdoor cages, we show that female mating success is unaffected by conspecific density, but strongly negatively affected by the density of the other species. Whereas 80% of the females mated when a conspecific couple was alone in a cage, less than 10% mated when the single couple shared the cage with five pairs of the other species. The heterospecific courtships can thus affect the population fitness, and for the species in the local minority, the suitability of a habitat is likely to depend on the presence or absence of the locally interacting species. If the local relative abundance of the different species depends on the colonization order, priority effects might determine the ecological roles of interacting species in this system.
Data from: Alternative mating tactics in male chameleons (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) are evident in both long-term body color and short-term courtship pattern
Alternative mating tactics in males of various taxa are associated with body color, body size, and social status. Chameleons are known for their ability to change body color following immediate environmental or social stimuli. In this study, we examined whether the differential appearance of male common chameleon during the breeding season is indeed an expression of alternative mating tactics. We documented body color of males and used computer vision techniques to classify images of individuals into discrete color patterns associated with seasons, individual characteristics, and social contexts. Our findings revealed no differences in body color and color patterns among males during the non-breeding season. However, during the breeding season males appeared in several color displays, which reflected body size, social status, and behavioral patterns. Furthermore, smaller and younger males resembled the appearance of small females. Consequently, we suggest that long-term color change in males during the breeding season reflects male alternative mating tactics. Upon encounter with a receptive female, males rapidly alter their appearance to that of a specific brief courtship display, which reflects their social status. The females, however, copulated indiscriminately in respect to male color patterns. Thus, we suggest that the differential color patterns displayed by males during the breeding season are largely aimed at inter-male signaling.
Data from: Control of signaling alignment during the dynamic courtship display of a jumping spider
During communication, alignment between signals and sensors can be critical. Signals are often best perceived from specific angles, and sensory systems can also exhibit strong directional biases. However, we know little about how animals establish and maintain such signaling alignment during communication. To investigate this, we characterized the spatial dynamics of visual courtship signaling in the jumping spider Habronattus pyrrithrix. The male performs forward-facing displays involving complex color and movement patterns, with distinct long- and short-range phases. The female views displays with 2 distinct eye types and can only perceive colors and fine patterns of male displays when they are presented in her frontal field of view. Whether and how courtship interactions produce such alignment between male display and female field of view is unknown. We recorded relative positions and orientations of both actors throughout courtship and established the role of each sex in maintaining signaling alignment. Males always oriented their displays toward the female. However, when females were free to move, male displays were consistently aligned with female principal eyes only during short-range courtship. When female position was fixed, signaling alignment consistently occurred during both phases, suggesting that female movement reduces communication efficacy. When female models were experimentally rotated to face away during courtship, males rarely repositioned themselves to re-align their display. However, males were more likely to present certain display elements after females turned to face them. Thus, although signaling alignment is a function of both sexes, males appear to rely on female behavior for effective communication.
Data from: Deciphering information encoded in birdsong: male songbirds with fertile mates respond most strongly to complex, low-amplitude songs used in courtship
Research on the function of acoustic signals has focused on high-amplitude, long-range song (LRS) and largely ignored low-amplitude songs produced by many species during close-proximity, conspecific interactions. Low-amplitude songs can be structurally identical to LRS (soft LRS) or they can be widely divergent, sharing few spectral and temporal attributes with LRS (short-range song (SRS)). SRS is often more complex than LRS and is frequently sung by males during courtship. To assess function, we performed two playback experiments on males of a socially monogamous songbird. We compared responses of males whose mates were fertile or non-fertile to differences in song structure (SRS v. LRS and soft LRS), amplitude (SRS and soft LRS v. LRS), and tempo (slow v. fast SRS). Males responded more strongly to SRS than to LRS or soft LRS, indicating that song structure had a greater effect on response than song amplitude. SRS tempo did not detectably affect male response. Importantly, males responded more strongly to SRS when their mates were fertile, presumably because hearing SRS can indicate that a male's mate is being courted by an intruding male and a strong response can deter extra-pair competitors. We conclude that low-amplitude songs can function in both inter- and intra-sexual communication and should receive greater attention in future studies of mate choice and male-male competition.
Data from: Male courtship preferences demonstrate discrimination against allopatric colour morphs in a cichlid fish
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, a Lake Tanganyika endemic with rich geographic 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 (T. 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.
