scholarly journals Coevolution of male and female mate choice can destabilize reproductive isolation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Aubier ◽  
Hanna Kokko ◽  
Mathieu Joron
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Premating Isolation ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Female Preferences ◽  
Mutual Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate

AbstractSexual interactions play an important role in the evolution of reproductive isolation, with important consequences for speciation. Theoretical studies have focused on the evolution of mate preferences in each sex separately. However, mounting empirical evidence suggests that premating isolation often involves mutual mate choice. Here, using a population genetic model, we investigate how female and male mate choice coevolve under a phenotype matching rule and how this affects reproductive isolation. We show that the evolution of female preferences increases the mating success of males with reciprocal preferences, favouring mutual mate choice. However, the evolution of male preferences weakens indirect selection on female preferences and, with weak genetic drift, the coevolution of female and male mate choice leads to periodic episodes of random mating with increased hybridization (deterministic ‘preference cycling’ triggered by stochasticity). Thus, counterintuitively, the process of establishing premating isolation proves rather fragile if both male and female mate choice contribute to assortative mating.

scholarly journals Coevolution of male and female mate choice can destabilize reproductive isolation

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Aubier ◽  
Hanna Kokko ◽  
Mathieu Joron
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Premating Isolation ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Female Preferences ◽  
Mutual Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate

Abstract Sexual interactions play an important role in the evolution of reproductive isolation, with important consequences for speciation. Theoretical studies have focused on the evolution of mate preferences in each sex separately. However, mounting empirical evidence suggests that premating isolation often involves mutual mate choice. Here, using a population genetic model, we investigate how female and male mate choice coevolve under a phenotype matching rule and how this affects reproductive isolation. We show that the evolution of female preferences increases the mating success of males with reciprocal preferences, favouring mutual mate choice. However, the evolution of male preferences weakens indirect selection on female preferences and, with weak genetic drift, the coevolution of female and male mate choice leads to periodic episodes of random mating with increased hybridization (deterministic ‘preference cycling’ triggered by stochasticity). Thus, counterintuitively, the process of establishing premating isolation proves rather fragile if both male and female mate choice contribute to assortative mating.

scholarly journals Female and male Sirex noctilio use age and size to select a mate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joséphine Queffelec ◽  
Jeremy D. Allison ◽  
Bernard Slippers ◽  
Jaco M. Greeff
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Sirex Noctilio ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Lek Mating ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
Male To Female

ABSTRACTWhile male mate choice in insects is a widely accepted concept, there is still limited evidence showing that lek formation is compatible with the evolution of male mate choice. In the woodwasp Sirex noctilio, males form leks that are used by females to select a mate. However, males have been observed to ignore certain females, suggesting the presence of male mate choice despite the presence of a lek mating system. In this study we demonstrate that males only attempt to mate with certain females. To understand the criteria used by males and females to select a mate, we also tested the effect of age, size, and male to female size ratio on the number of mating attempts made by males and on female receptivity. We demonstrate that size and age play a role in both male and female mate choice. Our results suggest that males must reach sexual maturity after emergence and are neither receptive nor attractive to females during the first few days of their lives. We also show that older females become less attractive to males, suggesting that female S. noctilio switch to a strict host location phase sometime after emergence. Our results show that male and female size, and the ratio between them, play a role in mate choice. While larger males are more motivated to mate, their large size can physically prevent them from mating with small females. Small females are also more attractive and more receptive to males, consistent with the presence of convenience polyandry in S. noctilio.

scholarly journals Female mate choice is a reproductive isolating barrier in Heliconius butterflies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Southcott ◽  
Marcus R. Kronforst
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Premating Isolation ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Isolating Mechanisms ◽  
Male Mate

