Search results for "MATE CHOICE"

Assortative mating and female clutch investment in black grouse

1999

Variation in female behaviour has only recently received attention in studies of sexual selection. It has been suggested that females may invest differentially in their offspring in relation to the quality of their mate. This may lead to females that mate with high-quality and/or attractive males laying larger clutches. Females may also differ in their ability to choose between males. For example, females in good physical condition may make better choices. If physical condition and clutch size are positively correlated, this hypothesis could also produce a relationship between male attractiveness and female clutch size. We found, in lekking black grouse, Tetrao tetrix, that females mated to…

Polygyny and Breeding Success of Pied Flycatchers Nesting in Natural Cavities

1990

Many hole-nesting passerine birds accept, or even prefer, nest boxes. Hence most of our knowledge about the breeding biology, population dynamics, life-history evolution and so forth of such species comes from nest box studies. This, in some cases, might lead to erroneous conclusions. For example, breeding density in nest box areas may often be much higher than in the natural situation (e.g. von Haartman, 1971), possibly leading to unnatural density dependent effects. Furthermore, the use of nest boxes may reduce predation risks (e.g. Nilsson 1975, 1984 a,b, Moller 1989), while the routine procedure of cleaning boxes after each breeding season may reduce the number of parasites, thus affect…

Integrating different levels of analysis in the study of mate choice and mating systems in vertebrates

2000

Use of social over personal information enhances nest defense against avian brood parasitism

2011

Interactions with conspecifics influence the behavioral repertoire of an organism, as they apply to foraging techniques, song acquisition, habitat selection, and mate choice. Few workers have studied the role of social interactions in molding defense responses, especially the defense of the nest. We tested the effect of social interaction on nest defense of the reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), one of the main hosts of the brood-parasitic common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in Europe. This parasite reduces its host’s breeding success; therefore, any response that prevents successful parasitism should be selected. Because of their high nesting density and consistent cuckoo-specific respons…

The effect of social information from live demonstrators compared to video playback on blue tit foraging decisions.

2019

Video playback provides a promising method to study social interactions, and the number of video playback experiments has been growing in recent years. Using videos has advantages over live individuals as it increases the repeatability of demonstrations, and enables researchers to manipulate the features of the presented stimulus. How observers respond to video playback might, however, differ among species, and the efficacy of video playback should be validated by investigating if individuals’ responses to videos are comparable to their responses to live demonstrators. Here, we use a novel foraging task to compare blue tits’ (Cyanistes caeruleus) responses to social information from a live …

A glial amino-acid transporter controls synapse strength and courtship in Drosophila

2008

1097-6256 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Mate choice is an evolutionarily critical decision that requires the detection of multiple sex-specific signals followed by central integration of these signals to direct appropriate behavior. The mechanisms controlling mate choice remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the glial amino-acid transporter genderblind controls whether Drosophila melanogaster males will attempt to mate with other males. Genderblind (gb) mutant males showed no alteration in heterosexual courtship or copulation, but were attracted to normally unappealing male species-specific chemosensory cues. As a resul…

Mate choice for indirect genetic benefits: scrutiny of the current paradigm

2007

Summary 1Sexual selection through mate choice, and in particular female choice for indirect fitness benefits for their offspring, is a major paradigm that currently seems to enjoy almost unequivocal acceptance. A large body of theoretical work has been built to explain the evolution of mate choice in the absence of direct benefits, and the empiricists have enthusiastically verified the various assumptions and predictions of the theory. 2However, the relative importance of mate choice for indirect benefits in comparison to choice for direct benefits or to other mechanisms of sexual selection such as male–male competition or sensory exploitation remains a controversial issue, and this seems t…

Decreased sexual signalling reveals reduced viability in small populations of the drumming wolf spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata.

2004

One of the important goals in conservation biology is to determine reliable indicators of population viability. Sexual traits have been suggested to indicate population extinction risk, because they may be related to viability through condition dependence. Moreover, condition-dependent sexual traits may be more sensitive indicators of population viability than early life-history traits, because deleterious fitness effects of inbreeding tend to be expressed mainly at the end of the species' life history. However, empirical evidence of the significance of sexual behaviour for population viability is missing. In this study, we examined two male sexual traits and survival in 39 different-sized …

Factors Affecting Male Song Evolution in Drosophila montana

2005

D. montana (a species of the D. virilis group) has spread over the northern hemisphere, populations from different areas showing both genetic and phenotypic divergence. The males of this species produce an elaborate courtship song, which plays a major role both in species recognition and in intraspecific mate choice. The genetic architecture and physical constraints, as well as the importance of the signal for species recognition, set boundaries within which this signal can vary. Within these limits, courtship song parameters may change, depending on the males' physical condition and on the environment they inhabit. Females are likely to affect song evolution by exerting directional selecti…

Black Grouse leks on ice: Female mate sampling by incitation of male competition?

1995

Male-male competition is assumed to limit female choice of mates, but it may also help females to choose the most vigorous males. We studied the mate sampling behaviour of female black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) at spatially unstable leks on ice-covered lakes. In the absence of territories and site-dependence in outcomes of fights, the male dominance hierarchy is very evident on ice. When being courted by dominant males, females frequently tried to approach other males. This was frequently prevented because (1) the courting male and the approached male were involved in physical fight, or (2) the dominant male followed the female and the approached male escaped and avoided contact with him. Thes…