Emerging issues in the evolution of animal nuptial gifts

Lewis, Sara M.; Vahed, Karim; Koene, Joris M.; Engqvist, Leif; Bussière, Luc F.; Perry, Jennifer C.; Gwynne, Darryl; Lehmann, Gerlind U. C.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0336

Cited by 72 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Nuptial gifts are a widespread reproductive strategy (Vahed 1998(Vahed , 2007Lewis and South 2012) and may be defined as "(…) materials (beyond the obligatory gametes) provided by a donor to a recipient during courtship or copulation in order to improve donor fitness" (Lewis et al 2014). Given this loose definition, some cases traditionally interpreted under different theoretical rationale may be included as a nuptial gift as well.…”

Section: Nuptial Gifts and Cfc: Beyond The Males' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic Female Choice and Nuptial Prey Gifts in a Spider Model

Costa-Schmidt

2015

Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods

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Reproduction is composed by a series of strategies performed by each sex in order to gain control over the outcome of the entire process. Males' attempts to fertilize the females may deal with a hidden factor: the cryptic female choice, which is the females' ability to control fertilization based on males' sexual performance. A particular kind of reproductive strategy adopted by males of several invertebrate orders involves the transfer of substances or materials during the courtship and/or copulation, also known as nuptial gifts (NG). At least nine spider families have representatives that rely on the transfer of NG, all of them classified as oral gifts. Given its appeal in broad areas of behavioral ecology, NG received great attention in terms of their role in determining the outcome of sexual interactions, but little effort was applied toward the integrate analysis of the entire courtship/copulatory process. NGs are obviously just a stage of the entire mate choice process, and the empirical data available supports the idea of sexual conflict. However, I defend that only an integrated analysis will allow us to understand if NG does play some role as a source of information for cryptic female choice, or if it still remains as a way that males found to mitigate the sexual conflict issues.

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Section: Nuptial Gifts and Cfc: Beyond The Males' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic Female Choice and Nuptial Prey Gifts in a Spider Model

Costa-Schmidt

2015

Cryptic Female Choice in Arthropods

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“…The model uses treatment contrasts to compare categories; the reference levels are Empis aestiva and mated flies (see Schielzeth, 2010). For example, we cannot rule out the possibility that females may receive nutrition or simulants other than prey item nuptial gifts from mating, as is common in other insect species, which may also influence the development of eggs (Lewis et al, 2014). for mates.…”

Section: How Mate Acquisition Relates To Investment In Ornamentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative evidence supports a role for reproductive allocation in the evolution of female ornament diversity

Hunter

Bussière

2018

Ecological Entomology

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1. Sexually selected ornaments are highly variable, even among closely related species, and the ultimate causes of variation in ornament evolution are unclear, including in rare cases of female ornament expression. One hypothesis is that differences across species in female reproductive allocation may help to explain patterns of female ornament expression among insects with nuptial gifts.2. Dance flies (Diptera: Empididae: Empidinae) vary considerably among species in the presence and extravagance of female ornaments, which probably evolved through female contests for mates. In most dance flies, adult females appear to acquire all their dietary protein from nuptial gifts provided by males during mating. The importance of nuptial feeding on egg development is not yet known.3. To test the prediction that the presence of female ornaments reflects differences in the degree to which females rely on nuptial feeding for egg development, egg development was examined in wild females of two species, one ornamented and the other unornamented. An ageing technique based on cuticular bands was validated, which permitted a regression of egg size on adult age. 4. We found that egg development depended on mating status in the ornamented species alone, meaning the eggs of unmated females of the ornamented species did not develop. This contrast across species is consistent with expectations that females of different species vary in their dependence on nuptial gifts for egg development.5. These findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that differences in reproductive allocation mediate the intensity of female contests for nuptial gifts.

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“…One also has to keep in mind that the “what you give is what you get” principle might restrict the extremes that can be taken: For example, targeting accessory gland proteins to an existing reproductive pathway, which can develop resistance to such accessory gland proteins, might actually undermine the efficiency of hermaphroditic reproduction via an insensitivity to one's own regulatory substances (Koene, ). Along the same lines, the donation of a beneficial substance to the partner in the form of a nuptial gift is unlikely, given that such a gift could end up being exchanged, leading to no net gain nor guarantee of it being invested into egg production (see also Lewis et al, ; Schärer et al, ; Lodi and Koene, unpublished).…”

Section: Shifting Sex Allocationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex determination and gender expression: Reproductive investment in snails

Koene

2017

Molecular Reproduction Devel

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SUMMARYSex determination is generally seen as an issue of importance for separate‐sexed organisms; however, when considering other sexual systems, such as hermaphroditism, sex allocation is a less‐binary form of sex determination. As illustrated here, with examples from molluscs, this different vantage point can offer important evolutionary insights. After all, males and females produce only one type of gamete, whereas hermaphrodites produce both. In addition, sperm and accessory gland products are donated bidirectionally. For reciprocal mating, this is obvious since sperm are exchanged within one mating interaction; but even unilaterally mating species end up mating in both sexual roles, albeit not simultaneously. With this in mind, I highlight two factors that play an important role in how reproductive investment is divided in snails: First, the individual's motivation to preferentially donate rather than receive sperm (or vice versa) leads to flexible behavioral performance, and thereby investment, of either sex. Second, due to the presence of both sexual roles within the same individual, partners are potentially able to influence investment in both sexual functions of their partner to their own benefit. The latter has already led to novel insights into how accessory gland products may evolve. Moreover, the current evidence points towards different ways in which allocation to reproduction can be changed in simultaneous hermaphrodites. These often differ from the separate‐sexed situation, highlighting that comparison across different sexual systems may help identify commonalities and differences in physiological, and molecular mechanisms as well as evolutionary patterns. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 84: 132–143, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Emerging issues in the evolution of animal nuptial gifts

Cited by 72 publications

References 33 publications

Cryptic Female Choice and Nuptial Prey Gifts in a Spider Model

Cryptic Female Choice and Nuptial Prey Gifts in a Spider Model

Comparative evidence supports a role for reproductive allocation in the evolution of female ornament diversity

Sex determination and gender expression: Reproductive investment in snails

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