Alternative mating tactics in the yellow dung fly: resolving mechanisms of small-male advantage off pasture

Gress, Brian E.; Waltzer, Ryan J.; Lüpold, Stefan; Droge-Young, Elizabeth M.; Manier, Mollie K.; Pitnick, Scott

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.2164

Cited by 14 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Our study joins a growing body of work showing that large male body size does not increase reproductive fitness, either because size appears not to matter (e.g., Charlwood et al 2002;Lappin and Husak 2005;Rashed and Polak 2009;Fan et al 2013;Clark et al 2014) or that small males have an advantage (e.g., Pilastro et al 1997;Schneider et al 2000;Watt et al 2011;Gress et al 2014). Indeed, the advantages of traits that have long thought to be the result of evolution by sexual selection (e.g., body size, success in contests, resource-holding potential, etc.)…”

Section: Page 11 Of 28supporting

confidence: 76%

Size does not matter for male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystomaopacum)

Croshaw

Pechmann

2015

Can. J. Zool.

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Understanding the phenotypic attributes that contribute to variance in mating and reproductive success is crucial in the study of evolution by sexual selection. In many animals, body size is an important trait because larger individuals enjoy greater fitness due to the ability to secure more mates and produce more offspring. Among males, this outcome is largely mediated by greater success in competition with rival males and/or advantages in attractiveness to females. Here we tested the hypothesis that large male marbled salamanders, Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst 1807), mate with more females and produce more offspring than small males. In experimental breeding groups, we included males chosen specifically to represent a range of sizes. After gravid females mated and nested freely, we collected egg clutches and genotyped all adults and samples of hatchlings with highly variable microsatellite markers to assign paternity. Size had little effect on male mating and reproductive success. Breeding males were not bigger than non-breeding males, mates of polyandrous females were not smaller than those of monogamous females, and there was no evidence for positive assortative mating by size.Although body size did not matter for male marbled salamanders, we documented considerable fitness variation and discuss alternative traits that could be undergoing sexual selection.

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Section: Page 11 Of 28supporting

confidence: 76%

Size does not matter for male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystomaopacum)

Croshaw

Pechmann

2015

Can. J. Zool.

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“…In S. stercoraria sexual competition on dung (their breeding substrate) is usually intense but variable, which is largely responsible for the male-biased size dimorphism in this species (Borgia 1981;Jann et al 2000;Ding and Blanckenhorn 2002). Alternative mating tactics of small-sized males off the dung, however, also exist in nature (Pitnick et al 2009;Gress et al 2014). Therefore, spatially and temporally varying sexual selection regimes on male body size probably have contributed to the sexual wing shape dimorphism in S. stercoraria by way of allometric scaling, explaining the correlation between wing shape and size dimorphism found here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…; Gress et al. ). Therefore, spatially and temporally varying sexual selection regimes on male body size probably have contributed to the sexual wing shape dimorphism in S. stercoraria by way of allometric scaling, explaining the correlation between wing shape and size dimorphism found here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Geographic clines in wing morphology relate to colonization history in New World but not Old World populations of yellow dung flies

et al. 2018

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Geographic clines offer insights about putative targets and agents of natural selection as well as tempo and mode of adaptation. However, demographic processes can lead to clines that are indistinguishable from adaptive divergence. Using the widespread yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae), we examine quantitative genetic differentiation (Q ) of wing shape across North America, Europe, and Japan, and compare this differentiation with that of ten microsatellites (F ). Morphometric analyses of 28 populations reared at three temperatures revealed significant thermal plasticity, sexual dimorphism, and geographic differentiation in wing shape. In North America morphological differentiation followed the decline in microsatellite variability along the presumed route of recent colonization from the southeast to the northwest. Across Europe, where S. stercoraria presumably existed for much longer time and where no molecular pattern of isolation by distance was evident, clinal variation was less pronounced despite significant morphological differentiation (Q >F ). Shape vector comparisons further indicate that thermal plasticity (hot-to-cold) does not mirror patterns of latitudinal divergence (south-to-north), as might have been expected under a scenario with temperature as the major agent of selection. Our findings illustrate the importance of detailed phylogeographic information when interpreting geographic clines of dispersal traits in an adaptive evolutionary framework.

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“…Gress et al reported that female yellow dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae) appeared to preferentially mate with large males on dung, but small males at foraging sites [ 41 ]. In the present study, we found that small male P .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bigger Is Not Always Better: Females Prefer Males of Mean Body Size in Philautus odontotarsus

et al. 2016

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Most species are believed to evolve larger body sizes over evolutionary time. Previous studies have suggested that sexual selection, through male-male competition and female choice, favors larger males. However, there is little evidence of selection against large size. The female serrate-legged small treefrogs (Philautus odontotarsus) must carry passive males from leks to breeding grounds over relatively long distances after amplexus to find a suitable place to lay eggs. The costs of large male size may therefore decrease mating success due to reduced agility and/or higher energy requirements. Thus, we hypothesized that selection would not favor larger males in P. odontotarsus. Females can assess male body size on the basis of the dominant frequency of male calls in frogs. To assess female P. odontotarsus preferences for a potential mate’s body size, male calls of high, average and low dominant frequency were played back to the females in phonotaxis experiments. Results showed that most females prefer the advertisement call with average dominant frequency. In addition, we compared the body mass distribution of amplectant males with that of single males in nature. The body masses of amplectant males are more narrowly distributed in the intermediate range than that of single males. The phonotaxis results and the data of actual female preferences in the field show that females strongly prefer potential mates of mean body sizes, consistent with the view that, in this species at least, larger males are not always perceived as better by females. In the present study, P. odontotarsus provides an example of an amphibian species in which large size does not have an advantage in mating success for males. Instead, our results provide evidences that stabilizing selection favors the optimal intermediate size of males.

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Alternative mating tactics in the yellow dung fly: resolving mechanisms of small-male advantage off pasture

Cited by 14 publications

References 67 publications

Size does not matter for male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystomaopacum)

Size does not matter for male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystomaopacum)

Geographic clines in wing morphology relate to colonization history in New World but not Old World populations of yellow dung flies

Bigger Is Not Always Better: Females Prefer Males of Mean Body Size in Philautus odontotarsus

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