Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive

Arbuthnott, Devin; Fedina, Tatyana Y.; Pletcher, Scott D.; Promislow, Daniel E. L.

doi:10.1038/ncomms13953

Cited by 51 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…We filmed chambers from above using JVC Everio GZ‐HM440U video cameras on a time‐lapse setting (1 frame s −1 ) for ~4 hr. Videos files were analyzed using the program VideoFly (Arbuthnott, Fedina, Pletcher, & Promislow, ) (generously provided by of Dr. Scott Pletcher, University of Michigan) which was used to track the physical position of the individual females in each frame of the video. Using this software, we counted the number of frames that each female spent on the surface of each subchamber containing either a “high‐harm male,” “low‐harm male,” or were elsewhere in the chamber (Supplementary Figure ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity in female mate choice behavior is mediated by an interaction of direct and indirect genetic effects in Drosophila melanogaster

Filice

Long

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Female mate choice is a complex decision‐making process that involves many context‐dependent factors. In Drosophila melanogaster, a model species for the study of sexual selection, indirect genetic effects (IGEs) of general social interactions can influence female mate choice behaviors, but the potential impacts of IGEs associated with mating experiences are poorly understood. Here, we examined whether the IGEs associated with a previous mating experience had an effect on subsequent female mate choice behaviors and quantified the degree of additive genetic variation associated with this effect. Females from 21 different genetic backgrounds were housed with males from one of two distinct genetic backgrounds for either a short (3 hr) or long (48 hr) exposure period and their subsequent mate choice behaviors were scored. We found that the genetic identity of a previous mate significantly influenced a female's subsequent interest in males and preference of males. Additionally, a hemiclonal analysis revealed significant additive genetic variation associated with experience‐dependent mate choice behaviors, indicating a genotype‐by‐environment interaction for both of these parameters. We discuss the significance of these results with regard to the evolution of plasticity in female mate choice behaviors and the maintenance of variation in harmful male traits.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity in female mate choice behavior is mediated by an interaction of direct and indirect genetic effects in Drosophila melanogaster

Filice

Long

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Recent studies support the theory that the choice of mate in male flies is rational and adaptive (7)(8)(9). It has been demonstrated that male flies prefer to court young females, even decapitated ones, and that both gustatory and olfactory perception are involved in this mating preference; therefore, we expected that males would prefer to court well-fed females, as they also have better reproductive potential (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Flies w 1118 , GMR-hid, ninaE 7 , orco 1 , ppk23-Gla4, ppk25-Gal4, UAS-hid, PromE (800)-Gal4, tubP-Gal80 ts , dilp [2,3,5]/TM3, foxo 21 , foxo w24 / TM6, OK72-Gal4, UAS-InR DN , and UAS-eloF-RNAi fly stocks were maintained on food that contained 5% sucrose, 5% yeast, 5% cornmeal food, 1% agar, and 0.23% Tegosept (Apex Bioresearch Products, San Diego, CA, USA). Yeast concentration was adjusted to 1, 5, or 20% as described in each experiment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insulin signaling in female Drosophila links diet and sexual attractiveness

et al. 2018

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Appropriate sexual selection or individual sexual attractiveness is closely associated with the reproductive success of a species. Here, we report that young male flies exhibit innate courtship preference for female flies that are raised on higher-yeast diets and that have greater body weight and fecundity, but reduced locomotor activity and shortened lifespan. Male flies discriminate among females that have been fed diets that contain 3 different yeast concentrations-1, 5, and 20% yeast- via gustatory, but not visual or olfactory, perception. Female flies that are raised on higher-yeast diets exhibit elevated expression levels of Drosophila insulin-like peptides (di lps), and we demonstrate that hypomorphic mutations of di lp2, 3, 5 or foxo, as well as oenocyte-specific gene disruption of the insulin receptor, all abolish this male courtship preference for high yeast-fed females. Moreover, our data demonstrate that disrupted di lp signaling can alter the expression profile of some cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in female flies, and that genetic inhibition of an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of CHCs in oenocytes, elongase F, also eliminates the male courtship preference. Together, our findings provide mechanistic insights that link female reproductive potential to sexual attractiveness, thereby encouraging adaptive mating and optimal reproductive success.-Lin, W.-S., Yeh, S.-R., Fan, S.-Z., Chen, L.-Y., Yen, J.-H., Fu, T.-F., Wu, M.-S., Wang, P.-Y. Insulin signaling in female Drosophila links diet and sexual attractiveness.

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“…Dechaume‐Moncharmont, Freychet, Motreuil, and Cézilly () found that convict cichlid females were transitive in their preferences for males that varied in their size. Arbuthnott, Fedina, Pletcher, and Promislow () found that male mate choice for 10 isogenic lines of Drosophilia melanogaster was nearly perfectly transitive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of rationality studies to date treat the population, not the individual, as the level of interest (for exceptions see Dechaume-Moncharmont et al, 2013;Shafir, 1994). For example, the Drosophilia study tested each male in a single binary test, not multiple tests, generating group-level preferences for each of the female lines instead of individual-level preferences (Arbuthnott et al, 2017). Gabel and Hennig (2016) tested female crickets multiple times for their mating preferences, but calculated population-level preferences.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rational mate choice decisions vary with female age and multidimensional male signals in swordtails

Reding

Cummings

2018

Ethology

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Biologists have long been interested in intransitive preferences: circular preferences in which options cannot be ranked and no single option dominates, similar to a game of rock‐paper‐scissors. Intransitive preferences violate rational decision‐making, an assumption made by models of evolution by mate choice. Despite its potential importance in the study of sexual selection, few studies have tested for intransitive preferences. Even fewer have asked whether females differ in whether they choose mates transitively or intransitively and what factors might predict (in)transitive choice. Though intransitive choice is thought to be more common as options become more complex, this prediction is untested in animals. To fill this gap, we tested whether female Xiphophorus nigrensis swordtails can rank digitally animated males differing in size, courtship intensity, or both size and courtship intensity, and whether female responses were predicted by a female's age. Females choosing among males that varied only in size showed higher than expected levels of intransitivity, whereas females choosing among males that varied in their courtship or both properties did not. Older females were more likely to be irrational than younger females when evaluating male size, suggesting that experience modifies transitive decision‐making processes. These results show that mate choice irrationality may vary by a female's experience and the signal characteristics during decision‐making.

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Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive

Cited by 51 publications

References 39 publications

Phenotypic plasticity in female mate choice behavior is mediated by an interaction of direct and indirect genetic effects in Drosophila melanogaster

Phenotypic plasticity in female mate choice behavior is mediated by an interaction of direct and indirect genetic effects in Drosophila melanogaster

Insulin signaling in female Drosophila links diet and sexual attractiveness

Rational mate choice decisions vary with female age and multidimensional male signals in swordtails

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