Male courtship effort determines female response to competing rivals in redback spiders

Stoltz, J. A.; Elias, David; Andrade, Maydianne C. B.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.09.012

Cited by 40 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Experimental males (n ¼ 25) were placed on pheromone-laden webs of virgin females where they courted continuously (¼ energetically costly movement and vibration signalling, Stoltz et al 2009) for 3 h. Control males (n ¼ 25) were briefly placed on a female's web but removed before they initiated courtship. Males were weighed but not fed after trials and the date of death was recorded.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body condition but not dietary restriction prolongs lifespan in a semelparous capital breeder

2009

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Effects of diet on longevity are complex because acquired resources are shared among growth, reproduction and somatic maintenance. We simplify these axes by examining how dietary restriction and competitive contexts affect longevity using semelparous males of the Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti). Plastic development of L. hasselti males results in trade-offs of body condition against faster development if females are present, facilitating scramble competition. In the absence of females, males develop slowly as high body condition adults, and are better equipped for mate searching. Here we focus on effects of diet and competitive context on body condition and longevity. Although male survival depended on body condition and exercise, contrary to studies in a wide range of taxa, dietary restriction did not increase longevity. However, there was an interactive effect of diet and competitive context on lifespan, because high-diet males reared in the absence of females lived longer than males reared in the presence of females. Thus males near females pay a survival cost of developing rapidly. This shows that life-history trade-offs affected by competitive context can impose longevity costs independent of the direct energy expenditure of searching, courtship, competition or reproduction.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body condition but not dietary restriction prolongs lifespan in a semelparous capital breeder

2009

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“…In contrast, larger, longer-courting males mate normally. Thus, female choice is apparently linked to courtship effort as well as male size (Stoltz et al , 2009; see also Prenter et al 2006), and selection imposed by females may have resulted in males that attempt mating only after satisfying the female's threshold duration of courtship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wong & Candolin 2005;Stoltz et al 2008Stoltz et al , 2009Hunt et al 2009). If females do not discriminate the source of stimulatory courtship signals, threshold criteria may allow males to exploit courtship effort of rivals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, although some males copulate after relatively brief courtship, females employ two cryptic mechanisms that decrease paternity of these males (e.g. Stoltz et al 2008Stoltz et al , 2009see Snow & Andrade 2005). First, there is an inverse relationship between the courtship duration of the first male to mate and the number of copulations the female accepts from a rival (Snow & Andrade 2005;Snow et al 2006;Stoltz et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stoltz et al 2008Stoltz et al , 2009see Snow & Andrade 2005). First, there is an inverse relationship between the courtship duration of the first male to mate and the number of copulations the female accepts from a rival (Snow & Andrade 2005;Snow et al 2006;Stoltz et al 2009). Second, females often kill and cannibalize smaller, rapidly copulating males prior to completion of a normal mating (premature lethal cannibalism; Stoltz et al 2008), which reduces paternity by 50 per cent under sperm competition (Snow & Andrade 2005; see also Prenter et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Female's courtship threshold allows intruding males to mate with reduced effort

Stoltz

Andrade

2009

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Female decision rules can influence the nature and intensity of sexual selection on males, but empirical demonstrations of rules underlying choice are rare. We hypothesized that female choice is largely based on a courtship duration threshold in the Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti ) because females kill males before copulation is complete (premature cannibalism) and reduce their paternity if courtship is brief. We used published data to infer that the female's threshold is approximately 100 min of courtship. We support this hypothesis by showing that premature cannibalism is common when the male's courtship duration is below this threshold, but is infrequent and unrelated to duration once courtship exceeds the threshold. We then ask whether females discriminate the source of courtship when rival males compete, as this will determine the effect of the threshold on male competitive tactics. We staged competitions where 'resident' males initially courted females in the absence of competition, exceeding the courtship threshold before 'intruding' males were introduced. Intruding males mated rapidly but were not prematurely cannibalized by females, in contrast to cases where competition starts before the threshold is surpassed. This suggests females do not distinguish which male satisfies the threshold, allowing intruders to parasitize the courtship efforts of residents. To our knowledge, such exploitation of mating efforts by rival males mediated by a female choice threshold has not been demonstrated elsewhere. Ironically, this female choice threshold and the attendant possibility of courtship parasitism may lead to selection for lower-quality males to recognize and seek out (rather than avoid) webs in which competitors are already present.

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Effects of social information on life history and mating tactics of males in the orb‐web spider Argiope bruennichi

Cory

Schneider

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Informed mating decisions are often based on social cues providing information about prospective mating opportunities. Social information early in life can trigger developmental modifications and influence later mating decisions. A high adaptive value of such adjustments is particularly obvious in systems where potential mating rates are extremely limited and have to be carried out in a short time window. Males of the sexually cannibalistic spider Argiope bruennichi can achieve maximally two copulations which they can use for one (monogyny) or two females (bigyny). The choice between these male mating tactics should rely on female availability that males might assess through volatile sex pheromones emitted by virgin females. We predict that in response to those female cues, males of A. bruennichi should mature earlier and at a smaller body size and favor a bigynous mating tactic in comparison with controls. We sampled spiders from two areas close to the Southern and Northern species range to account for differences in mate quality and seasonality. In a fully factorial design, half of the subadult males from both areas obtained silk cues of females, while the other half remained without female exposure. Adult males were subjected to no‐choice mating tests and could either monopolize the female or leave her (bigyny). We found that Southern males matured later and at a larger size than Northern males. Regardless of their origin, males also shortened the subadult stage in response to female cues, which, however, had no effects on male body mass. Contrary to our prediction, the frequencies of mating tactics were unaffected by the treatment. We conclude that while social cues during late development elicit adaptive life history adjustments, they are less important for the adjustment of mating decisions. We suggest that male tactics mostly rely on local information at the time of mate search.

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Male courtship effort determines female response to competing rivals in redback spiders

Cited by 40 publications

References 53 publications

Body condition but not dietary restriction prolongs lifespan in a semelparous capital breeder

Body condition but not dietary restriction prolongs lifespan in a semelparous capital breeder

Female's courtship threshold allows intruding males to mate with reduced effort

Effects of social information on life history and mating tactics of males in the orb‐web spider Argiope bruennichi

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