Sperm competition as a mechanism of female choice in the field cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus
01 Sep 1987-Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (Springer Science and Business Media LLC)-Vol. 21, Iss: 3, pp 197-202
TL;DR: Female G. bimaculatus may control the degree of sperm competition as a mechanism of mate choice by accepting large quantities of sperm from chosen males and determining the paternity of their offspring by diluting out the sperm stored from previous matings.
Abstract: While traditionally viewed as an extension of intermale competition, mechanisms of sperm competition may be used by multiply mating females for mate choice. In the field cricket G. bimaculatus sperm were shown to mix in the spermatheca. The proportion of offspring sired by the second male increased with spermatophore attachment duration and, therefore, the number of sperm transferred. There was no second male advantage for single matings after an initial double mating. However, the proportion ofoffspring sired by the second male increased in proportion to the number of times he mated such that second males mating three times after an initial double mating had the advantage at fertilization. The data suggested that sperm were utilized in proportion to their numerical representation in the spermatheca. The mechanism of sperm precedence may, therefore, be one of sperm dilution. Female G. bimaculatus may control the degree of sperm competition as a mechanism of mate choice. By accepting large quantities of sperm from chosen males they may determine the paternity of their offspring by diluting out the sperm stored from previous matings.
Citations
More filters
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: This chapter discusses Sperm Competition in Birds, Sexual Selection in Spiders and Other Arachnids, and Reproduction, Mating Strategies and Sperm competition in Marsupials and Monotremes.
Abstract: General Themes: G.A. Parker, Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Ejaculates: Towards a Theory Base. A.P. Moller, Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection. W.G. Eberhard, Female Roles in Sperm Competition. J. Wright, Paternity and Paternal Care. Taxonomic Treatments: L.F. Delph and K. Havens, Pollen Competition in Flowering Plants. D.R. Levitan, Sperm Limitation, Gamete Competition and Sexual Selection in External Fertilizers. N.K. Michiels, Mating Conflicts and Sperm Competition in Simultaneous Hermaphrodites. B. Baur, Sperm Competition in Molluscs. M.A. Elgar, Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection in Spiders and Other Arachnids. L.W. Simmons and M.T. Siva-Jothy, Sperm Competition in Insects: Mechanisms and the Potential for Selection. C.W. Petersen and R.R. Warner, Sperm Competition in Fishes. T.R. Halliday, Sperm Competition in Amphibians. M. Olsson and T. Madsen, Sexual Selection and Sperm Competition in Reptiles. T.R. Birkhead, Sperm Competition in Birds: Mechanisms and Function. D.A. Taggart, W.G. Breed, P.D. Temple-Smith, A. Purvis, and G. Shimmin, Reproduction, Mating Strategies and Sperm Competition in Marsupials and Monotremes. M. Gomendio, A.H. Harcourt, and E.R.S. Roldan, Sperm Competition in Mammals. T.R. Birkhead and A.P. Moller, Sperm Competition, Sexual Selection and Different Routes to Fitness. Index.
2,051 citations
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: The chapter focuses on how a male allocates sperm among different ejaculates and summarizes a model framework for the analysis of this problem and illustrates, whether the female has a strong influence on the evolution of ejaculate characteristics, depending on how much control she can exercise on an ejaculate within her reproductive tract.
Abstract: The chapter focuses on how a male allocates sperm among different ejaculates and summarizes a model framework for the analysis of this problem. It consolidates a prospective theory base for empirical advances. Since the sperm competition involves sexual conflict, the interests of male and female differ. However, it is clear that the mating or ejaculatory strategy, which is best for a male need not be best for the female. Moreover, the resolution of mating conflict depends on the circumstances, and that either sex can exert a strong or even overriding influence. It also illustrates, whether the female has a strong influence on the evolution of ejaculate characteristics, depending on how much control she can exercise on an ejaculate within her reproductive tract. In many cases, there are no conflicts between the male strategy and female interests, and thus, the present models serve a fair approximation of the selective forces shaping ejaculate characteristics. There is now ample evidence, particularly from heterospermic inseminations (females inseminated with ejaculates from different males) in domestic mammals that genetic variation among males is correlated with differences in paternity prospects.
769 citations
TL;DR: Evidence for the potential ofnuptial gifts to function as either paternal investment, mating effort, or both is reviewed for each form of nuptial feeding in each insect taxon for which sufficient data are available.