Data from: Comparative analyses of reproductive structures in harvestmen (Opiliones) reveal multiple transitions from courtship to precopulatory antagonism
Explaining the rapid, species-specific diversification of reproductive structures and behaviors is a long-standing goal of evolutionary biology, with recent research tending to attribute reproductive phenotypes to the evolutionary mechanisms of female mate choice or intersexual conflict. Progress in understanding these and other possible mechanisms depends, in part, on reconstructing the direction, frequency and relative timing of phenotypic evolution of male and female structures in species-rich clades. Here we examine evolution of reproductive structures in the leiobunine harvestmen or "daddy long-legs" of eastern North America, a monophyletic group that includes species in which males court females using nuptial gifts and other species that are equipped for apparent precopulatory antagonism (i.e., males with long, hardened penes and females with sclerotized pregenital barriers). We used parsimony- and Bayesian likelihood-based analyses to reconstruct character evolution in categorical reproductive traits and found that losses of ancestral gift-bearing penile sacs are strongly associated with gains of female pregenital barriers. In most cases, both events occur on the same internal branch of the phylogeny. These coevolutionary changes occurred at least four times, resulting in clade-specific designs in the penis and pregenital barrier. The discovery of convergent origins and/or enhancements of apparent precopulatory antagonism among closely related species offers an unusual opportunity to investigate how major changes in reproductive morphology have occurred. We propose new hypotheses that attribute these enhancements to changes in ecology or life history that reduce the duration of breeding seasons, an association that is consistent with female choice, sexual conflict, and/or an alternative evolutionary mechanism.
Data from: Does male reproductive effort increase with age? Courtship in fiddler crabs
Theory suggests that reproductive effort generally increases with age, but life history models indicate that other outcomes are possible. Empirical data are needed to quantify variation in actual age-dependence. Data are readily attainable for females (e.g. clutch/egg size), but not for males (e.g. courtship effort). To quantify male effort one must: (a) experimentally control for potential age-dependent changes in female presence; and, crucially, (b) distinguish between the likelihood of courtship being initiated, the display rate, and the total time invested in courting before stopping ('courtship persistence'). We provide a simple experimental protocol, suitable for many taxa, to illustrate how to obtain this information. We studied courtship waving by male fiddler crabs, Uca annulipes. Given indeterminate growth, body size is correlated with age. Larger males were more likely to wave at females and waved more persistently. They did not, however, have a higher courtship rate (waves/second). A known female preference for males with higher display rates explains why, once waving is initiated, all males display at the same rate.
FIGURE 3 in A new East-Asian species in the Chrysoperla carnea - group of cryptic lacewing species (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) based on distinct larval morphology and a unique courtship song
FIGURE 3. Dorsal view of third-instar larval head capsules (left 65%) of Chrysoperla nigrocapitata sp.n. (a–d) and C. nipponensis (e–h). Chrysoperla nigrocapitata illustrations: (b) and (c) drawn from Japanese larvae in alcohol reared at 25ºC; (a) and (d) extreme phenotypes drawn from photomicrographs of Japanese larvae reared at 27.5ºC; (b) placed directly in alcohol, (c) placed in alcohol after boiling (see text). Chrysoperla nipponensis illustrations: (e) and (f) drawn from Japanese larvae in alcohol reared at 25ºC; (g) drawn from Korean larva in alcohol reared at 25ºC; (h) dark phenotype drawn from a photomicrograph of a Japanese larva reared at 27.5ºC.
FIGURE 1 in A new East-Asian species in the Chrysoperla carnea - group of cryptic lacewing species (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) based on distinct larval morphology and a unique courtship song
FIGURE 1. Dorsal view of third-instar larva of Chrysoperla nigrocapitata sp.n. (a) and C. nipponensis (b), from Japan and reared at 25ºC. Photographs by N. Haruyama.
FIGURE 1 in The advertisement and courtship calls of Phyllobates bicolor (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from a natural population in the Colombian pacific cloud forests
FIGURE 1. Advertisement call: sonogram of a series of notes (A), spectrogram and sonogram of four consecutive notes (B), spectrogram and sonogram of a single note (C), and the spectrum of power (D). Courtship call: spectrogram and sonogram of the whole signal (E), and spectrum of power (F). Individual of P. bicolor, photo taken by JHR (G).
