Courtship performance as function of body condition in an ‘ancient’ form of sperm transfer

Abstract

In most animal species, body condition has a fundamental role in fitness. In males, sexual selection generally favors larger body size or greater weight. This may result in males with better condition performing more vigorous courtships, and biasing female preferences. The effects of body condition on mating performance have been extensively studied in different animal groups. Among arachnids, scorpions are an interesting group for evaluating the effects of these sexual traits on mating performance, since they exhibit an ancient mode of indirect sperm transfer. Scorpion males deposit a single spermatophore on the soil to transfer the sperm to the females, and therefore, the production of spermatophores involves a high cost for them. In this study, we use the scorpion Bothriurus bonariensis as a model to evaluate different patterns of sexual behavior as a function of the body condition of both males and females. We found that males with a better body condition performed the mating dance stage more quickly than males with a lower condition. In addition, males performed the sexual sting behavior for a longer time with females in a better condition. Our results suggest that a better condition provides a mating advantage to males and represents an indicator of courtship performance. Given that female quality is usually correlated with fecundity, males mating with females with a better body condition probably have higher reproductive success.

Bundles of Sperm: Structural Diversity in Scorpion Sperm Packages Illuminates Evolution of Insemination in an Ancient Lineage

“…Koch, 1842), Brachistosternus ferrugineus (Thorell, 1876), Timogenes elegans , and Urophonius brachycentrus (Thorell, 1876), were investigated in more detail. The reproductive biology of these species has been extensively studied (Vrech, 2013;Vrech et al, 2014Vrech et al, , 2018Vrech et al, , 2019Romero-Lebron et al, 2019;Oviedo-Diego et al, 2019, 2020Olivero et al, 2015Olivero et al, , 2019Olivero et al, , 2021 and fresh material was more readily available compared to other taxa.…”

Short‐ and long‐term effects of an extreme case of autotomy: does “tail” loss and subsequent constipation decrease the locomotor performance of male and female scorpions?

“…Thus, in the long-term, autotomized males should be in poorer body condition than intact males due to lower food intake. Considering that courtship is a condition-dependent behavior in many groups, including scorpions (see Olivero et al 2019 and references therein), autotomized males should have a decreased courtship performance after some months. Finally, accumulation of feces inside autotomized males may cause deformities in the hemi-spermatophores, compromising the functionality of the spermatophore.…”

New perspectives on meeting and mating

“…In their experiment with bedbugs, they describe the importance of female body size for male mate choice. Female body condition also plays an important role in male reproductive decisions of scorpions (Olivero et al, 2019). Males of the investigated scorpion species perform sexual sting behaviour for a longer time with females that are in a better condition.…”

“…Males of the investigated scorpion species perform sexual sting behaviour for a longer time with females that are in a better condition. These two studies also highlight that internal fertilization encompasses not only intimate contact between the two sexes (i.e., copulation sensu stricto; Zizzari et al, 2014), but also traumatic insemination where the sperm are injected directly into the body cavity of the female, as in bedbugs (Kaufmann & Otti, 2019), or indirect sperm transfer where the sperm are deposited on the substrate in spermatophores and subsequently picked-up by the females, as in scorpions (Olivero et al, 2019).…”