The effects of social experience with varying male availability on female mate preferences in a wolf spider

Abstract

While female preferences may vary depending on population-level differences in density or sex ratio, factors affecting mate choice may act at the individual level, i.e., females may encounter males with varying frequency or encounter multiple males simultaneously. The Bsocially cued anticipatory plasticity^hypothesis suggests that females may bias mate preferences based on prior experience. In the wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata, males typically mature before females, allowing females to experience male courtship before maturation. Using video playback, we simulated differences in the encounter rate and the number of males simultaneously encountered to examine effects on female preference for a secondary sexual character (foreleg tufts). Penultimate females were exposed to video playback of zero, one, or three courting males either once every 2 days (low encounter rate) or twice per day (high encounter rate). At adulthood (week 2 post-maturity), females were presented video playback of courting males with small or large tufts to test for preferences in no-choice and two-choice designs. In two-choice (but not no-choice) presentations, female receptivity varied significantly with treatment. Females exposed to three males simultaneously at a higher encounter rate during their penultimate stage exhibited greater receptivity to large-tufted than smalltufted males as adults. Subsequent analyses revealed that females were more selective as adults if they encountered cumulatively more males during their penultimate stage, which was a repeatable trend when re-testing some individuals 3 weeks later. This study adds to the growing literature that demonstrates that invertebrates exhibit plasticity in mating preferences depending on social experience.

Male chemical cues as reliable indicators of infection in the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata

“…An 8 cm by 18 cm strip of filter paper containing male chemical cues was placed in front of each iPod Touch unit (4th edition) playing a video of a courting male of average size and vigor on a gray background (Roberts, Taylor, & Uetz, ). This stimulus has been used in previous studies to elicit female receptivity and represents a male with body size and courtship vigor of the population mean (Moskalik & Uetz, ; Roberts et al, ; Stoffer & Uetz, ). The arena was cleaned with 70% ethanol between each trial in order to remove any remaining chemical cues, and the placement of filter paper on either side of the arena was randomized.…”

The effects of experience with different courtship modalities on unimodal and multimodal preferences in a wolf spider

“…Further, the mature males could be courting nearby mature females or mature female silk, resulting in exposure to male courtship as well. Female S. ocreata can, therefore, use this period of time to assess the social environment, and in lab simulations of the social environment, have been shown to adjust their mate preferences based on the perceived availability of potential mates (Stoffer & Uetz 2015) and varying tuft size of potential mates (Stoffer & Uetz 2016). Thus, these studies, and others in Schizocosa (Hebets 2003, Hebets & Vink 2007, Rutledge et al 2010 have demonstrated the importance of juvenile experience in subsequent adult preferences.…”

“…For example, females may adjust mating preferences based on experience with varying sex ratios (Madden & Whiteside 2013), the cumulative number of potential mates (Stoffer & Uetz 2015), variation in the phenotypic expression of secondary sexual characters (Stoffer & Uetz 2016, Walling et al 2008, Fowler-Finn & Rodríguez 2012, and males with familiar vs. novel traits (Johnson et al 1993, Hebets 2003, Witte et al 2000, Rutledge et al 2010. Many studies, however, have focused on female responses after social experience with a single modality (e.g., visual experience: Stoffer & Uetz 2015, 2016Walling et al 2008;acoustic experience: Swanger & Zuk 2015, Bailey & Zuk 2008, Dawson & Ryan 2012, Anderson et al 2014; vibratory experience: Fowler-Finn & Rodriguez 5 2012). In contrast, few studies have investigated how different sensory experiences (in this case, experience with male cues of different signal modalities) may affect subsequent female mating preferences (Bailey 2011, Rutledge et al 2010.…”

Peer Review #1 of "Mate availability does not influence mating strategies in males of the sexually cannibalistic spider Argiope bruennichi (v0.1)"

“…. For instance, it was found that females of the wolf spider 366 Schizocosa ocreata were more choosy as adults if they had a high encounter rate of males during 367 development (Stoffer & Uetz 2015). Hence, mate availability might have a strong impact on 368 mating decisions, but individuals may need enough time to process social information.…”