AbstractIn sexually reproducing organisms, speciation involves the evolution of reproductive isolating mechanisms that decrease gene flow. Premating reproductive isolation, often the result of mate choice, is a major obstacle to gene flow between species because it acts earlier in the life cycle than other isolating barriers. While female choice is often considered the default mode in animal species, research in the butterfly genus Heliconius, a frequent subject of speciation studies, has focused on male mate choice. We studied mate choice by H. cydno females by pairing them with either conspecific males or males of the closely related species H. pachinus. Significantly more intraspecific trials than interspecific trials resulted in mating. Because male courtship rates did not differ between the species when we excluded males that never courted, we attribute this difference to female choice. Females also performed more acceptance behaviours towards conspecific males. Premating isolation between these two species thus entails both male and female mate choice, and female choice may be an important factor in the origin of Heliconius species.

scholarly journals Male mate choice via cuticular hydrocarbon pheromones drives reproductive isolation between Drosophila species

Evolution ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Shahandeh ◽  
Alison Pischedda ◽  
Thomas L. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Drosophila Species ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate

scholarly journals Exaggerated estrous swellings and male mate choice in primates: testing the reliable indicator hypothesis in the Amboseli baboons.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney L Fitzpatrick ◽  
Jeanne Altmann ◽  
Susan C Alberts
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Reliable Indicator ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Papio Cynocephalus ◽  
Cycle Number ◽  
Fitness Measures ◽  
Male Mate

The paradigm of competitive males vying to influence female mate choice has been repeatedly upheld, but, increasingly, studies also report competitive females and choosy males. One female trait that is commonly proposed to influence male mate choice is the exaggerated estrous swelling displayed by females of many Old World primate species. The reliable indicator hypothesis posits that females use the exaggerated swellings to compete for access to mates by advertising variation in female fitness. We tested the two main predictions of this hypothesis in a wild population of baboons (Papio cynocephalus). First, we examined the effect of swelling size on the probability of mate-guarding ('consortship') by the highest-ranking male and the behavior of those males that trailed consorshipts ('follower males'). Second, we asked whether a female's swelling size predicted several fitness measures. We found that high-ranking males do not prefer females with larger swellings (when controlling for cycle number and conception) and that females with larger swellings did not have higher reproductive success. In doing so, we have tested and rejected the reliable indicator hypothesis for the function of exaggerated swellings in cercopithecine primates. Furthermore, we found unambiguous evidence that males biased their mating decisions in favor of females who had experienced more sexual cycles since their most recent pregnancy. Thus, rather than tracking the potential differences in fitness between females, male baboons appear to track and target the potential for a given reproductive opportunity to result in fertilization.

scholarly journals Male and Female Mate-Choice Decisions by Evarcha culicivora, An East African Jumping Spider

Ethology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 113 (9) ◽  
pp. 901-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona R. Cross ◽  
Robert R. Jackson ◽  
Simon D. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
East African ◽  
Jumping Spider ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Evarcha Culicivora

scholarly journals Does male mate choice select for female colouration in a promiscuous primate species?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Rigaill ◽  
Cécile Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Japanese Macaques ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Cycle Phase ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Cycle Number ◽  
Female Ornaments ◽  
Male Mate

AbstractThe traditional view of sex roles and sexual selection emphasises the evolution of male ornaments as a result of female mate choice and male-male competition. Female ornaments are now receiving more attention, although their roles in mating decision are still less well understood, especially considering cases in which colourful ornaments are expressed by both sexes. In this study, we analysed whether female skin colouration (luminance and redness of the face and hindquarters) influenced male mate choice and sexual behaviours in relation to intra-cycle (cycle phase), inter-cycle (number of consecutive cycles, conceptive nature of the cycle), and inter-individual (age, social rank, weight, and parity) variation in a captive population of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Males did not preferentially choose darker/redder females. Moreover, males did not appear to use female skin colouration to apportion their mating efforts on the most fertile period of the menstrual cycle or during cycles that lead to conception, or to discriminate between females. To our knowledge, our study is among the few to report a lack of male choice for female colouration in a species where both sexes potentially display ornamentation. While female colouration appeared to contain information about intra-cycle, inter-cycle, and inter-individual variation in fecundity, this study further demonstrates that this trait may not have been sexually selected and that males mated regardless of such variation across females. This study adds to the growing research on the role and evolution of female colouration in the context of sexual signalling and mate attraction.

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