Are virgin male lepidopterans more successful in mate acquisition than previously mated individuals? A study of the European corn borer, <i>Ostrinia nubilalis</i> (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Schlaepfer, Martin A.; McNeil, Jeremy N.

doi:10.1139/z00-147

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…, female response to a male sex pheromone [64], [65], to a male acoustic signal [66] or to some other trait correlated with male quality [67], or female emission of a signal yet to discover).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assortative Mating between European Corn Borer Pheromone Races: Beyond Assortative Meeting

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundSex pheromone communication systems may be a major force driving moth speciation by causing behavioral reproductive isolation via assortative meeting of conspecific individuals. The ‘E’ and ‘Z’ pheromone races of the European corn borer (ECB) are a textbook example in this respect. ‘Z’ females produce and ‘Z’ males preferentially respond to a ‘Z’ pheromone blend, while the ‘E’ race communicates via an ‘E’ blend. Both races do not freely hybridize in nature and their populations are genetically differentiated. A straightforward explanation would be that their reproductive isolation is a mere consequence of “assortative meeting” resulting from their different pheromones specifically attracting males towards same-race females at long range. However, previous laboratory experiments and those performed here show that even when moths are paired in a small box – i.e., when the meeting between sexual partners is forced – inter-race couples still have a lower mating success than intra-race ones. Hence, either the difference in attractivity of E vs. Z pheromones for males of either race still holds at short distance or the reproductive isolation between E and Z moths may not only be favoured by assortative meeting, but must also result from an additional mechanism ensuring significant assortative mating at close range. Here, we test whether this close-range mechanism is linked to the E/Z female sex pheromone communication system.Methodology/Principal FindingsUsing crosses and backcrosses of E and Z strains, we found no difference in mating success between full-sisters emitting different sex pheromones. Conversely, the mating success of females with identical pheromone types but different coefficients of relatedness to the two parental strains was significantly different, and was higher when their genetic background was closer to that of their male partner's pheromone race.Conclusions/SignificanceWe conclude that the close-range mechanism ensuring assortative mating between the E and Z ECB pheromone races is unrelated to the difference in female sex pheromone. Although the nature of this mechanism remains elusive, our results show that it is expressed in females, acts at close range, segregates independently of the autosome carrying Pher and of both sex chromosomes, and is widely distributed since it occurs both in France and in the USA.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assortative Mating between European Corn Borer Pheromone Races: Beyond Assortative Meeting

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, which belongs to the same subfamily (Pyraustinae) as the Conogethes used in this study, a single sex-pheromone-releasing female might be courted simultaneously by multiple males [36]. If a similar situation occurs in our moth in the wild, the males could not successfully copulate, because they can land beside her and attempt to mate only when she is raising her wings in response to a male long pulse [8,9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Double meaning of courtship song in a moth

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Males use courtship signals to inform a conspecific female of their presence and/or quality, or, alternatively, to 'cheat' females by imitating the cues of a prey or predator. These signals have the single function of advertising for mating. Here, we show the dual functions of the courtship song in the yellow peach moth, Conogethes punctiferalis, whose males generate a series of short pulses and a subsequent long pulse in a song bout. Repulsive short pulses mimic the echolocation calls of sympatric horseshoe bats and disrupt the approach of male rivals to a female. The attractive long pulse does not mimic bat calls and specifically induces mate acceptance in the female, who raises her wings to facilitate copulation. These results demonstrate that moths can evolve both attractive acoustic signals and repulsive ones from cues that were originally used to identify predators and nonpredators, because the bat-like sounds disrupt rivals, and also support a hypothesis of signal evolution via receiver bias in moth acoustic communication that was driven by the initial evolution of hearing to perceive echolocating bat predators.

show abstract

“…Accordingly, female preference for, or increased mating success of, virgin males has been demonstrated in numerous species (Sanders 1975;Markow et al 1978;Nakatsuru and Kramer 1982;Sato and Goshima 2007). However, there is also evidence that females will readily or preferentially mate with previously mated males, despite the potential fertility costs of their reduced ejaculate size (van Dongen et al 1998;Kendall and Wolcott 1999;Schlaepfer and McNeil 2000;Edvardsson et al 2008;Krupke et al 2008). This disparity may be due to species' differences in the probability of future mate detection and the costs of rejecting certain males.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, mated males may be superior competitors, either through inherent differences in their quality (indicated by their proven copulation success) or by a change in phenotype caused by the act of mating, which increases their ability to locate and copulate with receptive females faster than virgin males (Schlaepfer and McNeil 2000). Alternatively, the greater reproductive success of previously mated males may reflect an active female preference for this phenotype.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A female preference for experienced males in the almond moth, Cadra cautella

McNamara

McKenzie

Elgar

et al. 2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Male mating status can affect female reproductive output if male ejaculate investment declines over consecutive matings. Accordingly, females are predicted to mate preferentially with virgin males. In mildly polyandrous lepidopterans, female fitness is less affected by reduced male investment than in more polyandrous species, and so the predictions for female mating preferences are less clear. We examined female mating preferences in the mildly polyandrous almond moth, Cadra cautella, in which ejaculate size does not affect female reproductive output. First, we allowed females to mate with virgin or once-mated males, in which the males were presented individually or simultaneously. We recorded the latency to mating and, in the case of the simultaneously presented trials, the identity of the successful, copulating male. We found that females mated more frequently with mated males (when simultaneously presented with both males), yet females did not differ in the time taken to initiate copulation with any male. We further examined if this mated male advantage was due to differential mate detection or locomotory behaviour of the male treatments. We tested the ability of virgin and mated males to locate a receptive female within a wind tunnel using long-distance pheromone cues and recorded their activity budget. We found no difference in the ability of mated or virgin males to locate or approach a receptive female, or in their activity levels. These data suggest a female preference for mated males in this species, a preference that may minimise other potential costs of mating.

show abstract

Are virgin male lepidopterans more successful in mate acquisition than previously mated individuals? A study of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Cited by 18 publications

References 55 publications

Assortative Mating between European Corn Borer Pheromone Races: Beyond Assortative Meeting

Assortative Mating between European Corn Borer Pheromone Races: Beyond Assortative Meeting

Double meaning of courtship song in a moth

A female preference for experienced males in the almond moth, Cadra cautella

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About