Multimodal mate assessment by male praying mantids in a sexually cannibalistic mating system

Barry, Katherine L.; Holwell, Gregory I.; Herberstein, Marie E.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.02.025

Cited by 57 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…All females remained on a diet of two crickets three times a week and water daily so that fixed size and body condition were controlled for (fixed size = 16.085 ± 0.143 mm, n = 30; body condition = 0.062 ± 0.002, n = 30). Previous studies found that virgin females with similar body conditions were attractive to males (Barry in review; Barry et al 2010). There was no significant difference in the age of females between the three treatment groups (One-way ANOVA: F 8 = 1.567, P = 0.240).…”

Section: Female Re-mating Frequencymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…During our double mating trials, there was no difference in the approach behaviour of males or the likelihood of sexual cannibalism between virgin and mated females. However, locating a female visually and without the initial chemical attraction typical for these animals is unlikely to occur in nature because of the low-density populations recorded for many praying mantid species (Maxwell 1999;Barry et al 2010). There is, however, the possibility that two or more males will be simultaneously chemically attracted to a female and wait for their turn to mate (Barry in review; Maxwell et al 2010).…”

Section: Sperm Precedence Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To determine whether P. albofimbriata females attract males at close-range when they are able to use both chemical and visual cues for mate location and mate choice (see Barry et al 2010), we observed and described the general mating behaviours of males and females during the double mating experiments outlined above. More specifically, we recorded the direction of male approach (rear/front), the incidence of pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism, and the duration of copulation.…”

Section: Female Re-mating Frequencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A paternity advantage for speedy males? Sperm precedence patterns and female re-mating frequencies in a sexually cannibalistic praying mantid

2010

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Scramble competition polygyny is expected when females and/or resources are widely dispersed and not easily monopolized by males, or when there is an abundance of mates during an extremely restricted reproductive period. Additional factors such as first male sperm precedence or low female re-mating rate might further explain the propensity of males to engage in scramble competition. The sexually cannibalistic praying mantid Pseudomantis albofimbriata exhibits a polygynous mating system, where females exist in low-density populations and male competition manifests as the race to find females rather than as direct physical fighting. Here, we aim to determine whether there is a paternity advantage for the first-male to mate and/or a low frequency of female re-mating. First, we determined sperm precedence patterns in P. albofimbriata using the sterile male technique. Second, we tested the likelihood of female re-mating in P. albofimbriata by comparing the close-range approach behaviour and frequency of successful mating attempts for males when paired with virgin as opposed to recently mated females, and by comparing the frequency of long-distance male attraction between virgin and mated females. We found no paternity advantage for the first male to mate, rather a second male advantage. Although mated females were not rejected by males when approached from close-range, they were chemically unattractive to males searching from a distance. Since initial mate attraction in many praying mantids, including P. albofimbriata, is mediated via long-distance chemical communication, we believe the latter result is more ecologically relevant and therefore more important. These results suggest that the relatively low frequency of female re-mating observed in P. albofimbriata may be an additional factor driving scramble competition in this system.

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Section: Female Re-mating Frequencymentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Sperm Precedence Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Female Re-mating Frequencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A paternity advantage for speedy males? Sperm precedence patterns and female re-mating frequencies in a sexually cannibalistic praying mantid

2010

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“…Another possibility is that males are able to uncover cheaters by basing their mate choice on multiple signals/traits [45,46]. Indeed, male mantids can visually perceive variation in female condition and fecundity and choose well-fed females in a simultaneous choice scenario [21,33]. However, they do not reject poorly fed females if they are the only option [28,47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In praying mantids, the fitness cost of this deception for males is potentially severe-food-limited females are not only less fecund [18,21,29] but also significantly more likely to cannibalize than well-fed females ( [21,28,[30][31][32]; table 1). In spite of the Femme Fatale hypothesis, honest signalling systems have been demonstrated in all cannibalistic mantid species studied thus far [18,[20][21][22]33,34]. The overwhelming consensus is for complete differential attraction to females in good condition; that is, well-fed females are chemically attractive to males, whereas hungry females in poor condition are almost exclusively unattractive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual deception in a cannibalistic mating system? Testing theFemme Fatalehypothesis

Barry

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Animal communication theory holds that in order to be evolutionarily stable, signals must be honest on average, but significant dishonesty (i.e. deception) by a subset of the population may also evolve. A typical praying mantid mating system involves active mate searching by males, which is guided by airborne sex pheromones in most species for which mate-searching cues have been studied. The Femme Fatale hypothesis suggests that female mantids may be selected to exploit conspecific males as prey if they benefit nutritionally from cannibalism. Such a benefit exists in the false garden mantid Pseudomantis albofimbriata —females use the resources gained from male consumption to significantly increase their body condition and reproductive output. This study aimed to examine the potential for chemical deception among the subset of females most likely to benefit from cannibalism (poorly fed females). Females were placed into one of four feeding treatments (‘Very Poor’, ‘Poor’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Good’), and males were given the opportunity to choose between visually obscured females in each of the treatments. Female body condition and fecundity varied linearly with food quantity; however, female attractiveness did not. That is, Very Poor females attracted significantly more males than any of the other female treatments, even though these females were in significantly poorer condition, less fecund (in this study) and more likely to cannibalise (in a previous study). In addition, there was a positive correlation between fecundity and attractiveness if Very Poor females were removed from the analysis, suggesting an inherently honest signalling system with a subset of dishonest individuals. This is the first empirical study to provide evidence of sexual deception via chemical cues, and the first to provide support for the Femme Fatale hypothesis.

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Male antenna morphology and its effect on scramble competition in false garden mantids

Jayaweera

Barry

2017

Sci Nat

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Well-developed antennae are crucial for many insects, but especially for scramble competitors, who race to find their mates using female sex cues. In these systems, the ability of males to locate females quickly is thought to be under strong selection. A rarely tested assumption is that males with more sensory structures are able to locate females faster. In the present study, we used the false garden mantid Pseudomantis albofimbriata to investigate male antennal morphology and its effect on male efficiency in finding a mate. We used scanning electron microscopy to describe the major sensilla types and their arrangement along the length of male antennae. We also conducted field enclosure trials relating male antennal morphology to scramble competition in this system. We identified six different types of antennal sensilla (cheatic, trichoid, basiconic, grooved peg, ceolocapitular and campaniform) on male P. albofimbriata antennae. As expected, males who had more trichoid sensilla located females quicker than did males with fewer sensilla. Results of the current study suggest that antenna morphology plays a significant role in mate location and hence scramble competition in the P. albofimbriata mating system.

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Multimodal mate assessment by male praying mantids in a sexually cannibalistic mating system

Cited by 57 publications

References 46 publications

A paternity advantage for speedy males? Sperm precedence patterns and female re-mating frequencies in a sexually cannibalistic praying mantid

A paternity advantage for speedy males? Sperm precedence patterns and female re-mating frequencies in a sexually cannibalistic praying mantid

Sexual deception in a cannibalistic mating system? Testing theFemme Fatalehypothesis

Male antenna morphology and its effect on scramble competition in false garden mantids

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