Faithful Without Care: The Evolution of Monogyny

Fromhage, Lutz; Elgar, Mark A.; Schneider, Jutta M.

doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01790.x

Cited by 115 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…[17]) particularly when males are under selection to increase otherwise rare opportunities to mate or secure fertilizations. In widow spiders, extreme sexual selection is thought to be responsible for the evolution of male self-sacrifice [1,2,4]. Our work suggests strong sexual selection may be concurrently linked to this opportunistic tactic that simultaneously escalates inter-male competition over mating, and circumvents monogyny.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

et al. 2016

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Copulatory cannibalism of male ‘widow’ spiders (genus Latrodectus ) is a model example of the extreme effects of sexual selection, particularly in L. hasselti and L. geometricus where males typically facilitate cannibalism by females and mate only once. We show that these males can increase their reproductive success by copulating with final-instar, immature females after piercing the female's exoskeleton to access her newly developed sperm storage organs. Females retain sperm through their final moult and have similar fecundity to adult-mated females. This is an adaptive male tactic because immature mating increases insemination success relative to adult mating (which predicts higher paternity) and moreover, rarely ends in cannibalism, so males can mate again. Although successful only during a brief period before the female's final moult, males may employ this tactic when they associate with final-instar females in nature. Consistent with this, one-third of L. hasselti females collected as immatures in nature were already mated. Immature mating alters sexual selection on these otherwise monogynous males, and may explain male traits allowing facultative polygyny in Latrodectus . Since male cohabitation with immature females is common among invertebrates, immature mating may be a widespread, previously unrecognized mating tactic, particularly when unmated females are of high reproductive value.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

et al. 2016

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“…When the chance of encountering a second female is exceedingly small, males are expected to invest all of their resources in the first female they encounter [21]. Despite its likely role in the evolution of monogyny in the redback spider, theoretical explorations into the evolution of monogyny do not find high search costs to be a necessary component [7]. Nonetheless, in order to determine whether high search costs may be a driving force in D. tenebrosus, we conducted field observation of released males.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent theory provides clear and straightforward predictions of the circumstances under which monogyny can evolve-monogyny is favoured over polygyny when there is a male-biased effective sex ratio [7], defined as the ratio between adult males and females that mate at least once. Furthermore, such male-biased sex ratios are suggested to arise in concert with female-biased sexual size dimorphism [5][6][7], as males in such systems often reach sexual maturation earlier and are more likely to survive to maturity [2,8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, such male-biased sex ratios are suggested to arise in concert with female-biased sexual size dimorphism [5][6][7], as males in such systems often reach sexual maturation earlier and are more likely to survive to maturity [2,8,9]. Such life-history patterns have led scientists to predict an evolutionary correlation between female-biased sexual size dimorphisms, male-biased sex ratios and monogyny [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spontaneous male death and monogyny in the dark fishing spider

2013

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Monogyny (male monogamy) is found in a diverse assemblage of taxa, and recent theoretical work reveals that a male-biased sex ratio can favour the evolution of this relatively rare mating system. We integrate this theoretical framework with field observations and laboratory experiments involving the sexually size dimorphic fishing spider, Dolomedes tenebrosus, to test the prediction that this species exhibits monogyny. Field surveys revealed a male-biased sex ratio, likely resulting from different life-history strategies (early male maturation). Results from mating trials supported our prediction of monogyny as we discovered that males mate with a single female. Unexpectedly, however, we observed that mating results in obligate male death and genital mutilation. Additional field observations of released individuals suggest that males are not limited by their ability to encounter additional females. Controlled laboratory assays demonstrated that males discriminate among virgin and non-virgin female silk cues, consistent with predictions of first-male sperm precedence. In summary, we report a novel case of male self-sacrifice in a species that exhibits female-biased sexual size dimorphism, male-biased sex ratio, genital mutilation and a suggestion of first-male sperm precedence; all of which are consistent with theoretical predictions of the evolution of monogyny.

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“…Buskirk et al [14] developed a model which predicts that male complicity in sexual cannibalism will evolve if the number of additional offspring produced as a result of sexual cannibalism exceeds the number of additional offspring the male could sire if he avoided cannibalism and searched for additional mates [22]. Male sacrifice may also evolve as a means of increasing paternity when the sex ratio is male biased and thus males risk sperm competition despite low individual male mating frequencies [23,24]. Elgar & Schneider [22] reviewed the evidence of fecundity benefits of sexual cannibalism, with an emphasis on spiders, and found little support for fecundity benefits overall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual cannibalism increases male material investment in offspring: quantifying terminal reproductive effort in a praying mantis

Brown

Barry

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Models of the evolution of sexual cannibalism argue that males may offset the cost of cannibalism if components of the male body are directly allocated to the eggs that they fertilize. We tested this idea in the praying mantid Tenodera sinensis. Males and females were fed differently radiolabelled crickets and allowed to mate. Half of the pairs progressed to sexual cannibalism and we prevented cannibalism in the other half. We assess the relative allocation of both male-derived somatic materials and ejaculate materials into the eggs and soma of the female. Our results show that male somatic investment contributes to production of offspring. The eggs and reproductive tissues of cannibalistic females contained significantly more male-derived amino acids than those of non-cannibalistic females, and there was an increase in the number of eggs produced subsequent to sexual cannibalism. Sexual cannibalism thus increases male material investment in offspring. We also show that males provide substantial investment via the ejaculate, with males passing about 25% of their radiolabelled amino acids to females via the ejaculate even in the absence of cannibalism.

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Faithful Without Care: The Evolution of Monogyny

Cited by 115 publications

References 31 publications

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

Spontaneous male death and monogyny in the dark fishing spider

Sexual cannibalism increases male material investment in offspring: quantifying terminal reproductive effort in a praying mantis

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