Diet nutritional condition affects tergal gland secretion and courtship success of male cockroaches
<p>An integral part of the courtship sequence of the German cockroach (<em>Blattella germanica</em>) involves the male raising his wings to expose tergal glands on his dorsum. When a female cockroach feeds on the secretion of these glands, she is optimally positioned for mating. Core chemical components have been identified, but the effect of male diet on the tergal gland secretion remains unexplored. After validating the pivotal role of tergal feeding in mating, we starved or fed reproductively mature males for one week. We then paired each male with a sexually receptive female and observed their interactions through an infrared-sensitive camera. While starvation had no effect on male courtship behavior, it did influence the duration of female tergal feeding and mating outcomes. Females fed longer on the gland secretion of fed males, and fed males experienced greater mating success than starved males (73.9% vs. 48.3%, respectively). These results suggest that the quality of the tergal gland secretions, and by association mating success, are dependent on the nutritional condition of the male.</p>
Figure 31 in Courtship display of the peacock spider Maratus aquilus (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini)
Figure 31. Final approach of a courting male (1), and mating by a Maratus aquilus pair (2-7).
Figure 30 in Courtship display of the peacock spider Maratus aquilus (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini)
Figure 30. Sequential frames (1-6, 25 fps video) showing the display of a female Maratus aquilus.
Figure 29 in Courtship display of the peacock spider Maratus aquilus (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini)
Figure 29. Sequential frames (1-12, 25 fps video) showing the display of a female Maratus aquilus.
FIG. 4 in Courtship and Mating Behavior of the Rare, Rock-Crevice Dwelling Salamander Plethodon petraeus with a Review for Eastern North American Woodland Salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)
FIG. 4. Time elapsed before the first occurrence of some courtship behaviors in the salamander Plethodon petraeuS. Data are from 20 individually unique pairs that engaged in ten incomplete courtships, which did not proceed to a tail-straddling walk (TSW), and ten complete courtships with TSW and spermatophore deposition. See text for description of behaviors. Number within brackets is the number of courtships with the behavior. Box plots show minimum, maximum, median (solid horizontal line), mean (dotted horizontal line), and percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th).
FIG. 5 in Courtship and Mating Behavior of the Rare, Rock-Crevice Dwelling Salamander Plethodon petraeus with a Review for Eastern North American Woodland Salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)
FIG. 5. Frequency of some female behaviors during the preliminary (pre-TSW) phase of courtship in the salamander Plethodon petraeuS. Data are from 20 individually unique pairs that engaged in ten incomplete courtships, which did not proceed to a tail-straddling walk (TSW), and ten complete courtships with TSW and spermatophore deposition. See text for description of behaviors. Box plots show minimum, maximum, median (solid horizontal line), mean (dotted horizontal line), and percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th). **, *Probability values from Mann-Whitney rank sum tests demonstrate a significant difference between complete and incomplete courtships for the frequency of both turn back and chin over.
FIG. 2 in Courtship and Mating Behavior of the Rare, Rock-Crevice Dwelling Salamander Plethodon petraeus with a Review for Eastern North American Woodland Salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)
FIG. 2. Duration of some behaviors and periods during the preliminary (pre-TSW) phase of courtship in the salamander Plethodon petraeuS. Data are from 20 individually unique pairs that engaged in ten incomplete courtships, which did not proceed to a tail-straddling walk (TSW), and ten complete courtships with TSW and spermatophore deposition. See text for description of behaviors. Close ¼ salamanders within about 2.5 cm of each other but not in sustained contact via the mental gland (e.g., includes periods with male foot dance/shuffle, tail undulation, nudging, and snout under). MG Sliding ¼ mental-gland sliding on the skin of the female. ffTSWd ¼ discontinuous, female-first TSW. ffTSWc ¼ continuous, female-first TSW. Position for TSW ¼ attempted male solicitation of TSW. Box plots show minimum, maximum, median (solid horizontal line), mean (dotted horizontal line), and percentiles (10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th). *, **Probability values from Mann-Whitney rank sum tests demonstrate a significant difference between complete and incomplete courtships for the duration of both close and ffTSWd.
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