Effects of age and experience on contest behavior in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides

Lee, Victoria E.; Head, Megan L.; Carter, Mauricio J.; Royle, Nick J.

doi:10.1093/beheco/art101

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Our results confirm that relative competitive ability in burying beetles is largely determined by body size (Otronen ; Hopwood et al , ; Lee et al ), which is itself primarily determined by parental response to variation in the resources available to beetles during the larval stage (i.e., carcass size; Bartlett and Ashworth ; Eggert and Müller ). Therefore, behavioral plasticity of signaling behavior in male N. vespilloides also depends upon developmental plasticity of individuals in response to variation in carcass size.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…This change appeared to be largely a consequence of an overall reduction in time spent signaling (as opposed to other behaviors) in a social context, especially off‐carcass, which is associated with a satellite strategy (Eggert and Müller ; Eggert ). Focal males spent more time on the carcass than nonfocal competitor males, presumably because the focal males were the resource holders as they arrived first at the carcass (Hopwood et al ; Lee et al ). As a result the effect of focal male size on signaling behavior may have been partially obscured by this “residency” effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This generated variation in the social environment experienced by focal males; from good (focal male larger than competitor) to poor (focal male smaller than competitor). Previous work has shown that relative male size is the most important determinant of contest outcomes over carcasses (Hopwood et al , 2014; Lee et al ). Our experimental design replicated what is likely to happen in the wild, where there is uncertainty about the size of competitors that males will encounter in competition for breeding resources (Hopwood et al ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral plasticity and G × E of reproductive tactics inNicrophorus vespilloidesburying beetles

et al. 2015

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Phenotypic plasticity is important in the evolution of traits and facilitates adaptation to rapid environmental changes. However, variation in plasticity at the individual level, and the heritable basis underlying this plasticity is rarely quantified for behavioral traits. Alternative behavioral reproductive tactics are key components of mating systems but are not often considered within a phenotypic plasticity framework (i.e., as reaction norms). Here, using lines artificially selected for repeated mating rate, we test for genetic (G × E) sources of variation in reproductive behavior of male Nicrophorus vespilloides burying beetles (including signaling behavior), as well as the role of individual body size, in responsiveness to changes in social environment. The results show that body size influences the response of individuals’ signaling behavior to changes in the social environment. Moreover, there was G × E underlying the responses of males to variation in the quality of social environment experienced (relative size of focal male compared to his rival). This shows that individual variation in plasticity and social sensitivity of signaling behavior can evolve in response to selection on investment in mating behavior, with males selected for high mating investment having greater social sensitivity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral plasticity and G × E of reproductive tactics inNicrophorus vespilloidesburying beetles

et al. 2015

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“…However, the larvae in uniparental families were marginally larger than those dispersed from biparental families. A larger body size likely affects burying beetle fitness because there is strong competition for resources, and larger adults are more successful in defending or taking over carcasses (Hopwood, Moore & Royle, 2013Lee et al, 2014). The difference in size, however, is small and may be offset by an increased probability of being culled under uniparental conditions.…”

Section: Understanding How Patterns Of Parental Care Evolve Requires mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biparental care is predominant and beneficial to parents in the burying beetleNicrophorus orbicollis(Coleoptera: Silphidae)

Benowitz

Moore

2016

Biol. J. Linn. Soc.

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Parenting strategies can be flexible within a species, and may have varying fitness effects. Understanding this flexibility and its fitness consequences is important for understanding why parenting strategies evolve. Here, we investigate the fitness consequences of flexible parenting in the burying beetle Nicrophorus orbicollis, a species known for its advanced provisioning behaviour of regurgitated vertebrate carrion to offspring by both sexes. We show that even when a parent is freely allowed to abandon the carcass at any point in time, biparental post-hatching care is the most common pattern of care adopted in N. orbicollis. Furthermore, two parents together raised more offspring than single parents of either sex, showing that the presence of the male can directly influences parental fitness even in the absence of competitors. This contrasts with studies in other species of burying beetle, where biparental families do not differ in offspring number. This may explain why biparental care is more common in N. orbicollis than in other burying beetles. We suggest how fitness benefits of two parents may play a role in the evolution and maintenance of flexible biparental care in N. orbicollis.

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“…Recent studies revealed that social experiences such as male fight and mating with females can be a crucial factor determining age‐dependent male mating tactics (Lee, Head, Carter, & Royle, ), because individuals gain experience and information as they age, and experience provides skill acquisition (Sharpe, ) and information on their own competitiveness (Fawcett & Johnstone, ). To exclude possible effects of social experiences on male mating behavior, we kept the males separately until the experiments started.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age‐dependent male mating tactics in a spider mite—A life‐history perspective

Sato

Rühr

Schmitz

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Males often fight with rival males for access to females. However, some males display nonfighting tactics such as sneaking, satellite behavior, or female mimicking. When these mating tactics comprise a conditional strategy, they are often thought to be explained by resource holding potential (RHP), that is, nonfighting tactics are displayed by less competitive males who are more likely to lose a fight. The alternative mating tactics, however, can also be explained by life‐history theory, which predicts that young males avoid fighting, regardless of their RHP, if it pays off to wait for future reproduction. Here, we test whether the sneaking tactic displayed by young males of the two‐spotted spider mite can be explained by life‐history theory. We tested whether young sneaker males survive longer than young fighter males after a bout of mild or strong competition with old fighter males. We also investigated whether old males have a more protective outer skin—a possible proxy for RHP—by measuring cuticle hardness and elasticity using nanoindentation. We found that young sneaker males survived longer than young fighter males after mild male competition. This difference was not found after strong male competition, which suggests that induction of sneaking tactic is affected by male density. Hardness and elasticity of the skin did not vary with male age. Given that earlier work could also not detect morphometric differences between fighter and sneaker males, we conclude that there is no apparent increase in RHP with age in the mite and age‐dependent male mating tactics in the mite can be explained only by life‐history theory. Because it is likely that fighting incurs a survival cost, age‐dependent alternative mating tactics may be explained by life‐history theory in many species when reproduction of old males is a significant factor in fitness.

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Effects of age and experience on contest behavior in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides

Cited by 34 publications

References 47 publications

Behavioral plasticity and G × E of reproductive tactics inNicrophorus vespilloidesburying beetles

Behavioral plasticity and G × E of reproductive tactics inNicrophorus vespilloidesburying beetles

Biparental care is predominant and beneficial to parents in the burying beetleNicrophorus orbicollis(Coleoptera: Silphidae)

Age‐dependent male mating tactics in a spider mite—A life‐history perspective

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