Abstract: Nuptial feeding encompasses any form of nutrient transfer from the male to the female during or directly after courtship and/or copulation. In insects, nuptial gifts may take the form of food captured or collected by the male, parts, or even the whole of the male's body, or glandular products of the male such as salivary secretions, external glandular secretions, the spermatophore and substances in the ejaculate. Over the past decade, there has been considerable debate over the current function of nuptial feeding in insects. This debate has centred on the issue of whether nuptial gifts function as paternal investment (i.e. function to increase the fitness and/or number of the gift-giving male's own offspring) or as mating effort (i.e. function to attract females, facilitate coupling, and/or to maximize ejaculate transfer), although the two hypotheses are not mutually exclusive. In the present article, evidence for the potential of nuptial gifts to function as either paternal investment, mating effort, or both is reviewed for each form of nuptial feeding in each insect taxon for which sufficient data are available. Empirical evidence suggests that many diverse forms of nuptial feeding in different insect taxa function, at least in part, as mating effort. For example, nuptial prey and salivary masses in the Mecoptera, regurgitated food in Drosophila (Diptera), hind-wing feeding in Cyphoderris (Orthoptera) and the secretion of the male's cephalic gland in Neopyrochroa (Coleoptera) and Zorotypus (Zoraptera) appear to function to entice females to copulate and/or to facilitate coupling. Nuptial prey and salivary masses in the Mecoptera also appear to function to maximize ejaculate transfer (which is also a form of mating effort), as do nuptial prey in Empis (Diptera), external glandular secretions in Oecanthus and Allonemobius (Orthoptera) and the spermatophylax in gryllids and tettigoniids (Orthoptera). Large spermatophores in, for example, the Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, also appear to be maintained by selection on the male to maximize ejaculate transfer and thereby counter the effects of sperm competition. In contrast to the large amount of evidence in support of the mating effort hypothesis, there is a relative lack of good evidence to support the paternal investment hypothesis. Certain studies have demonstrated an increase in the weight and/or number of eggs laid as a result of the receipt of larger gifts, or a greater number of gifts, in tettigoniids, gryllids, acridids, mantids, bruchid beetles, drosophilids and lepidopterans. However, virtually all of these studies (with the possible exception of studies of the spermatophylax in tettigoniids) have failed to control adequately for hormonal substances in the ejaculate that are known to affect female reproductive output. Furthermore, in at least four tettigoniids (but not in the case of two species), three lepidopterans, a drosophilid and probably also bruchid beetles and bittacids, evidence suggests that the male has a low probability of fertilising the eggs that stand to benefit from his nuptial gift nutrients. Therefore, the hypothesis that paternal investment might account for the function of nuptial gifts in general is not supported.
648 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that in crickets, the eggs of females that mate only with siblings have decreased hatching success, but if females mate with both a sibling and a non-sibling they avoid altogether the low egg viability associated with sibling matings.
Abstract: Why do females typically mate with more than one male? Female mating patterns have broad implications for sexual selection, speciation and conflicts of interest between the sexes, and yet they are poorly understood. Matings inevitably have costs, and for females, the benefits of taking more than one mate are rarely obvious. One possible explanation is that females gain benefits because they can avoid using sperm from genetically incompatible males, or invest less in the offspring of such males. It has been shown that mating with more than one male can increase offspring viability, but we present the first clear demonstration that this occurs because females with several mates avoid the negative effects of genetic incompatibility. We show that in crickets, the eggs of females that mate only with siblings have decreased hatching success. However, if females mate with both a sibling and a non-sibling they avoid altogether the low egg viability associated with sibling matings. If similar effects occur in other species, inbreeding avoidance may be important in understanding the prevalence of multiple mating.
504 citations
Cites background from "Sperm competition as a mechanism of..."
...68 ), which confirms the lack of any effect of mating order on sperm precedenc...
[...]
TL;DR: The results suggest that sperm competition in butterflies selects for increased investment in spermatogenesis, and specifically longer fertilizing sperm, which are not selected to be minimally sized to maximize numbers for a purely raffle-based sperm competition mode.
