The evolution of genital complexity and mating rates in sexually size dimorphic spiders

Kuntner, Matjaž; Cheng, Ren-Chung; Kralj‐Fišer, Simona; Liao, Chen‐Pan; Schneider, Jutta M.; Elgar, Mark A.

doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0821-y

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…Stockley (2002), for example, found that in primates, relatively high penile spinosity was associated with lower potential reproductive rates in females and interpreted this in terms of internal damage caused to the female by the spines. Kuntner et al (2016) similarly found that in nephilid spiders, the male's genitalia were more complex in polyandrous species than in monandrous species. Titillators in some bushcrickets have spines (see Figure 1) that contact the soft, un-sclerotised lining of the female's bursa copulatrix (Wulff et al 2015(Wulff et al , 2017.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Comparative evidence indicates that the presence of titillators is associated with longer copulation durations (prior to spermatophore transfer) in bushcrickets (Vahed et al 2011), but the relationship between titillator complexity and polyandry has not previously been examined. In fact, we are not aware of any previous studies that have tested for a relationship across species between direct measures of the degree of polyandry and genital complexity in any animal taxon (for studies that have used in-direct measures of the degree of polyandry or used a binary "monandrous versus polyandrous" classification, see Ramm 2007;Arnqvist 1998;Rowe and Arnqvist 2012;Orr and Brennan 2016;Kuntner et al 2016). Bushcrickets are one of the few animal groups in which data on the lifetime degree of polyandry are available for a range of species (Vahed 2006).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…sperm competition, cryptic female choice and sexually antagonistic co-evolution). One mechanism of postcopulatory sexual selection, however, may be distinguishable because it potentially makes the opposite prediction: If complex genitalia cause damage to the female's reproductive tract (see Crudginton and Siva-Jothy 2000) and thereby delay the female from re-mating, then more elaborate genitalia could be associated with a longer "time out" from mating (and therefore a lower potential reproductive rate in females and a lower degree of polyandry, see Stockley 2002;Kuntner et al 2016).…”

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Male genital titillators and the intensity of post-copulatory sexual selection across bushcrickets

et al. 2017

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Animal genitalia are diverse and a growing body of evidence suggests that they evolve rapidly under post-copulatory sexual selection. This process is predicted to be more intense in polyandrous species, although there have been very few comparative studies of the relationship between the complexity of genital structures in males and measures of the degree of polyandry. In some bushcricket families, males possess sclerotised copulatory structures known as titillators, which are inserted into the female's genital chamber and moved rhythmically. Like other genital structures, bushcricket titillators are widely used as important taxonomic characters and show considerable variation across species in structure, shape and the extent to which they are spined. Here, we examine relationships between the presence/absence of titillators, titillator complexity and both mating frequency and the degree of polyandry in bushcrickets, using phylogenetic comparative analyses. Using published sources combined with original observations, data were obtained for the mean level of polyandry, the duration of the male and female sexual refractory periods and the level of complexity of titillators. To analyse data, we fitted phylogenetic generalised least squares models. No significant relationships were found between titillator presence or complexity and either the level of polyandry, duration of the male's sexual refractory period or the ratio of the female and male sexual refractory periods. The duration of the female's refractory period, however, was positively associated with titillator presence and negatively associated with titillator complexity. The data therefore partially support the hypothesis that post-copulatory sexual selection drives genital evolution in this taxon.

