Male water striders attract predators to intimidate females into copulation

Han, Chonghun; Jabłoński, Piotr G.

doi:10.1038/ncomms1051

Cited by 50 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…Instead, after females were already feeding, they are more likely to be mating in the next observation. This result better fits the notion that when females are feeding, they do not or perhaps cannot resist male mating attempts as effectively, and thus females start mating as a by-product of feeding, rather than as strategic mating manipulation by females or males, as in other systems (Smuts and Smuts 1993;Han and Jablonski 2010). Our results also highlight that similar overall patterns of female avoidance of male harassment in very different systems can be produced by different small-scale behavioral dynamics.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Linking short-term behavior and personalities to feeding and mating rates in female water striders

Wey¹,

Chang²,

Montiglio³

et al. 2015

BEHECO

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In systems of strong sexual conflict, male harassment can constrain female feeding, which can limit fecundity. Female responses to harassment can depend on the social context or differ between individuals, and could be based on social or intrinsic behavioral cues at different spatio-temporal scales. Using experimental groupings of stream water striders (Aquarius remigis), we examined individual behavioral differences and effects of sex ratio on 4 aspects of female behavior: 1) habitat use and 2) activity, which lead to differences in 3) feeding rates and 4) mating rates. We compared effects of the immediate social environment, immediate female habitat use and activity, and consistent female behavioral tendencies (personalities) on feeding and mating probabilities, and asked if population sex ratio affected the relationships among these behaviors. We found that individual females did differ significantly in all 4 behaviors. Population sex ratio strongly influenced average female habitat use, feeding, and mating behaviors, and female feeding and mating behaviors were predicted by a combination of moment-to-moment female behavioral state, moment-to-moment social factors, and consistent individual female behavioral differences. Furthermore, habitat use tendencies correlated significantly with activity tendencies, and habitat use and activity tendencies predicted mating probabilities, but not feeding probabilities. Our study elucidates the specific individual-level behavioral mechanisms that lead to observed population-level patterns and emphasizes the benefits of studying behavior at multiple spatial and temporal scales.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Linking short-term behavior and personalities to feeding and mating rates in female water striders

Wey¹,

Chang²,

Montiglio³

et al. 2015

BEHECO

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“…our results prove that water striders are able to exploit water surface properties to optimally perform their predation avoidance jumps using elongated legs that are developmentally shaped by recently discovered genetic mechanism16, which is an apparent outcome of natural selection to avoid predator attacks. This work adds to the documented or suggested repertoire of water striders' behaviours that evolved to exploit the water surface properties: defence of territories1718192021, courtship212223, establishing dominance in agonistic interactions2024, defence of mates against harassment from other males during mate guarding25, sex recognition202126 and sensing distribution of food in environment27 or possibly also sensing local sex ratio in a population28.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water striders adjust leg movement speed to optimize takeoff velocity for their morphology

et al. 2016

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Water striders are water-walking insects that can jump upwards from the water surface. Quick jumps allow striders to avoid sudden dangers such as predators' attacks, and therefore their jumping is expected to be shaped by natural selection for optimal performance. Related species with different morphological constraints could require different jumping mechanics to successfully avoid predation. Here we show that jumping striders tune their leg rotation speed to reach the maximum jumping speed that water surface allows. We find that the leg stroke speeds of water strider species with different leg morphologies correspond to mathematically calculated morphology-specific optima that maximize vertical takeoff velocity by fully exploiting the capillary force of water. These results improve the understanding of correlated evolution between morphology and leg movements in small jumping insects, and provide a theoretical basis to develop biomimetic technology in semi-aquatic environments.

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“…In water striders, premating struggles drastically increase the likelihood of predation, and females faced with such mortality risk often respond by engaging in "convenience polyandry" (Rowe 1994). In some species, males appear to intimidate females into mating by drumming on the water surface during struggles-a behavior that attracts predators, which are more likely to attack the female than the male (Han and Jablonski 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Conflict, Life Span, and Aging

Adler

Bonduriansky

2014

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

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The potential for sexual conflict to influence the evolution of life span and aging has been recognized for more than a decade, and recent work also suggests that variation in life span and aging can influence sexually antagonistic coevolution. However, empirical exploration of these ideas is only beginning. Here, we provide an overview of the ideas and evidence linking inter-and intralocus sexual conflicts with life span and aging. We aim to clarify the conceptual basis of this research program, examine the current state of knowledge, and suggest key questions for further investigation.S exual conflict arises because the sexes maximize their fitness via different, and often mutually incompatible, strategies, and its signature has been detected across a wide range of morphological, physiological, behavioral, and life-history traits in many species. A number of investigators have suggested that sexual conflict could play an important role in the evolution of two particularly interesting life-history traits: life span and aging (Svensson and Sheldon 1998;Promislow 2003;Bonduriansky et al. 2008;Maklakov and Lummaa 2013). Sexual conflict can affect life span and aging rate at both proximate (within-generation) and ultimate (evolutionary) scales. Sexually antagonistic behavioral or physiological interactions that increase mortality rate in one or both sexes (interlocus sexual conflict) could drive the evolution of faster life histories. Moreover, sex-specific optimization of reproductive strategies may often result in sex differences in life span and aging rates, and sexually antagonistic selection on shared genetic architecture can displace one or both sexes from their sex-specific optima for these traits (intralocus sexual conflict). Conversely, a change in life histories because of environmental fluctuations could affect the degree of sexual conflict in a population and influence sexual coevolution. Although evidence for sexual conflict is rapidly accumulating, our understanding of its relationship to life span and aging remains rudimentary. In this review, we provide a critical review of recent literature and highlight areas that require further investigation.

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Male water striders attract predators to intimidate females into copulation

Cited by 50 publications

References 24 publications

Linking short-term behavior and personalities to feeding and mating rates in female water striders

Linking short-term behavior and personalities to feeding and mating rates in female water striders

Water striders adjust leg movement speed to optimize takeoff velocity for their morphology

Sexual Conflict, Life Span, and Aging

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