Fitness Cost of Pheromone Production in Signaling Female Moths

Harari, Ally R.; Zahavi, Tirtza; Thiéry, Denis

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01252.x

Cited by 104 publications

(132 citation statements)

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“…Although many empirical studies have measured the percentage of females calling (e.g., Webster and Cardé 1982;Babilis and Mazomenos 1992;Kamimura and Tatsuki 1993;Ming et al 2007), more information on their spatial arrangement could prove useful. Females can potentially use cues other than their own mating status to adjust signaling effort: if females can perceive the signals of competing females, there is potential for more complex signaling strategies than the ones modeled by us (Harari et al 2011). Experimental manipulation of juvenile environments can also prove informative (Gibbs et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The physiological costs of pheromone production are only beginning to become clear (Harari et al 2011;Harari and Steinitz 2013). Even less attention has been paid to the spatial distribution of females (McNeil 1991), how developmental environment affects calling, and how calling neighbors affect a female's calling behavior (Stelinski et al 2006).…”

Section: A Theoretical Approach To Adaptive Variation In Female Pheromentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finding empirical evidence for costs has proven difficult (Johansson and Jones 2007); it is assumed that the costs of pheromone production are low (Cardé and Baker 1984). Recent evidence suggests that pheromone producers pay both fitness and physiological costs (Foster and Johnson 2011;Harari et al 2011). The general lack of evidence for pheromone production costs may reflect methodological difficulties (studies on concentrations of released pheromone are uncommon), or the scarcity of documented cases may match the theoretical prediction that females should expend minimal energy on pheromone production (Kokko and Wong 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female mate acquisition effort may incur a range of costs, including (1) attracting parasites, parasitoids, or predators (Jones et al 2002); (2) attracting males that are undesirable as mates, so energetic effort must be spent rejecting their mating attempts; (3) attracting males that are unwanted but able to overcome female mating resistance, leading to genital damage or physiological costs of multiple mating (Kawagoe et al 2001;Hosken and Stockley 2004;Cordero and Miller 2012); and (4) spending resources on greater than adequate, costly signal production (Gavrilets et al 2001;Kotiaho 2001;Johansson and Jones 2007;Harari et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Mothematics of Female Pheromone Signaling: Strategies for Aging Virgins

Umbers¹,

Symonds

Kokko

2015

The American Naturalist

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Although females rarely experience strong mate limitation, delays or lifelong problems of mate acquisition are detrimental to female fitness. In systems where males search for females via pheromone plumes, it is often difficult to assess whether female signaling is costly. Direct costs include the energetics of pheromone production and attention from unwanted eavesdroppers, such as parasites, parasitoids, and predators. Suboptimal outcomes are also possible from too many or too few mating events or near-simultaneous arrival of males who make unwanted mating attempts (even if successfully thwarted). We show that, in theory, even small costs can lead to a scenario where young females signal less intensely (lower pheromone concentration and/or shorter time spent signaling) and increase signaling effort only as they age and gather evidence (while still virgin) on whether sperm limitation threatens their reproductive success. Our synthesis of the empirical data available on Lepidoptera supports this prediction for one frequently reported component of signalingtime spent calling (often reported as the time of onset of calling at night)-but not for another, pheromone titer. This difference is explicable under the plausible but currently untested assumption that signaling earlier than other females each night is a more reliable way of increasing the probability of acquiring at least one mate than producing a more concentrated pheromone plume. Submitted February 24, 2014; Accepted October 3, 2014; Electronically published February 2, 2015 Online enhancement: appendix.abstract: Although females rarely experience strong mate limitation, delays or lifelong problems of mate acquisition are detrimental to female fitness. In systems where males search for females via pheromone plumes, it is often difficult to assess whether female signaling is costly. Direct costs include the energetics of pheromone production and attention from unwanted eavesdroppers, such as parasites, parasitoids, and predators. Suboptimal outcomes are also possible from too many or too few mating events or near-simultaneous arrival of males who make unwanted mating attempts (even if successfully thwarted). We show that, in theory, even small costs can lead to a scenario where young females signal less intensely (lower pheromone concentration and/or shorter time spent signaling) and increase signaling effort only as they age and gather evidence (while still virgin) on whether sperm limitation threatens their reproductive success. Our synthesis of the empirical data available on Lepidoptera supports this prediction for one frequently reported component of signaling-time spent calling (often reported as the time of onset of calling at night)-but not for another, pheromone titer. This difference is explicable under the plausible but currently untested assumption that signaling earlier than other females each night is a more reliable way of increasing the probability of acquiring at least one mate than producing a more concentrated pheromone plume.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Theoretical Approach To Adaptive Variation In Female Pheromentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Mothematics of Female Pheromone Signaling: Strategies for Aging Virgins

Umbers¹,

Symonds

Kokko

2015

The American Naturalist

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“…Nevertheless, various studies found considerable interindividual variation in the amount and ratio of pheromone components [20]. Although such variation can be caused by local environmental factors or due to heterozygote advantage [21], there is certainly the possibility that long-range sex pheromones covary positively with the condition of the sender and serve as reliable indicator of mate quality [22,23], especially if produced and emitted by the less limiting sex (usually the males). More importantly, we know from studies on acoustic signals used to attract conspecific mates that selection on species recognition does not necessarily preclude sexual selection (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond species recognition: somatic state affects long-distance sex pheromone communication

Chemnitz¹,

Jentschke²,

Ayasse³

et al. 2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Long-range sex pheromones have been subjected to substantial research with a particular focus on their biosynthesis, peripheral perception, central processing and the resulting orientation behaviour of perceivers. Fundamental to the research on sex attractants was the assumption that they primarily coordinate species recognition. However, especially when they are produced by the less limiting sex (usually males), the evolution of heightened condition dependence might be expected and long-range sex pheromones might, therefore, also inform about a signaller's quality. Here we provide, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive study of the role of a male's long-range pheromone in mate choice that combines chemical analyses, video observations and field experiments with a multifactorial manipulation of males' condition. We show that the emission of the long-distance sex pheromone of the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides is highly condition-dependent and reliably reflects nutritional state, age, body size and parasite load-key components of an individual's somatic state. Both, the quantity and ratio of the pheromone components were affected but the time invested in pheromone emission was largely unaffected by a male's condition. Moreover, the variation in pheromone emission caused by the variation in condition had a strong effect on the attractiveness of males in the field, with males in better nutritional condition, of older age, larger body size and bearing less parasites being more attractive. That a single pheromone is influenced by so many aspects of the somatic state and causes such variation in a male's attractiveness under field conditions was hitherto unknown and highlights the need to integrate indicator models of sexual selection into pheromone research.

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