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31 results for “male attractiveness”
Data from: Effects of past mating behavior versus past ejaculation on male mate choice and male attractiveness
<p>Past reproductive effort allows males to assess their ability to acquire mates, but it also consumes resources that can reduce their future competitive ability. Few studies have examined how a male's reproductive history affects his subsequent mate choice; and, to date, no study has determined the relative contribution of past mating behavior and past ejaculate production because these two forms of investment are naturally highly correlated. Here, we disentangled the relative effects of past mating behavior and past ejaculate production in male mosquitofish (<em>Gambusia holbrooki</em>) by experimentally preventing some males from ejaculating when trying to mate. We assessed the effect of mating behavior on mate choice by comparing males that had previously been with or without access to females and male rivals for 16 weeks; and assessed the effect of ejaculation on mate choice by comparing males that either could or could not ejaculate when they had access to females for 16 weeks. We compared (1) time females spent with each male, (2) total distance males swam, (3) total time males spent inspecting females, (4) proportion of time males spent with the solitary females in separate models, with age (week 8, week 16) and treatment of reproductive history ("naive male", "mating only male" and "mating and ejaculation males") as fixed factors. </p> <p>We showed that reproductive history did not affect male attractiveness, but it did affect male mate choice. Somewhat surprisingly, in two-choice trials males from all three treatments preferred females in the vicinity of a rival over solitary females. This preference was marginally stronger for males engaging in previous mating behavior but was unaffected by past ejaculate production. This is the first study to quantify the relative influence of pre- and post-copulatory reproductive investment on male mate choice.</p>
Data from: Effects of past mating behavior versus past ejaculation on male mate choice and male attractiveness
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Data from: Hidden leks in a migratory songbird: mating advantages for earlier and more attractive males
In some socially monogamous birds, territories sometimes occur in aggregations. The "hidden lek" hypothesis suggests that territorial aggregations might be explained by males establishing territories near successful males ("hotshot" model), or by females preferring to mate in large clusters ("female preference" model). In both scenarios, clusters would provide more opportunities for finding mates and achieving extra-pair copulations. Our study tests predictions of these two models in the blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina). Males of this species migrate to their breeding grounds, establish territories within clusters and initiate courtship displays. These displays consist of vertical leaps synchronized with vocalizations, or only the latter, without leaps. The "hotshot" model predicts that: 1) earlier-arriving males would establish territories more centrally within clusters; 2) earlier or centrally positioned males would produce more elaborate displays; and 3) these same males would achieve higher success via within and extrapair fertilizations. The "female preference" model predicts that: 4) pairing success and 5) per-capita extrapair fertilizations would increase with cluster size. We found that earlier-arriving males executed higher leaps and longer songs, but there was no relationship between these traits and male position within clusters. We also found earlier-arriving males were more likely to obtain extrapair fertilizations. However, we found little evidence that cluster size related to overall or per-capita breeding success. Considered together, our data provide partial validation of the hotshot model of hidden leks, and expand on prior findings in this species by showing that females benefit by choosing males leaping higher and settling earlier in clusters.
Data from: Attractive male sticklebacks carry more oxidative DNA damage in the soma and germline
<p>Trade-offs between the expression of sexual signals and the maintenance of somatic and germline tissues are expected when these depend upon the same resources. Despite the importance of sperm DNA integrity, its trade-off with sexual signalling has rarely been explored. We experimentally tested the trade-off between carotenoid-based sexual colouration and oxidative DNA damage in skeletal muscle, testis and sperm by manipulating reproductive schedule (early <i>vs.</i> late onset of breeding) in male three-spined sticklebacks. Oxidative DNA damage was measured as the amount of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy-Guanosine in genomic DNA. Irrespective of the experimentally manipulated reproductive schedule, individuals investing more in red colouration showed higher levels of oxidative DNA damage in muscle, testis and sperm during the peak breeding season. Our results show that the expression of red colouration traded off against the level of oxidative DNA damage possibly due to the competing functions of carotenoids as colorants and antioxidants. Thus, female sticklebacks may risk fertility and viability of offspring by choosing redder, more deteriorated partners with decreased sperm DNA integrity. The evolution of sexual signal may be constrained by oxidative DNA damage in the soma and germline. </p>
Supporting information: Analysis of attentional bias towards attractive and unattractive body regions among overweight males and females: An eye-movement study.
<p>This is the data set as supporting information, provided as .csv file.</p> <p>Further information is available on request.</p>
How often are male mosquitoes attracted to humans?