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confidence: 83%

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Male genital titillators and the intensity of post-copulatory sexual selection across bushcrickets

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“…) populations, as well as the extreme diversification in genitals observed across closely related species (e.g., Kuntner et al. ). Finally, theory predicts that correlational selection will generate a genetic correlation between the two traits by creating linkage disequilibrium (Lande ) or by favoring pleiotropic mutations (Lande ), although these mechanisms are not strictly required if correlational selection is strong and persistent (Sinervo and Svensson ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multivariate stabilizing sexual selection and the evolution of male and female genital morphology in the red flour beetle*

et al. 2020

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Male genitals are highly divergent in animals with internal fertilization. Most studies attempting to explain this diversity have focused on testing the major hypotheses of genital evolution (the lock-and-key, pleiotropy, and sexual selection hypotheses), and quantifying the form of selection targeting male genitals has played an important role in this endeavor. However, we currently know far less about selection targeting female genitals or how male and female genitals interact during mating. Here, we use formal selection analysis to show that genital size and shape is subject to strong multivariate stabilizing sexual selection in both sexes of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Moreover, we show significant sexual selection on the covariance between the sexes for specific aspects of genital shape suggesting that male and female genitalia also interact to determine the successful transfer of a spermatophore during mating. Our work therefore highlights the important role that both male and female genital morphologies play in determining mating success and that these effects can occur independently, as well as through their interaction. Moreover, it cautions against the overly simplistic view that the sexual selection targeting genital morphology will always be directional in form and restricted primarily to males. K E Y W O R D S : Fitness peak, genitals, lock-and-key hypothesis, selection analysis.Male genitals in animals with internal fertilization are widely regarded as being among the most divergent and variable of all morphological structures, to the extent that genital morphology is often used to distinguish between closely related species that are otherwise indistinguishable (reviewed in Hosken and Stockley 2004;Simmons 2014). Not surprisingly, the proximate mechanism(s) responsible for this variation has puzzled evolutionary biologists for * This article corresponds to Joshua, I. 2020. Digest: Male and female beetle genitalia are under stabilizing selection. Evolution. https://doi.

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“…As originally proposed by Darwin (1871), two mechanisms of sexual selection, intersexual mate choice and intrasexual competition, now known as intersexual and intrasexual selection, are responsible for the evolution of numerous secondary sexual traits (Darwin, 1871; Andersson, 1994; Edward & Chapman, 2011; Miller & Svensson, 2014; Kuntner et al ., 2016; Buzatto et al ., 2017). In mate choice, females or males actively choose higher‐quality partners (Andersson, 1994; Boughman, 2007; Punzalan et al ., 2008; Omkar & Afaq, 2013; Ortiz‐Jiménez & del Castillo, 2015; Veselinovic et al ., 2017; Goubault & Burlaud, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fighting and aggressive sound determines larger male to win male‐male competition in a bark beetle

2020

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Intrasexual selection occurs in male-male competition over access to females and usually results in the larger male winning. While much research has documented that size matters, little is known about how the larger male wins. Dendroctonus valens is an aggregating monogamous bark beetle in which males have large variation in body size and display intense competition over females. Behavioral observation showed two males fight each other within the gallery by pushing/shoving and stridulated more when two males encountered each other. Experiments using two different-sized males synchronously competing showed that larger males won 95% of contests. Reciprocal displacement experiments using muted and intact males of different or equal size were used to simulate male-male competition. Larger males displaced the smaller resident male in 90% of contests, while smaller males prevailed over larger residents in 6.7% of contests. With both males silenced, larger males displaced smaller males in 80% of contests, while smaller males prevailed in 8% of contests. Further experiments using equal-sized males showed aggressive soundemitting males displaced muted males in 67% of contests, yet intact males displaced other intact males in only 37.5% of contests. Sound analysis showed sound pressure level is an honest signal of body size and males chose soft sounds over loud aggressive sounds in assays. Therefore, D. valens males have evolved dual behaviors, fighting and aggressive sounds associated with body size, to assess rivals to compete for a partner, gaining insights in male-male competition for this species and for other animals.

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The evolution of genital complexity and mating rates in sexually size dimorphic spiders

Cited by 11 publications

References 92 publications

Male genital titillators and the intensity of post-copulatory sexual selection across bushcrickets

Male genital titillators and the intensity of post-copulatory sexual selection across bushcrickets

Multivariate stabilizing sexual selection and the evolution of male and female genital morphology in the red flour beetle*

Fighting and aggressive sound determines larger male to win male‐male competition in a bark beetle

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