Feeding regime, adult age and sexual size dimorphism as determinants of pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism in virgin wolf spiders

Abstract

Pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism (Pre-SC), where females attack and consume courting males, is considered an extreme case of sexual conflict. Different ultimate causes underlying this phenomenon have been proposed for more than a century and still remain unclear. The main objective of this research was to test the 'adaptive foraging hypothesis' in females of the non-burrowing wolf spider Lycosa fasciiventris. We exposed virgin adult females to either rich or poor diet treatments (differing in prey quality and availability) and offered them males at different adult female ages (a proxy of mate availability during adulthood). The analysis of correlative data served to evaluate other hypotheses/predictions. In order to test the 'mate choice hypothesis' and the 'sexual size dimorphism hypothesis', we tested how male absolute and relative (to the female) body size, respectively, affected the probability of Pre-SC. Finally, we asked if the female body size predicts the rate of Pre-SC as proposed by the 'aggressive spillover hypothesis'. Females from the poor diet treatment and females that were offered a mate shortly after reaching maturity more likely engaged in Pre-SC than females from the rich diet treatment and females that were deprived of males for longer periods. While females more likely cannibalized courting males of relatively or absolutely smaller body size, female absolute body size did not predict Pre-SC. Thus, our results support the 'adaptive foraging hypothesis', the 'mate choice hypothesis' and the 'sexual size dimorphism hypothesis' and failed to find support for one of the predictions of the 'aggressive spillover hypothesis'. Significance statementPre-copulatory sexual cannibalism, where females kill and devour courting males, may be costly for both sexes raising questions about its adaptive aspects and evolution. We used wolf spider Lycosa fasciiventris to test several existing hypotheses aiming to explain the phenomenon. Pre-copulatory cannibalism in virgin females was predicted by their food availability during adulthood, age at first male encounter and the relative body size of the courting male. Females more likely engaged in pre-copulatory cannibalism if they were poorly fed, young at first male encounter and relatively larger than their courting males. Thus, our data may simultaneously support the 'adaptive foraging', the 'sexual size dimorphism' and the 'mate choice' hypotheses as the explanations for precopulatory cannibalism occurrences in L. fasciiventris.

Ecology of female mating failure/lifelong virginity: a review of causal mechanisms in insects and arachnids

“…High rates of precopulatory cannibalism are obviously maladaptive for males, and also for females because they induce male-biased sex ratios by consuming receptive mating partners without accessing their sperm. Strong selection against precopulatory cannibalism is expected to reduce its incidence in nature (Gav ın-Centol et al, 2017;Fisher et al, 2018).…”

Body Size, Not Personality, Explains Both Male Mating Success and Sexual Cannibalism in a Widow Spider

“…However, both female aggression towards males and sexual cannibalism correlated with the relative size difference between mates, where females more likely consumed relatively smaller males [16]. The latter indicates sexual cannibalism as a mechanism of mate choice based on male size, a pattern found in some other spider species (e.g., [17,18]).…”

Sexual cannibalism and population viability

“…An increase in a female's tendency to cannibalise males before copulation may therefore be detrimental for population growth rate. Although there is little evidence on whether local conditions can increase pre‐copulatory cannibalism in nature, a recent paper has shown that pre‐copulatory cannibalism rates in female wolf spiders increased significantly in response to feeding regime and relative male size in the laboratory (Gavín‐Centol, Kralj‐Fišer, De Mas, Ruiz‐Lupión, & Moya‐Laraño, ). Alternatively, if sexual cannibalism occurs due to spillover of juvenile aggression, then poor habitats may select for highly aggressive juveniles (Johnson & Sih, ), thereby increasing the rate of adult cannibalism.…”