<p>Many mosquito species live close to humans where females feed on human blood. While male mosquitoes do not feed on blood, it has long been recognized that males of some species can be attracted to human hosts. To investigate how commonly male mosquitoes are attracted to humans, we review existing literature and performed human-baited field trials. We then undertook further laboratory and tent experiments to examine attraction to humans in males and females of three common <em>Aedes</em> species. We find that male attraction to humans is restricted to a handful of species including <em>Aedes aegypti</em> and <em>Ae. albopictus</em>. The presence of male host-seeking behaviour in some species may promote mating success and contribute to these species being globally invasive. Male and female <em>Ae. aegypti </em>show similar patterns in preferential attraction between different human subjects. We also demonstrate that mosquito repellents applied to human skin repel male mosquitoes. Our findings provide insights into mosquito evolution and behaviour and have implications for mosquito control programs, particularly those that involve monitoring of the male mosquito population.</p>
Attractive males are cautious and better learners in the sailfin tetra
<p>A major component of Darwin's formulation of sexual selection theory is whether mate choice can contribute to the evolution of cognitive abilities. Although a correlation between cognition and attractive traits has commonly been reported, the processes that generate such associations remain elusive. Here, we investigated female preference, neophobia and spatial learning in the sailfin tetra, <em>Crenuchus spilurus</em>, a sexually dimorphic fish. Females chose the most ornamented males, which were also more neophobic. This is in line with the asset protection principle, which posits that attractive males should be more cautious because of their higher prospective fitness returns. After repeated exposure, more ornamented males learnt to navigate the complex maze faster, with chosen (and highest ornamented) males showing higher accuracy to solve the maze on the last day of trials. Because the asset protection principle stems from predation pressure, we propose that sexual selection through female mate choice creates a risk–reward trade-off, upon which natural selection acts by indirectly increasing learning abilities. As such, sexual selection forms the substrate, but natural selection drives enhanced cognitive abilities in attractive <em>C. spilurus</em> males.<span> </span></p>
Data from: Sexually attractive traits predict predation-threat sensitivity of male alternative mating tactics
<p>Although visual sexual signals, such as ornamental colors and courtship displays, and large body size in males are attractive to females in numerous species, they may also inadvertently attract the attention of eavesdropping predators and thus may be costly in terms of increasing individual risk of mortality to predation. Theoretically, more color-ornamented and larger males should be more predation threat sensitive and suppress their sexual signaling and(or) mating effort relatively more than their less color-ornamented and smaller counterparts when under predation hazard. Here, we experimentally tested this hypothesis by quantifying concurrently the rates of alternative mating tactics (courtship displays, sneak mating attempts) expressed by male Trinidadian guppies (<em>Poecilia reticulata</em>) varying in color ornamentation and body size under a staged immediate threat of predation. Males suppressed their overall mating effort in response to the perceived predation threat, decreasing the frequency of their (presumably more conspicuous) courtship displays significantly more on average than the frequency of their sneak mating behavior. Statistically controlling for body length, more color-ornamented males were more threat-sensitive in their courtship displays, but not sneak mating attempts, under predation hazard than drabber males. Controlling for body coloration, larger males exhibited lower courtship and sneak mating efforts than smaller males in both predation treatments, but body length only influenced threat sensitivity in sneak mating behavior. These results are consistent with both the threat-sensitive hypothesis and asset protection principle and highlight the phenotype-dependency and adaptive plasticity of alternative mating tactics in male guppies under varying predation risk.</p>
Data from: Attractive male sticklebacks carry more oxidative DNA damage in the soma and germline
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Data from: Sexually attractive traits predict predation-threat sensitivity of male alternative mating tactics
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Data from: Hidden leks in a migratory songbird: mating advantages for earlier and more attractive males
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Attractive males are cautious and better learners in the sailfin tetra
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Time spares no male: The age-dependent decline of olfactory attractiveness in red flour beetles <em>Tribolium castaneum</em>
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How often are male mosquitoes attracted to humans?
