The function of female accessory reproductive gland secretion and a cost to polyandry in the yellow dung fly

Hosken, D. J.; Uhía, E.; Ward, Paul I.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-3032.2002.00271.x

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Tregenza et al (2003) found no simple benefits or costs of double versus single mating for females, but Hosken et al (2002) found that females mated once survived longer than those mated three times, suggesting that longevity costs are associated with multiple mating. There are physical costs of mating to females (Hammer 1941;Parker 1978a;Demont et al 2011).…”

Section: The Yellow Dung Fly As a Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Selection: The Logical Imperative

Parker

Pizzari

2015

History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Modern sexual selection theory, developed from Darwin's original intuition, is a cornerstone of evolutionary theory and represents the most parsimonious and robust explanation for a bewildering array of evolutionary patterns and diversity. Here we first outline the principles of modern sexual selection theory and discuss their heuristic value. Second, we review empirical demonstrations of the operation of sexual selection through the case study of the yellow dung fly. Finally, we propose that a sequence of evolutionary events flows inevitably from the early evolution of sexual recombination and gametes, to anisogamy and in dioecious organisms, to the unity sex ratio via Fisher's principle. As Darwin and Bateman predicted, it was the primary sexual difference-anisogamy-that became an almost obligatory, irreversible transition favouring socio-ecological conditions that ultimately generated secondary differentiation of sexual strategies between the sexes, and typically plays a strong part in their maintenance (though sex roles can, rather rarely, be reversed). When considered within the broader context, sexual selection emerges deductively as the logical consequence of this evolutionary succession. We conclude by highlighting aspects integral to sexual selection theory that are currently the focus of on-going discussion.

show abstract

Section: The Yellow Dung Fly As a Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Selection: The Logical Imperative

Parker

Pizzari

2015

History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast, only a few studies have examined polyandry in natural populations and reported benefits (Madsen et al 1992;Fisher et al 2006). In yellow dung flies, laboratory studies have shown that multiple mating is associated with longevity costs (Hosken et al 2002), but that females also benefit from polyandry: more successful males in sperm competition sire offspring that developed faster ). Here we document benefits of polyandry in a natural population: the proportion and the total number of emerged offspring increased significantly with the number of alleles (our proxy for the number of mating partners) detected within the sperm stores of females.…”

Section: Benefits Of Polyandrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The yellow dung fly is a naturally polyandrous species. Experiments with singly versus doubly mated yellow dung fly females have revealed no simple benefits or costs of multiple mating , but a study in which females mated once or three times revealed a longevity cost to females that copulated with more males (Hosken et al 2002). There is also some evidence that indirect benefits could offset this cost of mating: males that were more successful in sperm competition also had offspring that developed faster .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild yellow dung fly females may not select sperm based on dung pat microclimate but could nevertheless benefit from polyandry

2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Molecular techniques have substantially improved our knowledge of postcopulatory sexual selection. Nevertheless, studies examining sperm utilization in natural populations of nonsocial insects are rare, support for sperm selection (biased use of stored sperm, e.g. to match offspring genotypes to prevailing environmental conditions) is elusive, and its relevance within natural populations unknown. We performed an oviposition site choice experiment in the field where female yellow dung flies Scathophaga stercoraria could deposit eggs into three different microenvironments on a dung pat (the east-west ridge, north- or south-exposed side), and genotyped the offspring and sperm remaining in storage after oviposition. Females exhibited plasticity in the number of eggs deposited according to pat age. Additionally, temperature strongly influenced egg placement: the warmer the temperature, the higher the proportion of eggs laid into the north-exposed side of dung. The number of ejaculates in storage differed amongst spermathecae, and females stored sperm from more males than fathered their offspring (2.11 sires vs. 2.84 males within sperm stores). Mean last male paternity was 83.4%, roughly matching previous laboratory estimates. Importantly, we found no evidence that females selectively lay eggs of different genotypes, by biasing paternity towards certain males, depending on offspring's microclimate. Thus, while we show female choice over number of eggs and where these are deposited, there was no evidence for sperm selection. We further revealed positive effects of multiple mating on total number of offspring and proportion of offspring emerging from the dung. We argue that the integration of field studies and laboratory experiments is essential to promote our understanding of polyandry and cryptic female choice

show abstract

“…Unfortunately, studies of longevity costs of polyandry are currently restricted to invertebrates [9], [10], [14], [25], [26] probably because it is easier to monitor matings and survival parameters in these species. Therefore, although polyandry occurs in all groups of vertebrates [1], it remains unknown whether longevity costs of polyandry occur in these taxa [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyandry Has No Detectable Mortality Cost in Female Mammals

Lemaître

Gaillard

2013

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In several taxonomic groups, females mate with several males during a single reproductive cycle. Although there is evidence that polyandry provides some benefits to females, it often involves mortality costs. However, empirical evidences of mortality costs of polyandry have so far been reported only in invertebrates. Whether polyandry has mortality costs in vertebrates is currently unknown. In the present study, we aimed to fill the gap by investigating the relationships between the level of polyandry (measured either by male relative testes mass or the percentage of multiple paternities) and female patterns of mortality across mammals. While we found that the two metrics of female mortality co-varied with pace of life, we did not find any evidence that polyandry leads to either decreased median lifespan or increased aging rate in mammals. We discuss such an absence of detectable mortality costs of polyandry in female mammals in light of recent advances in the study of mammalian reproductive biology and life-history tactics.

show abstract

The function of female accessory reproductive gland secretion and a cost to polyandry in the yellow dung fly

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Sexual Selection: The Logical Imperative

Sexual Selection: The Logical Imperative

Wild yellow dung fly females may not select sperm based on dung pat microclimate but could nevertheless benefit from polyandry

Polyandry Has No Detectable Mortality Cost in Female Mammals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About