Costly sexual harassment in a beetle

Gay, Laurène; Eady, Paul E.; Vasudev, Ram; Hosken, David J.; Tregenza, Tom

doi:10.1111/j.1365-3032.2008.00656.x

Cited by 71 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The longevity and fecundity reduction of mated females due to the presence of males has been widely reported in insects including the seed bug, Lygaeus equestris [47] and Callosobruchus seed beetles [14], [18], [48], [49], although co-habitating with males did not always affect longevity and fecundity at the same time [43], [50], [51]. In our case, extremely low re-mating frequency was found during the majority of the female lifetime and the post-mating interactions were mainly male harassment and female resistance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Mating Interactions and Their Effects on Fitness of Female and Male Echinothrips americanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a New Insect Pest in China

Jiang

Zhang

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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Post-mating, sexual interactions of opposite sexes differ considerably in different organisms. Post-mating interactions such as re-mating behavior and male harassment can affect the fitness of both sexes. Echinothrips americanus is a new insect pest in Mainland China, and little is known about its post-mating interactions. In this study, we observed re-mating frequency and male harassment frequency and their effects on fitness parameters and offspring sex ratios of E. americanus females. Furthermore, we tested the impact of mating and post-mating interactions on fitness parameters of males. Our results revealed that the re-mating frequency in female adults was extremely low during a 30-day period. However, post-mating interactions between females and males, consisting mainly of male harassment and female resistance, did occur and significantly reduced female longevity and fecundity. Interestingly, increased access to males did not affect the ratio of female offspring. For males, mating dramatically reduced their longevity. However, post-mating interactions with females had no effects on the longevity of mated males. These results enrich our basic knowledge about female and male mating and post-mating behaviors in this species and provide important information about factors that may influence population regulation of this important pest species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Mating Interactions and Their Effects on Fitness of Female and Male Echinothrips americanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a New Insect Pest in China

Jiang

Zhang

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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“…In other Callosobruchus species, females had a reduced fecundity when co-habiting with males (Ronn et al 2006). In C. maculatus , females held with males had lower lifetime reproductive rates than females held alone (den Hollander and Gwynne 2009), and male harassment led to a reduction in fecundity (Gay et al 2009). In the leafcutting bee Megachili rotundata male harassment decreased female foraging behavior and fecundity (Rossi et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegypti

Helinski

Harrington

2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Sexual harassment studies in insects suggest that females can incur several kinds of costs from male harassment and mating. Here, we examined direct and indirect costs of male harassment on components of female fitness in the predominantly monandrous mosquito Aedes aegypti. To disentangle the costs of harassment versus the costs of mating, we held females at a low or high density with males whose claspers were modified to prevent insemination, and compared these to females held with normal males and to those held with females or alone. A reduced longevity was observed when females were held under high density conditions with males or females, regardless if male claspers had been modified. There was no consistent effect of harassment on female fecundity. Net reproductive rate (R0) was higher in females held at low density with normal males compared to females held with males in the other treatments, even though only a small number of females showed direct evidence of remating. Indirect costs and benefits that were not due to harassment alone were observed. Daughters of females held with normal males at high density had reduced longevity compared to daughters from females held without conspecifics. However, their fitness (R0) was higher compared to females in all other treatments. Overall, our results indicate that A. aegypti females do not suffer a fitness cost from harassment of males when kept at moderate densities, and they suggest the potential for benefits obtained from ejaculate components.

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“…However, contact with males was brief: in the SS+ treatment, we removed the two unsuccessful males as soon as the female began to mate with the third male, and copulations typically occurred within seconds or minutes of introducing the males and females. Thus, females in the SS+ treatment had scarcely more contact with males than did SS− females, so the amount of male harassment (see, e.g., Gay et al ., ; den Hollander & Gwynne, ) they experienced was presumably similar. Another possibility is that males that are particularly successful at attaining a mating under competitive conditions also tend to induce more copulation‐induced harm (although there seems to be no evidence for this; Ronn & Hotzy, ), or provide smaller nuptial gifts in their seminal fluid (although we detected no difference in copulation duration, which counts against this hypothesis).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Assessing the alignment of sexual and natural selection using radiomutagenized seed beetles

Power

Holman

2015

J of Evolutionary Biology

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A major unsolved question in evolutionary biology concerns the relationship between natural and sexual selection. Sexual selection might augment natural selection, for example if mutations that harm female fecundity also reduce male mating success. Conversely, sexual selection might favour traits that impair naturally selected fitness components. We induced detrimental mutations in Callosobruchus maculatus beetles using X-ray irradiation and then experimentally measured the effect of precopulatory sexual selection on offspring number and survival rate. Sexual selection treatment had a negative effect on egg-to-adult survivorship, although the number of progeny reaching adulthood was unaffected, perhaps because eggs and juveniles that failed to develop lessened competition on the survivors. We hypothesize that the negative effect of sexual selection arose because sexually competitive males transmitted a smaller nuptial gift or carried alleles that conferred reduced survival. Although we found no evidence that sexual selection on males can purge alleles that are detrimental to naturally selected fitness components, such benefits might exist in other environmental or genetic contexts.

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Costly sexual harassment in a beetle

Cited by 71 publications

References 39 publications

Post-Mating Interactions and Their Effects on Fitness of Female and Male Echinothrips americanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a New Insect Pest in China

Post-Mating Interactions and Their Effects on Fitness of Female and Male Echinothrips americanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a New Insect Pest in China

The role of male harassment on female fitness for the dengue vector mosquito Aedes aegypti

Assessing the alignment of sexual and natural selection using radiomutagenized seed beetles

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