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Data from: Staying ahead of the game –plasticity in chorusing behavior allows males to remain attractive in different social environments
The dynamic nature of many breeding aggregations, where the composition and attractiveness of a male's competitors is ever changing, places extreme pressure on advertising males to remain competitive. In response to this challenge, males may adjust the properties of their calls, or change when they signal relative to their nearest neighbors, which are likely their strongest competitors. We used two playback experiments - one simulating a conspecific environment and the other simulating a mixed-species environment - to test the hypothesis that males use social plasticity in signal features, signal timing, or both, to remain attractive. Further, we examined whether this plasticity is mediated by selective attention, through which males change calling behavior in response to the most relevant competitors, while disregarding less relevant rivals. We find that males change some temporal call features, but rely strongly on signal timing to remain attractive relative to rivals. Simultaneous assessment of both types of calling plasticity allowed us to makes sense of counterintuitive responses of male calling behavior that would otherwise appear non-adaptive. We further show that this plasticity is most pronounced in response to attractive/conspecific males. We discuss how sexual selection by female choice may influence the trade-off between call feature and call timing plasticity, as well as how competitive interactions on a local scale may affect the overall acoustic environment in the chorus.
Data from: Older males are not only attractive to but also aggressive toward females in Gnatocerus cornutus
<p>In theory, a male should change the allocation of fighting and mating efforts in relation to his age. Thus, the consequences of sexual selection may be complicated by changes in the male resource allocation due to aging. However, previous studies have focused on changes in female mate choice and male-male competition with aging separately, and the impact of aging on the relationship between mate choice and male competition is unknown. Here, we examined how male competitiveness and attractiveness and their relationship changes over male lifespan in <em>Gnatocerus cornutus</em>. In this species, males perform courtship displays and fight rival males for mates. Older males are more competitive in male fighting and aggressive toward females than younger males. The aggression is also directed toward females. Almost all older males who attacked a female failed to copulate, while younger males never attacked the females. As a result, copulation success decreased with age. When an older male did not mistake a female for a male, he exhibited more frequent courtship. However, mating with older males imposed direct costs on females in terms of both fecundity and lifespan, with no offsetting indirect benefits for her offspring. The courtship behavior of older males does not supply females with cues for mate-choice benefits but are used to coerce females into mating. Our results suggest that male–male competition constrains female preference for older males. Thus, female choice and male–male competition may not be reinforcing in older <em>G. cornutus</em> males.</p>
Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques?
Sexual selection produces extravagant male traits, such as colorful ornaments, via female mate choice. More rarely, in mating systems in which males allocate mating effort between multiple females, female ornaments may evolve via male mate choice. Females of many anthropoid primates exhibit ornaments that indicate intra-individual cyclical fertility, but which have also been proposed to function as inter-individual quality signals. Rhesus macaque females are one such species, exhibiting cyclical facial color variation that indicates ovulatory status, but in which the function of inter-individual variation is unknown. We collected digital images of the faces of 32 rhesus macaque adult females. We assessed mating rates, and consortship by males, according to female face coloration. We also assessed whether female coloration was linked to physical (skinfold fat, BMI) or physiological (fecal glucocorticoid metabolite fGCM, urinary C-peptide concentrations) condition. We found that redder-faced females were mated more frequently, and consorted for longer periods by top-ranked males. Redder females had higher fGCM concentrations, perhaps related to their increased mating activity and consequent energy mobilization, and blood-flow. Prior analyses have shown that female facial redness is a heritable trait, and that redder-faced females have higher annual fecundity, while other evidence suggests that color expression is likely to be a signal rather than a cue. Collectively, the available evidence suggests that female coloration has evolved at least in part via male mate choice. Its evolution as a sexually-selected ornament attractive to males is probably attributable to the high female reproductive synchrony found in this species.
Data from: The "Woman in Red" Effect: pipefish males curb pregnancies at the sight of an attractive female
In an old Gene Wilder movie, an attractive woman dressed in red devastated a man's current relationship. We have found a similar "Woman in Red" effect in pipefish, a group of fish where pregnancy occurs in males. We tested for the existence of pregnancy blocks in pregnant male black-striped pipefish (Syngnathus abaster). We allowed pregnant males to see females that were larger and even more attractive than their original high-quality mates and monitored the survival and growth of developing offspring. After exposure to these extremely attractive females, males produced smaller offspring in more heterogeneous broods and showed a higher rate of spontaneous offspring abortion. Although we did not observe a full pregnancy block, our results show that males are able to reduce investment in current broods when faced with prospects of a more successful future reproduction with a potentially better mate. This "Woman in Red" life history trade-off between present and future reproduction has similarities to the Bruce effect, and our study represents the first documentation of such a phenomenon outside mammals.
Data from: Do males form social associations based on sexual attractiveness in a fission-fusion fish society?
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Data from: Staying ahead of the game –plasticity in chorusing behavior allows males to remain attractive in different social environments
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