Abstract: This paper investigates mechanisms of sperm competition by comparing reproductive characteristics across 74 butterfly species. Testis size scales with body size and, after controlling for this allometry, relative testis size increases with risk of sperm competition, as defined by female mating frequency. Both eupyrene (fertilizing) and apyrene (non-fertile) sperm lengths correlate positively with body size. After controlling for body size, relative eupyrene sperm lengths are greater in species where males experience higher risks of sperm competition. These results suggest that sperm competition in butterflies selects for increased investment in spermatogenesis, and specifically longer fertilizing sperm. Because longer sperm may be faster and more powerful, eupyrene sperm may therefore compete energetically, and are not selected to be minimally sized to maximize numbers for a purely raffle-based sperm competition mode. Apyrene sperm lengths are not affected directly by risk of encountering rival sperm. Instead, apyrene sperm show closer associations with body size which, if female tract morphometry correlates with body size, is consistent with the hypothesis that apyrene sperm retard female sexual receptivity by moving while in storage.
424 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, Simpson et al. describe a method to solve the problem of homonymity in Bee W l d 34, 14) and show that it works well in beekeeping.
Abstract: by M. Simpson in Bee W l d 34, 14).
3,892 citations
TL;DR: Female choice in the Australian scorpionfly Harpobittacus nigriceps, a species in which males provide females with a nuptial arthropod gift during mating, was studied in the field and laboratory and leads to stronger sexual selection on males than premating choice.
Abstract: Female choice is a poorly understood area of evolutionary biology. Mate choice theory and the generally greater control of the process of reproduction by females than by males imply that female choice is prevalent in organisms and that it may be subtle in its nature, occurring even after mating and at any time until the female's control of gametes or zygotes terminates. Female choice in the Australian scorpionfly Harpobittacus nigriceps, a species in which males provide females with a nuptial arthropod gift during mating, was studied in the field and laboratory. Female choice before mating occurs in H. nigriceps and there is considerable evidence of its occurrence during and after mating in this species. Females apparently choose during mating by controlling mating duration and thus the number of sperm received from different mates. Postmating choice in H. nigriceps appears to include a female's ability to regulate egg laying in relation to characteristics of her mate. Female choice during and after matin...
640 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that females often largely determine the optimal male strategy which provides the optimal sperm displacement pattern for the females, and that selection on males independent of selection pressures on females is postulated to exert a major influence on the sperm precedence pattern of a population.
Abstract: It is postulated that the sperm precedence characteristics of most insect populations have resulted primarily from selection on females (1) to optimize the genetic composition of their progeny; (2) to discourage or encourage multiple matings for reasons other than genetic considerations; (3) to optimize their sperm storage capacity and utilization. In addition, selection on males to maximize egg fertilization by reduced displacement of their sperm and increased displacement of other sperm to the extent that these can be achieved without sacrificing the optimal mating strategy (Parker 1970a) probably has been important in some species. Parker's (1970a) hypothesis that the amount of sperm displacement in a population should stabilize at the value which yields the optimal overall male fertilization rate is accepted as the optimal male strategy; however, it is suggested that females often largely determine, by their behavior and by the structure and functioning of their reproductive tract, the optimal male st...
422 citations
TL;DR: In double mating experiments with Drosophila melanogaster in which one male had been irradiated, it was confirmed that sperm displacement is extensive, i.e. the second male to mate displaces most of the previously‐stored sperm.
Abstract: 1
In double mating experiments with Drosophila melanogaster in which one male had been irradiated, it was confirmed that sperm displacement is extensive, i.e. the second male to mate displaces most of the previously-stored sperm.
2
The predominance of the second ejaculate over the first increases with the interval between the two matings, from about P2= 0.83 (second mating on the first day after the first mating) to about P2= 0.99 (interval between mating = 14 days) where P2 is the proportion of offspring fathered by the second male.
3
A more accurate method for calculating P2 values is developed for experiments in which sperm are ‘labelled’ by irradiation treatment (equation 1).
4
Observations of the reducing egg production of the female throughout life were also obtained. A model is examined which incorporates both the sperm competition and egg production data to predict the reproductive value to a male of a mating with a given type of female, varying in age and mating status. The relative value (in terms of probable numbers of progeny gained) of a mating with a virgin or 4 day post-mating female is about twice that of a 14 day post-mating female, mainly because of the fecundity difference.
5
Some evolutionary aspects of sperm competition and multiple mating in insects are reviewed and discussed.
363 citations