Potential for CFC in Black Widows (Genus Latrodectus): Mechanisms and Social Context

Andrade, Maydianne C. B.; MacLeod, Emily C.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17894-3_2

Cited by 22 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 112 publications

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“…As predicted by first-male sperm precedence, Latrodectus males frequently cohabit on the webs of final-instar juvenile females (immatures) in nature ( [13] and references therein). Here we document a fitness-enhancing alternative tactic of cohabiting male L. hasselti and L. geometricus whereby males copulate with immature females by accessing their concealed genitalia (immature mating).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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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: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…female nor male remating [4,7,10,12,13]. Since females may mate with more than one male in nature [4], expected paternity is highest if these monogynous males mate with virgins, copulate twice and leave a plug in each spermatheca [4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

et al. 2016

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“…Another non-exclusive possibility is the occurrence of cryptic female choice [38-39]. This can be manifested as a modulation of the female’s immune response regarding characteristics of the plug (e.g., mechanical effectiveness, chemical composition, size) as well as those of the male (e.g., male’s quality, duration of pre-copulatory and copulatory courtship) [29,40-41,46,108-110]. A comparative and phylogenetic study of the plugs in the Bothriuridae Family could provide information about the evolution of male and female strategies in terms of the plugging phenomenon, and whether this strategy, for example, is related in any way to other traits of the immune system or genital characters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, because the plugs could represent the result of a sexual conflict in the domain of fertilization [25-26], sexually antagonistic coevolution would favor counter-adaptations of the females. For example, females can prevent the placement of a plug [27-29], controlling the duration of the mating by means of the formation of a plug [30-31] or actively removing it or degrading it [32-37]. Female control of the fate of the genital plug has been proposed as a mechanism of cryptic female choice [38-39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunological female role tested on artificial plugs in three scorpion species

Mattoni

2018

Preprint

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MO) 2 16 Abstract 17Within arachnids, genital plugs are morphologically diverse, and they can be formed by 18 male, female or be a contribution of both sexes. Although several species of scorpions with 19 genital plugs are known, the physiological effects on the female after being plugged have not 20 been well studied yet. This work compares three scorpion species, two with genital plugs and one 21 without. We first describe the genital plugs morphology of two Urophonius species. Second, 22 through the placement of artificial genital plugs in the female genital atrium, we tested 1) whether 23 there are interspecific differences in the immune encapsulation response on the artificial genital 24 plug, 2) if there are an effect in the hemocyte load in the hemolymph, and 3) if individual's 25 immunological parameters and body weight are correlated. Additionally, we describe and 26 quantify the hemocytes in these species. In both species of Urophonius, genital plugs were found 27 covering the female genital aperture and blocking the genital atrium. The plugs consist of three 28 zones that are distinct in morphology and coloration. We found different patterns of 29 encapsulation and melanization on the artificial plug according to the species, with a greater and 30 more specific response in females of plug producing species. Also, these species showed a 31 decrease in the hemocyte load one month after the placement of the artificial plug, possibly due 32 to the recirculation of the hemocytes into the genital area. In addition, correlations were found 33 between the body weight and the immunological parameters, as well as between different 34 immunological parameters. Our results suggest that females contribute to the formation of genital 35 plugs by adding material and generating the darkening of the genital plugs in certain zones. This 36 comparative study can help to provide a wider framework of different physiological 37 consequences related to a particular postcopulatory mechanism such as the genital plugs. 3 38 Scorpions 40 41 Introduction 42Among the many reproductive strategies that organisms exhibit, there are some that 43 involve males' adaptations favored by sperm competition to increase their reproductive success 44 [1][2][3]. Males would compete for the monopolization of females toward preventing, reducing or 45 avoiding sperm competition [2,4]. Genital plugs are structures that block or cover some portion 46 of the female genitalia after mating, and consequently can prevent sperm competition, acting as 47 mechanical or visual impairments [5][6] or by a physiological or behavioral alteration, such as 48 decreased female receptivity [7][8][9][10]. The plugging of females is a widespread phenomenon in the 49 animal kingdom, including insects and arachnids [4,[11][12][13][14]. Within arachnids, genital plugs are 50 morphologically diverse, varying according to the taxa. In general, genital plugs can be formed 51 by the coagulation of the male's ejaculate or glandular substances [12,[15][16][17][18][19][20][...

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“…Although very little is known, similar cryptic female mechanisms have been described in spider species. In the genus, Physocyclus females would eject males' sperm depending on their copulatory courtship performance (Peretti & Eberhard, ), or among the spider genera Lactrodectus , Leucage and Argiope it seems possible that females can bias fertilisation of their eggs by controlling the mating plug formation (Aisenberg, Barrantes, & Eberhard, ; Andrade & MacLeod, ; Schneider, Uhl, & Herberstein, ). Beyond the mechanisms, it has been also suggested that female spiders can selectively store sperm of courting males (Schneider & Lesmono, ), cannibalised males (Herberstein et al., ) and gift‐giving males (Albo, Bilde, & Uhl, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female wolf spiders exert cryptic control drastically reducing ejaculate size

Albo

Costa

2017

Ethology

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Sexes' roles in post‐copulatory processes have important effects on individual fitness and are promising to study in species showing complex mating behaviours. In the spider Schizocosa malitiosa, males perform two different copulatory patterns, pattern 1 includes 80% of total pedipalp insertions and pattern 2 includes 20%. Both patterns produce similar number of offspring, but pattern 1 induces higher female reluctance to remating than pattern 2. We hypothesised that the complex copulatory patterns are linked to post‐copulatory sexual selection, affecting males' sperm transfer and the resulting sperm storage by females. First, we examined amounts of sperm in males and live females from uninterrupted (pattern 1 + 2) and interrupted matings (pattern 1, pattern 2). Second, in order to disentangle male and female actions, we induced males to mate with dead females and examined amounts of sperm. Males transfer in total 71% of the sperm available in their pedipalps, being higher but not significant in pattern 1 than in pattern 2. Females drastically reduced the amount of sperm stored in their spermathecae and such control is stronger in pattern 1 compared to pattern 2 matings. We propose that cryptic female control is a main factor driving males to strengthen sperm transfer. Active female reduction in ejaculate most probably diminished her reluctance to remate.

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Potential for CFC in Black Widows (Genus Latrodectus): Mechanisms and Social Context

Cited by 22 publications

References 112 publications

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders

Immunological female role tested on artificial plugs in three scorpion species

Female wolf spiders exert cryptic control drastically reducing ejaculate size

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