Can females choose to avoid mating failure in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans?

Greenway, Elisabeth Virginia; Balfour, Vicki L.; Shuker, David M.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.05.004

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Fertility is fundamental to reproductive success, and so we should expect fertility traits to be under strong selection to maximize reproductive output and minimize the wastage of gamete investment [1,2]. Despite this, fertility varies remarkably across individuals, species and populations [3,4], and some degree of infertility is ubiquitous across taxa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological factors influencing female fertility in birds

2021

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Fertility is fundamental to reproductive success, but not all copulation attempts result in a fertilized embryo. Fertilization failure is especially costly for females, but we still lack a clear understanding of the causes of variation in female fertility across taxa. Birds make a useful model system for fertility research, partly because their large eggs are easily studied outside of the female's body, but also because of the wealth of data available on the reproductive productivity of commercial birds. Here, we review the factors contributing to female infertility in birds, providing evidence that female fertility traits are understudied relative to male fertility traits, and that avian fertility research has been dominated by studies focused on Galliformes and captive (relative to wild) populations. We then discuss the key stages of the female reproductive cycle where fertility may be compromised, and make recommendations for future research. We particularly emphasize that studies must differentiate between infertility and embryo mortality as causes of hatching failure, and that non-breeding individuals should be monitored more routinely where possible. This review lays the groundwork for developing a clearer understanding of the causes of female infertility, with important consequences for multiple fields including reproductive science, conservation and commercial breeding.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological factors influencing female fertility in birds

2021

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“…Similar behavior is also present in some stink bug species, for instance, Thyanta pallidovirens [122]. Antennation has been described twice in Lygaeidae species (Nysius huttoni [140] and Oncopeltus fasciatus [141]), although species within this sub-family are more widely known for their lack of courtship and high rates of mating failure, which itself may be the result of sexually selected cryptic choice [142,143].…”

Section: Antennationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Environmental Correlates of Sexual Signaling in the Heteroptera: A Prospective Study

Gourevitch¹,

Shuker²

2021

Insects

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Sexual selection is a major evolutionary process, shaping organisms in terms of success in competition for access to mates and their gametes. The study of sexual selection has provided rich empirical and theoretical literature addressing the ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of competition for gametes. However, there remains a bias towards individual, species-specific studies, whilst broader, cross-species comparisons looking for wider-ranging patterns in sexual selection remain uncommon. For instance, we are still some ways from understanding why particular kinds of traits tend to evolve under sexual selection, and under what circumstances. Here we consider sexual selection in the Heteroptera, a sub-order of the Hemiptera, or true bugs. The latter is the largest of the hemimetabolous insect orders, whilst the Heteroptera itself comprises some 40,000-plus described species. We focus on four key sexual signaling modes found in the Heteroptera: chemical signals, acoustic signaling via stridulation, vibrational (substrate) signaling, and finally tactile signaling (antennation). We compare how these modes vary across broad habitat types and provide a review of each type of signal. We ask how we might move towards a more predictive theory of sexual selection, that links mechanisms and targets of sexual selection to various ecologies.

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The fitness effects of a pale mutant in the aposematic seed bugLygaeus simulansindicate pleiotropy between warning coloration and life history

Balfour

Aumont

Dougherty

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Conspicuous warning colors that signal chemical or other defenses are common in the natural world. For instance, such aposematic warning patterns of red‐and‐black or yellow‐and‐black are common among insect taxa, particularly in the order Hemiptera, often forming the basis of Batesian and/or Müllerian mimicry rings. In addition, it has been repeatedly noted that color polymorphisms or mutants that influence pigmentation can show pleiotropy with other behavioral, physiological, or life‐history traits. Here, we describe a pale mutant of the seed bug Lygaeus simulans that appeared in our laboratory population in 2012, which differs in color to the wild‐type bugs. Through multigenerational experimental crosses between wild‐type and pale mutant L. simulans, we first show that the pale phenotype segregates as a single Mendelian locus, with the pale allele being recessive to the wild type. Next, we show (a) that there is a large heterozygous advantage in terms of fecundity, (b) that pale females suffer reduced longevity, and (c) that pale males have increased body length compared to wild‐type homozygotes. Our data therefore suggest that the color locus is pleiotropic with a number of life‐history traits, opening the door for a more complete genetic analysis of aposematic coloration in this species. In addition, this phenotype will be useful as a visible genetic marker, providing a tool for investigating sperm competition and other post‐copulatory drivers of sexual selection in this species.

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Can females choose to avoid mating failure in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans?

Cited by 8 publications

References 62 publications

Physiological factors influencing female fertility in birds

Physiological factors influencing female fertility in birds

Environmental Correlates of Sexual Signaling in the Heteroptera: A Prospective Study

The fitness effects of a pale mutant in the aposematic seed bugLygaeus simulansindicate pleiotropy between warning coloration and life history

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