6533b828fe1ef96bd1288c77

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Female choice for male drumming in the wolf spiderHygrolycosa rubrofasciata

subject

description

Mate preferences in invertebrates have usually been studied with simultaneous choice exper- iments alone, which allows eVective detection of any preferences but does not tell much about the strength of inter-sexual selection. Under natural conditions females frequently have to rely on sequential choice, and choosy females may incur opportunity and direct costs such as loss of time when they reject a male. Female preference in the wolf spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata for two components of male courtship signalling, rate and volume, was investigated. Both of these characteristics were tested with a sequential choice set-up and the eVect of volume also with a simultaneous choice method. Females responded more quickly to male signals with a higher rate and volume. This suggests that females use a threshold level when responding to male courtship signals and that they are prepared to suVer some costs of waiting for an opportunity to choose between males.