Assessment of Potential Predation Costs of Male Decoration and Courtship Display in Wolf Spiders Using Video Digitization and Playback

Pruden, Amy; Uetz, George W.

doi:10.1023/b:joir.0000025133.54118.1e

Cited by 55 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(66 reference statements)

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“…In general, sexual dimorphism is the product of sexual selection (Andersson 1994), and it often takes the form of exaggerated male traits, armaments, or ornaments that confer reproductive advantages through either increased mate attraction or successful intrasexual competition for mates or preferred breeding habitat (Shuster and Wade 2003). Such traits are costly for the male to possess (Kotiaho 2001), as they can increase predation risk (Koga et al 2001;Pruden and Uetz 2004), energetic costs (Evans and Thomas 1992;Allen and Levinton 2007), or foraging costs (Evans and Thomas 1992). The cost of possessing an exaggerated morphological trait moderates the degree of exaggeration of the trait.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulation as an Alternate Function of the Sexually Dimorphic Fiddler Crab Claw

Darnell

Munguia

2011

The American Naturalist

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. abstract: Fiddler crabs are highly sexually dimorphic. Males possess one small (minor) feeding claw and one greatly enlarged (major) claw; females possess two small claws. The major claw is used to attract mates and for burrow defense, but it is costly for the male to possess. We tested the hypothesis that the major claw also functions as a thermoregulatory structure, a function that would allow males to spend a greater amount of time at the surface, foraging and attracting potential mates. Fiddler crabs Uca panacea were exposed to a source of radiant heat and body temperatures were monitored.Four groups of crabs were tested: intact males, males with the minor claw removed, males with the major claw removed, and females. The body temperatures of males without the major claw increased more rapidly and reached higher values than did those of males with the major claw intact, but the results from these animals were similar to those of females. These results support the hypothesized thermoregulatory function of the major claw. The major claw may function as a heat sink, transferring heat away from the body and dissipating it into the air. Enhanced thermoregulatory ability provided by the major claw may partially ameliorate the energetic costs of possessing such a large claw.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulation as an Alternate Function of the Sexually Dimorphic Fiddler Crab Claw

Darnell

Munguia

2011

The American Naturalist

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“…predators for which signals reveal the presence of potential prey; Haynes & Yeargan, 1999;Rosenthal, 2007;Zuk & Kolluru, 1998). Courtship display of male S. ocreata is conspicuous and clearly detectable by predators (Pruden & Uetz, 2004;Roberts et al, 2007;Roberts & Uetz, 2008), and males have been shown to cease courting in the presence of predator cues (Fowler-Finn & Hebets, 2011;Lohrey, Clark, Gordon, & Uetz, 2009). In this context, that is, courting when behaviour of others indicates female presence nearby, eavesdropping might be seen as tipping the balance of the trade-off between mating success versus mate competition and predation risk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of social experience in eavesdropping by male wolf spiders (Lycosidae)

et al. 2015

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Keywords: communication courtship eavesdropping Lycosidae multimodal signal spider video playbackWhen reproductive success is limited by mate search costs, males can reduce costs by eavesdropping and initiating displays if conspecific courtship is detected. Here, we examine eavesdropping by male Schizocosa ocreata wolf spiders, with field studies, laboratory studies using video playback and live exposure studies. In field enclosure experiments, introduced males responded with increased courtship signalling behaviour in the presence of a courting male. In the laboratory, field-collected males spent more time engaged in interaction behaviours and performed more bouts of courtship activity in response to a courting video male stimulus than did laboratory-reared males, suggesting that eavesdropping might arise as a consequence of field experience. To explore this further, we conducted associative learning studies on naïve, laboratory-reared males, pairing video playback of male courtship with sensory cues indicating female presence. Results showed that males with no prior exposure learned to associate courtship of other males with cues indicating the presence of females. In subsequent video playback experiments, field-collected males recognized differences in male behaviour, responding with courtship more often and for longer periods to video stimuli of courting male spiders than to walking males or an empty leaf litter background (no spider). Additional studies showed that males spent significantly more time in courtship displays when presented with two to three live or video male stimuli simultaneously. Together, these findings confirm that male wolf spiders meet assumptions of eavesdropping behaviour, and suggest that social experience arising from exposure to courtship interactions of conspecifics may impact male eavesdropping and subsequent courtship behaviour.

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“…This variaCompensation for injury in wolf spider courtship tion suggests that males are tactically tailoring their courtship activity to match the costs and benefits of performance. A more active, conspicuous, performance might increase the probability of mating but might also carry costs of energy use and exposure to diurnal predators that are abundant in the area where we collected spiders (e.g., birds, wasps, toads, other spiders) (wise & chen 1999a, 1999bpruDen & uetz 2004). Such interpretation would suggest that young virgin females are at a premium and worth the additional performance costs, especially if life expectancy is diminished by previous loss of forelegs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compensation for Injury? Modified multi-modal courtship of wolf spiders following autotomy of signalling appendages

Taylor

Roberts

Uetz

2006

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

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Male Schizocosa ocreata wolf spiders court females using displays that involve dramatic waving motions of their ornamented forelegs. In nature males are often found missing one, and sometimes both, of these legs. We here find that, when exposed to female draglines, males missing these signalling appendages perform a high intensity courtship element ('jerky tapping') at a greater rate than intact males. Loss of forelegs was also associated with changes in chemoexploration activity, tendency to stand stationary, and performance of a low intensity courtship element ('tapping'). The age of the virgin female from which draglines were collected also had an important influence on male courtship behaviour; males on the draglines of old females were less likely to court and, if they did court, did so at a lower rate. These data indicate that courtship behaviour of male S. ocreata is flexible, varying both with the state of the male himself and the state of the female whose draglines he has encountered. Such individual courtship flexibility raises challenging questions of what processes and trade-offs underlie male courtship decision-making, and whether autotomy-induced changes in courtship activity represent adaptive compensation.

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Assessment of Potential Predation Costs of Male Decoration and Courtship Display in Wolf Spiders Using Video Digitization and Playback

Abstract: We used video digitization and playback techniques to examine the potential predation risk of leg decorations and visual displays of male wolf spiders

Cited by 55 publications

References 49 publications

Thermoregulation as an Alternate Function of the Sexually Dimorphic Fiddler Crab Claw

Thermoregulation as an Alternate Function of the Sexually Dimorphic Fiddler Crab Claw

The role of social experience in eavesdropping by male wolf spiders (Lycosidae)

Compensation for Injury? Modified multi-modal courtship of wolf spiders following autotomy of signalling appendages

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